here we go, top of the hour. you're watching cnn. i'm brooke baldwin. thank you for being with me. we begin with the breaking news of this violent rampage at ohio state university today. this man has plowed through a crowd of young people with his car before then getting out and armed with a butcher's knife, started stabbing anyone in his path. what we know right now is that ten people were injured. one listed in critical condition. and the campus swiftly went into lockdown.

>> about 9:52 a.m., a male suspect drove a vehicle over the curb, west 19th, west of college avenue, struck pedestrians. he exited the vehicle and used a butcher knife to start cutting pedestrians. our officer was on scene in less than a minute and he ended the situation less than a minute. he engaged the suspect and he eliminated the threat. the suspect is doa. >> there were multiple injuries related to lacerations or cuts. most likely, as chief said, from the stab wounds from the butcher knife. then a number of people that had orthopedic and other soft tissue injuries related to being hit by the car. it's our knowledge here that none of the individuals appear to have life-threatening injuries at this time. >> nearby students were told of the unfolding emergency with this chilling text message telling them to, quote, run, hide, fight. one witness described the suspect as just completely

silent during that attack with his knife. as the chaos was unfolding earlier this morning, university officials reported that there was an active shooter on campus. students were quick to barricade themselves in classrooms here. you see a bunch of chairs piled up. this is what some young people were so desperate to have to do. some say they even herd gunshots, although it appears those shots were those of the officer who ultimately killed this attacker. for more on what happened, deborah feyerick is with me, cnn international correspondent. let's start from the beginning. take me back. >> absolutely. and it's interesting because this did come across as an active shooter but that may be because the police officer who responded so quickly initially gave the suspect verbal commands, ordered him to drop his weapon. then when that fail, he open fire, neutralizing this threat. all of this started about 9:52 this morning. this man in his car drove up onto the curb, hitting a number

of pedestrians who were around the vicinity of that chemical engineering building. then he got out of his car and started waving this huge butcher's knife around. an eyewitness said he had a crazy look in his eyes and he was chasing people around. he didn't seem to appear focused on one individual. he was just going in all directions. and that's when that police officer drove up to the scene and was able to essentially neutralize the threat. now, part of the problem, brooke, is they didn't know whether this man was acting alone or whether there were other individuals. what you had was you had two different things going on. for those who were in that immediate vicinity, you had a run, hide, fight situation up. saw those students inside the classroom, barricading the door, trying to protect himself so if he did want to go in, if he did have an assault rifle, which was the big fear, that at least they would be able to block him. the second thing going on for people who were not in that area, they were told to simply shelter in place because the police officers, you had atf, fbi, sheriff's deputies and the police officers, all of them needed to get to that area and

make sure they were able to secure it before anybody was sort of allowed to go back and resume life as normal. you had a lot of different things going on, but really they got lucky because it was one individual that they didn't know at the time, but they did basically launch a massive search for a second individual as well in this parking lot. we don't know why he was in that parking lot, though. that hasn't been made public yet. >> who was this young man? do we know anything about him? >> officials have apparently identified who he he is. they're not letting us know yet whether he was a student at the college or whether he had an affiliation with the college, whether he was a naturalized citizen, whether he was not. but what it's looking like now is he seemed to know the area and so they are going and looking at his electronics. they're running data checks to see whether he was in contact, perhaps, with anybody who might have had a link to terrorism. they're also looking to see whether, in fact, he was in contact with anybody stateside, who may be part of this because

you've got either copycats or you may have something that is more, and they're looking at that right now. but it appears that this threat, this immediate threat, was, in fact, contained. >> let me bring in one other voice and i want to keep you in the conversation on the police response is what we know. former dea senior special agent. good to see you. i think we should just pause and give law enforcement there in ohio credit for responding as phenomenally quickly as they did. >> absolutely. they were right on scene. it was a threat, they ended the threat. you can't ask for more than that. it's worth noting that even though it's a stabbing incident, but if you make the parallel to active shooter, 69% of all active shooter incidents are over in five minutes or less. half of those, in two minutes or less. in 60% of the cases the police never arrive before the incident is over. in this case, they did a phenomenal job and saved lives. >> what do you make of how he used his car as a weapon and had a knife?

>> well, do you use -- you use whatever you have available. people don't -- really, you have to appreciate how deadly a knife is at close range. a knife in close proximity to people is as deadly as a gun up. don't have to reload a knife and virtually anybody can stab or slash. just because it was a knife, clearly, it wasn't an instrum t instrumentality that was dangerous because it was. like in france. >> in a much smaller degree. how do you know as a member of law enforcement, you don't know what's happened. you heard about a car potentially as a weapon, there's a knife. overall, how they handled this and also what they're doing right now in terms of putting the pieces together to figure out why he did what he did. >> two questions. when you get the response -- the initial call, hopefully you have some specificity. it's an individual with a description and a location. if you have that, it makes your job easier, of course. if you don't, have you to wait

until you can identify the assailant. second question, what they're doing now is look back, look back who was communicating with him on a cell phone or computer, if he has one. columbus, believe it or not, is a very interesting area. there's a tremendously large number of immigrants from somalia, for example. there's a large radicalized segment there. i have no knowledge whether that plays into -- >> we don't know. they may know, to deb's point, but we don't know. >> they certainly know. in any case, they're checking to see who he was in contact with and if, in fact, he was directed or acted alone. >> one other very important thing is when the police officer arrived, he did try to give the individual can commands, verbal commands. that's the way it's supposed to play out. you try to de-escalate the situation. you tell someone to drop their weapon. i want to make sure the people in the vicinity get out and they're secure, they're safe. give them some time. according to an eyewitness, once the area around the attacker was clear, only then did that police

officer open fire. you want to make very sure that there aren't -- there's no collateral damage. that there isn't someone running past the -- in this particular case the attacker or someone behind. the police officer did give the verbal commands, make sure the area around the attacker was clear. it appears that then is when he open fire. >> let me bring in addison o'connor. addison is on the phone, an ohio state freshman. addison, are you okay? >> yeah, i'm good. we're a little -- a little scare around here, but we're all safe, so -- >> i'm so happy to hear that. i'm just so sorry for what had to happened this morning. where were you? did you see or hear anything? >> actually, i was walking to the bus station, the bus stop next to my building, to go to class. i ended up missing it by a few minutes. and right when i got to the

stop, i got the text about the shooter and i didn't know whether to go up to class or not. a professor said, go to your building, stay inside and stay safe. it was fairly crazy because if i hadn't missed my bus, my class was right next to watts hall, so i was very lucky. >> very lucky, ats ddison. tell me what you did instead and how long you were there? >> what i did instead of going to class? >> did you go back to your dorm room? >> yeah, i went back to my dorm room. honestly, the buckeye alert, i was really thankful for that because if i didn't receive that text, i wouldn't have known about the shooting going on and i probably would have just walked to class. >> good on ohio state for doing that as quickly as they did. addison, thank you so much. thinking about you. of course, everyone there in college. cannot imagine how shaken i

would feel as a college freshman. thank you so much. david and deb, thank you. appreciate it. let's move along, though. coming up next, a busy day at trump tower as the president-elect interviews multiple people for potential cabinet spots, including retired general david petraeus who we understand just walked into the front doors on fifth avenue as trump's inner circle is speaking quite publicly, vocally, about who he should or should not choice as secretary of state. plus, a major development today in the shooter in that charleston shooting from two junes ago is facing murder and hate crime charges in the shooting death of nine people at that mother emanuel ame church. the defendant's unusual move today in court and how it could dramatically impact the trial and the loved ones affected. you're watching cnn.

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until i learned more about once-daily xarelto... a latest generation blood thinner. then i made the switch. xarelto® significantly lowers the risk of stroke in people with afib not caused by a heart valve problem. it has similar effectiveness to warfarin. warfarin interferes with vitamin k and at least six blood clotting factors. xarelto® is selective targeting one critical factor of your body's natural clotting function. for people with afib currently well managed on warfarin, there is limited information on how xarelto and warfarin compare in reducing the risk of stroke. like all blood thinners, don't stop taking xarelto without talking to your doctor, as this may increase your risk of a blood clot or stroke. while taking you may bruise more easily, and it may take longer for bleeding to stop. xarelto may increase your risk of bleeding if you take certain medicines. xarelto can cause serious, and in rare cases fatal bleeding. get help right away for unexpected bleeding, unusual bruising or tingling. if you have had spinal anesthesia while on xarelto watch for back pain or any nerve or muscle related signs or symptoms. do not take xarelto if you have an artificial heart valve

or abnormal bleeding. tell your doctor before all planned medical or dental procedures. before starting xarelto tell your doctor about any conditions, such as kidney, liver or bleeding problems. to help protect yourself from a stroke, ask your doctor about xarelto. there's more to know. xarelto. you're watching cnn. i'm brooke baldwin. we're staying on top of the breaking news and attack on campus of ohio state university and what we're learning about this suspect. in the meantime n politics, we're talking about donald trump, president-elect. his transition team says

mr. trump is also watching developments from columbus, monitoring the situation there, and also working to shape his future cabinet. he has interviews today, including david petraeus who just walked into trump tower. general petraeus may turn out to be the alternative to trump's allies pushing for former loyalist former mayor rudy giuliani, and those who back mitt romney. mitt romney is scheduled to be trump's final meeting of the day tomorrow. let's go to our cnn chief political correspondent, dana bash, who has the scoop. first to you, you know, when i was watching you on "state of the union," kellyanne conway made some news talking about the negative feedback and making all of this so public, this feud. let's listen to a little bit of what she had to say about governor romney.

>> i'm all for party unity but i'm not sure we have to pay for that with a secretary of state position. let me repeat, what donald trump decides, kellyanne conway and everybody else will respect. it's just the back lash from the grassroots. i'm hearing from people who say, hey, my parents died penniless but i gave $216 to donald trump's campaign and i would feel betrayed. >> this is stunning to see how public this internal feud is becoming. what are your sources telling you about how mr. trump is feeling? >> reporter: well, obviously, conflicted about -- just about the secretary of state position, the fact that both -- that rudy giuliani, somebody who was incredibly loyal to him, even when the "access hollywood" tape came on. remember, he was the only one to go on tv and defend donald trump. he's been publicly lobbying for the job. and then, of course, you have some inside the trump camp who want mitt romney. you're absolutely right, brooke.

i've never seen anything like this before. just put that on the very long list of things we've never seen anything like when it comes to a trump campaign, and now the trump transition and soon-to-be presidency. meaning that she clearly has given advice to donald trump in private, but to say this in public kind of gives you a sense of where things stand. not just with as she was talking about, the base being very upset and, more importantly, trump's loyal supporters being upset at the notion of him picking someone who is so publicly brutally critical of him, but also about the fact that it just seems as though given the fact that she's saying so publicly, seems to be some of the internal struggles within trump world right now. roons priebus, incoming chief of staff and maybe some of the old loyalists are trying to figure out what to do. i will tell you that i was told this morning by a trump source that mr. trump himself was

irritated by that public criticism. but then kellyanne conway herself told me earlier today, brooke, that she did not get that from trump. that they've spoken several times. yesterday and this morning, and that he understands that she is just incredibly loyal and that that is what is coming out. >> i'm trying to follow you and connect all the dots and how who feels about what, but, you know, i know that kellyanne has a direct line to the president-elect, so i'm befuddled. let me read for you the david axelrod tweet. david axelrod floated this out there. this is the alternative theory. kellyanne conway was assigned the role of trashing mitt romney, otherwise it's an unbelievable breach. is that so far-fetched to think this is choreographed? >> like kabuki theater? >> yeah. >> is it far-fetched? i don't necessarily think it is. i think there really is a tug of

war whether to go with someone like mitt romney or whether to go with someone who is more like a trump loyalist, like rudy giuliani, who could have some -- he certainly has support in the senate but could have some hurdles. i think it's very telling that david petraeus walked into trump tower, you showed that picture before, because, you know, that move and the move to bring in senator bob corker, who is the chairman of the foreign relations committee, also someone who has a lot of respect on the world stage and a lot less controversial than romney or giuliani, that that tells you that, perhaps, the -- the internal tug of war of romney versus giuliani may be solved with just an alternative person altogether. >> maybe petraeus, maybe a corker. before i let you go, we have to juxtapose what's happening in the east with trump tower and the twitter photos of his family

out in san diego over the weekend. we will throw them up on the screen. i keep wondering, what is mitt romney thinking when he's seeing and hearing all of this feuding so publicly? >> you know, for the most part people who are close to him insist he's kind of zen. i think what that picture shows is like, i'll be fine. i'm good. i've got an awesome family. >> i've got my family. >> reporter: i've got an awesome. life. i got a lot of money, a lot of houses, tremendous grandchildren and i'm good. i'm okay. i think that's very much what that tweet was probably intended to show. in addition to just, like, thanksgiving, here i am with my family. pretty clear. >> dana, thank you. welcome back, by the way. we missed you. >> reporter: thank you. >> thank you. next, green party nominee jill stein is launching this recount effort in three states. we talked about that. what's new is now the clinton campaign has signed on. the president-elect is calling the whole thing a scam but then fires off his own baseless

allegations of voter fraud. we'll discuss it next.

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while there is absolutely no evidence of hacking, recount to begin near the end of this week in the state of wisconsin. election officials are promising a fair process but turned down a request to count ballots by hand. they're responding to green party candidate jill stein because of some statistical anomalies in the vote tally. hillary clinton's campaign has also signed on to participate in that recount effort. all of this has now rattled the president-elect, who called out

hillary clinton for taking part. but he himself has now cast a dark shadow over the presidential ballot, tweeting this, in addition to winning the electoral college in a landslide, i won the popular vote if you deduct the millions of people who voted illegally. trump, at this point, is about 2 million votes behind clinton in the popular vote. so, to our senior washington correspondent jeff zeleny, we go. jeff, first and foremost, this is false. let's just go ahead and say the trump claim is false. why is he doing this? he won. >> reporter: great question. and, brooke, i can tell you just the republicans i have talked to today who are preparing for a trump administration have no idea why he's doing this. i think in one respect, perhaps, he's trying to hang yet another shiny object out there so a lot of us are talking about this and not talking about other things in the news, conflicts of interest, et cetera.

he certainly has no evidence to back up his claim of millions of people votely illegally, for one. if he did, some other people ask, then why wouldn't you want there to be a recount? there is actually going to be a recount now. most likely in the state of wisconsin because green party candidate jill stein has requested it. she's going to pay for it. so, the wisconsin board of elections met this morning. the election commissioners. and they denied her request for a hand recount of every ballot in all 722 counties. they said counties can hand recount them if they want, but they'll retabulate all of them. they say they'll have that done by december 12th if she pays the tab of $1 million by tomorrow. that is something that is going forward. the election commissioner in wisconsin, the head of this bipartisan election board, he really chastised donald trump today at a meeting in madison. he said, look, elections are run by individual people, republicans and democrats, who uphold this system here. so, how dare you say people are

voting illegally here. a lot of people on both sides of the aisle have no idea what he's talking about and frankly wish he would move on to building his cabinet and other things. >> i think it's important to go back half a step. i want you to tell me, where is trump getting this information from, this false claim about millions of people illegally voting for secretary clinton? >> it's a great question. i don't have an exact answer to that. there are a lot of conspiracy theories out there on info wars and -- >> conspiracy theories? >> reporter: right. so, there's no evidence of this and the thing about elections, we spoke about this before election day so often, they're run by republicans and democrats. by doing this he is also besmirching the integrity of election officials from his own party. there's no evidence of this at all. his officials, his aides were asked about this on a transition conference call this morning. they could not provide any evidence. frankly, just wanted to move on,

move off this topic onto something else here. so, we've not heard him talk about it in several hours. we'll see if he mentions it again. as of now, it's one of those tweets he sends out, sort of hangs there. he's still doing it as president-elect. >> it's an important question to ask. he's our president-elect and we should see where he gets his news from. jeff zeleny, thank you. >> reporter: thanks, brooke. coming up next, the accused gunman in that charleston church shooting will represent himself at his murder trial. i mean, just imagine this, for loved ones who will be testifying, being questioned, cross-examined by him. we will talk to someone who is inside the courtroom this morning for this process where potential jurors were requested. my family tree, i discovered a woman named marianne gaspard... it was her french name. then she came to louisiana as a slave. i became curious where in africa she was from.

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i'm hall of famer jerry west and my life is basketball. but that doesn't stop my afib from leaving me at a higher risk of stroke. that'd be devastating. i took warfarin for over 15 years until i learned more about once-daily xarelto... a latest generation blood thinner. then i made the switch. xarelto® significantly lowers the risk of stroke in people with afib not caused by a heart valve problem. it has similar effectiveness to warfarin. warfarin interferes with vitamin k and at least six blood clotting factors. xarelto® is selective targeting one critical factor of your body's natural clotting function. for people with afib currently well managed on warfarin, there is limited information on how xarelto and warfarin compare in reducing the risk of stroke.

like all blood thinners, don't stop taking xarelto without talking to your doctor, as this may increase your risk of a blood clot or stroke. while taking you may bruise more easily, and it may take longer for bleeding to stop.rtai. xarelto can cause serious, and in rare cases fatal bleeding. get help right away for unexpected bleeding, unusual bruising or tingling. if you have had spinal anesthesia while on xarelto watch for back pain or any nerve or muscle related signs or symptoms. do not take xarelto if you have an artificial heart valve or abnormal bleeding. tell your doctor before all planned medical or dental procedures. before starting xarelto tell your doctor about any conditions, such as kidney, liver or bleeding problems. to help protect yourself from a stroke, ask your doctor about xarelto.

young man accused of shooting and killing nine people while their eyes were closed mid-prayer at charleston mother emanuel ame church. a judge ruled he can and will serve as his own counsel. the judge told him his decision is, quote/unquote, strategically unwise. his attorney will remain on the case to advise him. it was june of last year that this man walked into this historically black church in downtown charleston, open fire on a bible study group, can killing nine people. joining me now, jennifer berry haas, reporter from charleston. right now she's writing a book about the church shooting, the church massacre. also with me, cnn legal analyst joey jackson.

so, thank you both for joining me. jennifer, beginning with you, how did he appear this morning in court and how did others in the room respond to him? >> sure. roof came into the courtroom wearing the gray and white prison -- or jail jumpsuit and sat at the defense table. normally he would expect him to be wearing street clothes when jury selection began. he sat down and very quickly the judge got into the defense motion to allow him to represent himself. the courtroom was about three rows were filled with victims' families, survivors, including felicia sanders, whose voice i believe you heard a few minutes ago. they all sat very quietly and attentively and listened as he answered basic questions from the judge regarding understanding the charges

against him. the judge advised him that he had very good counsel and probably should stick with him, but roof answered politely, yes, sir, yes, sir, and still said he wanted to go forward with representing himself. and so jury selection has been going on for the rest of the day. he's been fairly quiet. answering respectfully and standing when the judge refers directly to him, but really not speaking much or raising many objections or asking the judge to question the perspective jurors with additional questions. >> it's stunning but not unprecedented. you mentioned felicia sanders. let me go ahead and play it for all of you to hear. >> we welcome you wednesday night in our bible study with open arms. you have killed some of the most

prayerful people i have known. every fiber in my body hurts. and i'll never be the same. my hero, my hero. but as we say in bible study, we enjoyed you, but may god have mercy on you. >> that was that bond hearing. i just wanted to play that to remind everyone the pain, in some cases, how forgiving this community was despite the atrocities that he had committed in there. joey, to you, the fact that -- and i think -- i hear that voice and i think, she would be sitting, testifying, and could be questioned by him. >> that's absolutely right. and so think about it, and i think many people would look at that as a revictimization of

victims. >> how can it not be? >> and you have him parading in court acting as his own counsel. importantly to know, though, the court doesn't have a choice. about 40 years ago, brooke, the supreme court said if a defendant is otherwise competent, meaning he can understand the proceedings and can participate in those proceedings, he has an absolute right and to otherwise defend himself. logistically, of course, his attorneys who were representing him are now advisers. they would advise him. it's very, very difficult on those families that compelling impact statement you saw there, to be sitting there as he goes on and on and questioning. and i can remind you, unskilled questioning based on he's not a lawyer. he has a right to it it. the judge says he's competent having held that hearing. a lot of people believe it's a mockery of the system. you look at people like ted bundy in florida and -- >> charles manson did this. >> absolutely, california.

>> moussawi, 9/11. >> kyle ferguson, long island railroad. it's not without precedent but difficult for the families to sit through this as it goes on. >> jennifer, did you get a chance -- i don't know if you spoke with any family members in the courtroom today or talking to people, as this affected every fiber of their being in charleston, how are they reacting to know he would serve as his own counsel? >> i think the response has been very much the sale. i think there's a lot of concern that he may be directly questioning the survivors of the shooting, in particular. but polyshepherd and felicia sanders were both in the courtroom, both appeared very stoic and they are really strong, wise, faithful women. so i think that the concerns people have for their well-being are well-founded but i think they'll surprise people with how resilient they will be on the stands, based on what i know of

them. i think the community at large is surprised. this trial has been put off for three weeks while an examination was performed dealing with his mental competency. i think a lot of people are just anxious to get this going. after that delay, i know a number of family members we spoke with. >> i cannot imagine. thank you so much. let's make sure we keep up with you as the process goes on. joey jackson, thank you. next, back to our breaking news. a stabbing attack this morning at ohio state university. what we just learned about that suspect next. thope to see you again soon.. whoa, whoa, i got this. just gotta get the check. almost there. i can't reach it. if you have alligator arms, you avoid picking up the check. what? it's what you do. i got this. thanks, dennis! if you want to save fifteen percent or more on car insurance,

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an updaylight on our breaking storing. the stabbing attack at ohio state university. only suspect, dead. so, who is he, shimon? >> we're not going to identify him or say his name but authorities know who he is. they've been talking to his family. he's an 18-year-old somali -- from the community, from the somalian community in columbus.

and the authorities, the fbi and the local police, have now talked to his family and have been able to identify him. there was a little confusion early on because of the car that was used in the attack, that car is registered to a family member. so, the authorities had not really been able to sort of confirm his identity. until then, they were still going through the family, talking to some people to make sure they knew exactly who he is. now they do. and they're pretty comfortable going back and looking at some of his social media posts, facebook and some items they found in the car that they're now going to try to sort out what exactly is the motive here. >> okay. wow, 18. shimon with our justice unit, thank you very much. let's move on and talk politics now. a major rift, a very public rift emerging in this trump transition team. a behind-the-scenes split over

romney versus rudy and now more playing out in a very public way. a source telling cnn that the president-elect is, in a word, irritated with top aide kellyanne conway's public campaign against mitt romney's potential nomination as secretary of state. conway taking the strange, internal feud into the open with tweets and now this interview on cnn. >> a number of people who feel betrayed to think that a governor romney would get the most prominent cabinet post after he went so far out of his way to hurt donald trump, there was the never trump movement and then there was mitt romney. he gave speeches against donald trump. he attack the his character. i'm all for party unity but i'm not sure we have to pay for that with a secretary of state position. >> all of this taking place as general david petraeus has arrived as trump tower today, retired general and former cia director also being considered for that secretary of state spot. romney, by the way, swinging by tomorrow, as is tennessee senator bob corker. so, let's talk more about this.

andrea bower, a cnn political commentator, trump supporter and ryan williams, former spokesman for governor romney. nice to see both of you. andre, first to you, let me just throw this possibility on you. david axelrod tweeting, this is the alternative theory. kellyane was assigned the role of trashing mitt romney, otherwise it's an unbelievable breach. which is it, do you think? >> you know, i don't know. i've tried to analyze it myself. i can't really figure out what the angle is. i think it's magn aanomus for president-elect trump to consider mitt romney. i understand the other side as well, the folks who say, he engaged in a process to derail the nominee for the republican party, so i can see it from both sides. >> why take it so publicly? there's a thing called decorum. >> well, wouldn't be how i'd handle it, but there's a lot of

people that are rifted and willing to stand up and say that. when they publicly say, i disagree and here's how i disagree. >> ryan, i'm coming to you in a second. but folks are thinking, is this how future issues will be ironed out within the trump administration, so publicly? i hear you saying, this is how you wouldn't prefer it, but might this be the next four years? >> what you're seeing is not a poised politician. you are seeing a boardroom businessman who is going to run this country more like a business. he ran on changing the whole process in washington, draining the swamp. i don't think you'll see protocol that we're accustomed to. i think you'll see somebody that is brass knuckles, gets things done. maybe not always like the media or other people expect, but he produces results. and at the end of the day, people want to see results more than they want to see polish. >> that swamp really likes mitt

romney, i can tell you that, from goelgs i'folks i've been t. governor romney, ryan, your former boss, clearly enjoyed his thanksgiving holiday while kellyanne conway and others took to tv to talk about betrayal and loyalty. we see beautiful photos of governor romney's family enjoying themselves in san diego. i'm just wondering -- i think dana bash said this is his moment of zen, romney's zen. can you read the mitt romney tea leaves right now? >> nothing more than governor romney enjoys spending time with his family -- >> while all this is happening? >> it's thanksgiving so obviously he's with his family. he wasn't paying attention probably to what was going on, the back and forth. i think he was focused on his family. look, i give donald trump a lot of credit for even considering mitt romney this position. it shows he's willing to go beyond his core group of advisers and look for the best and brightest elsewhere. there isn't a litmus test to serve in this administration.

even if this doesn't pan out, i think donald trump deserves a great deal of credit for even considering governor romney for this position. >> one more and then we'll move on. we know governor romney will be at trump tower tomorrow. if only we could be in the room, but who do you think is pitching whom? >> oh, i don't know. i'm not going to speculate. i do think that donald trump is just sounding him out to see if he's someone who he would be comfortable with serving in his administration. i think that's a good sign that this is a president who's going to, you know, try to bring in the best and the brightest even if they didn't support him during the campaign. and, you know, they have, obviously, some -- the relationship to repair, whether or not governor romney serves in the administration, i think it's positive they're going to be on good terms going forward so the president can be counsel to president-elect even if he's not in the administration. >> andre, how about to the news we found out that the president-elect and the president were on the phone for some 45 minutes on saturday. we understand from kellyanne they talk regularly.

she said they talk about serious issues that face the country and the world, although she added, they get along nicely. they disagree on many things and that's not going to change. but how do you see these two in their -- i don't know whether it's president obama's sort of a adviser in chief role or what? how do you see that relationship evolving over the next couple of years? >> this is a passing of the baton. both of these men love america. i didn't vote for president obama but i admire him more and more the way he gave a speech after the way president-elect trump was declared the winner and the way he's conducted himself since, inviting president-elect to the white house, having a sitdown discussion, making the transition easier works better for everybody. works better for all americans. so, i admire how both of these gentlemen have conducted themselves. really as an american, we should all be proud they're coming together, putting down party lines, putting past differences and moving forward on trying to make the transition work as fluidly as possible.

>> absolutely. you are absolutely correct, sir. andre and ryan, thank you so much. i appreciate both of you joining me. coming next, we do have more on our breaking story. this stabbing attack at ohio state university. police are now identifying the suspect as an 18-year-old somali man. more on what happened coming up. also, heartbreaking images out of aleppo. this little girl pleads for peace. her message to the world. don't miss this. ♪ approaching medicare eligibility? you may think you can put off checking out your medicare options until you're sixty-five, but now is a good time to get the ball rolling.

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the entire city ofof alel aleppo could be under bashar al assad aes regime. the syrian president has vowed to take back all of aleppo. achieving that would -- the

government's renewed push aided by russian air strikes has laid waste to aleppo's rebel-held eastern neighborhoods. a rescue group city in the city claims more than 500 people have been killed in just the past two weeks. cnn shows us a few of the holdouts in what's left of this once vibrant commercial city. >> reporter: this 7-year-old became the face and voice of eastern aleppo's children. her mother tweeted daily desperate for the world to see her children and hear their voices, giving the outside world a glimpse of one family's life under siege surrounded by death and destruction as the offensive to recapture eastern aleppo intensified. >> reporter: over the past two weeks the bombs fell closer and closer. and on sunday, this chilling

tweet. last message, under heavy bombardment now. can't be alive anymore. when we die, k 200,000 still inside. bye. fatemah tweeted. an air strike destroyed their home. bana's familiar face covered in dust, clearly shell-shocked, now homeless. there's nothing left to, said, she told us afterwards. the whole world watched and was silent. others like this 31-year-old english teacher were inspired by this family. >> this is bana from inside aleppo. >> reporter: he tweeted, he, too, hoped the world would save eastern aleppo and his 9-month-old baby girl, lamar. two weeks ago he told us, everyone around him was terrified. by sunday evening, like many other civilians, he prepared for the worst. tweeting this, if i die, i hope my daughter will live longer. don't let her down to live as a

free girl away of assad's control. desperate call after desperate call from this living hell as the world watched. activists in one of east aleppo's last remaining doctors sent out this plea -- >> we wonder why we have united nations. why do we have human rights laws. this has been a slow-motion train wreck and this message is from the people from aleppo to the world. >> reporter: often the most silent were the loudest. cnn. you are watching cnn on this monday afternoon. i'm brooke baldwin. thank you so much for being with me. we are following new updates now in today's terrifying rampage at ohio state university. we now have details about this young man. say young, 18 years young, who drove his car into a crowd of students before stepping out of it, had a butcher's knife and

started just slashing people left and right. investigators say the suspect, who was shot and killed by police, is an 18-year-old of somali dissent who is a legal, permanent resident. >> about 9:52 a.m. a male suspect drove a vehicle over the curb, west 19th, west of college avenue, struck pedestrians. he exited the vehicle and used a butcher knife to start cutting pedestrians. our officer was on scene in less than a minute and he ended the situation in less than a minute. he engaged the suspect and he eliminated the threat. the suspect is doa. >> there were multiple injuries related to lacerations or cuts. most likely, as the chief said, from the stab wounds from the butcher knife. then there were a number of people that had orthopedic and other soft tissue injuries related to being hit by t