same place as all your other entertainment. on xfinity x1. good morning, i'm carol costello. we have confirmed the former texas governor rick perry has been selected for energy secretary. you might remember rick perry at one time wanted to abolish the energy department but mr. trump hoping he'll become his energy secretary very soon. jason carroll live at trump tower to tell us more, good morning. >> good morning, carol. it was back in 2011 during that

debate when rick perry was asked which three departments he would eliminate if he became president. he had that sort of an oops moment where he couldn't remember which department he wanted to eliminate, at lead not all three of them at first. then later on during that debate he said yes, one of those departments i would eliminate would be the department of energy, the department he has now been tasked with heading up. so that is one of the developments here from trump tower. also, a lot of talk still about trump's choice, rex tillerson, for secretary of state. a number of gop leaders weighing in at this point. coming forward in support of tillerson. people like newt gingrich, people like condoleezza rice, issuing a statement, saying tillerson is an excellent choice. he will bring to the post broad international experience, a deep understanding of the global economy and a belief in america's special role in the world. also, bob gates coming forward in support of tillerson as well.

saying he is a person of great integrity whose only goal in office would be to protect and advance the interests of the united states. also clearly carol, a number of people, gop leaders included, coming forward, very critical of this choice. people like rubio saying he's got concerns about this, also people like senator john mccain. earlier today out here at trump tower, mike pence coming forward offering his support for the choice. >> we just couldn't be more grateful someone of rex tillerson's proving accomplishments is willing to step forward, serve our nation as our next secretary of state. >> critics are very concerned about tillerson's ties to the kremlin specifically to russia's president vladimir putin. in other news here at trump tower, just a short while ago, rap star kanye west showed up

here at trump tower. you'll remember during several of his concerts, he came out in support of donald trump and then shortly thereafter checked himself into -- for medical care, suffering from what some say was exhaustion. so he's been here at trump tower. for what reason, we do not know. perhaps just to offer his support for donald trump, the president-elect. carol. >> all right, jason carroll, many interesting things happening inside trump tower. thank you so much. back to mr. trump's pick for secretary of state, rex tillerson. he's garnering praise from some because of his experience in the business world. earlier today, the house speaker paul ryan tweeted this, quote, congratulations to rex tillerson, a proven leader and person of enormous accomplishment. tillerson is not a shoo-in for secretary of state. he still needs to be confirmed by the senate and considering his close ties to russia, he could be looking at a heated showdown on capitol hill, manu raju has that, good morning,

manu. >> good morning, carol. this is the first time since donald trump was elected president last month we have seen republican senators baulk at one of the president-elect's cabinet picks. we've not heard from majority leader mcconnell who himself is a critic of russia and a number of republicans who sit on the senate foreign relations committee are silent as well. in a troubling sign for the nomination, florida senator marco rubio said this morning he has serious concerns about tillerson and that's a problem because he sits on the foreign relations committee where the republicans have only a one-seat advantage on the panel. so if rubio votes no with all the democrats, that could be enough to stall the nomination. now, of course, this all stems to tillerson's close ties to russia, at a time when republican senators want to take a hard line. one of those senators, john mccain. speaking on "the lead" yesterday. >> anybody who's a friend of vladimir putin must disregard the fact that vladimir putin is a murderer, a thug, a kgb agent,

whose airplanes, as we speak, have been targeting, with precision weapons, hospitals in aleppo. >> now, on the floor, tillerson cannot lose more than three republican votes. if the democrats stay united in opposition. already four republicans have expressed some level of concern about the selection. that has led the outgoing senate democratic leader harry reid to say he doesn't think tillerson will get approval from the chamber. >> well, i don't know if he can get 50 votes or not. i think it might be hard to do that. >> reports he was seeing about the russian connections concern you any way, given -- >> it's in keeping with trump. he's already stated he likes putin better than he likes obama. so it's obvious he likes russia. and that's fairly concerning to the world and certainly concerning to america. concerning to me.

>> now, the trump team is going on a pr offensive and they're getting backing from a number of heavyweights in the republican foreign policy establishment, including condoleezza rice, that could potentially give some cover to republicans nervous about tillerson's nomination and, carol, tillerson has plenty of time to allay some of those concerns once he starts meeting with senators through those lengthy confirmation proceedings on capitol hill. >> manu raju reporting live from washington, thank you. with me to talk about this is democratic senator ben cardin of maryland, welcome, sir. >> good to be with you, thanks. >> nice to have you here. tillerson has no military or diplomatic experience. he's a great deal maker though. is he a good choice for secretary of state? >> well, i think the confirmation process is going to be critically important here. i'm looking forward to that. obviously, his lack of international foreign policy experience is something we're going to want to talk about. you know mr. trump has made many comments during his campaign.

we're going to be interested in learning about the trump foreign policy commitments. but in regard to mr. tillerson himself, his ties to exxon and the ties to vladimir putin are going to be matters of tremendous interest during confirmation. we want to make sure that the secretary of state's going to put the united states interests before economic commercial interest of a private company or as it relates to other issues. these are important considerations. we are concerned about his statements on climate. that's going to be an issue i think will come up during confirmation. >> we just got this statement in from the former secretary of defense, robert gates. he likes mr. tillerson. he writes, in part, he is a person of great integrity whose only goal in office would be to protect and advance the interest of the united states. i met rex years earlier through a mutual involvement in and leadership of the boy scouts of america. i know this eagle scout will be be a global champion of the best values of our country. is that valuable to you, this

statement from robert gates? >> that's what we're going to delve into during the confirmation process. it's one thing about being successful business leader. it's another thing about being the top diplomat for the united states globally. there's a lot of challenges. we need to know where his priorities are going to be. what he thinks of mr. putin. how he believes america needs to stand up or basic values for human rights for good governance, for anti-corruption, those are issues that in russia they don't exist. so will be interesting to see how he responds to those types of questions. >> you called for a nonpartisan commission to investigate russia's involvement in the last election. senator mcconnell, he's expressed a desire for an investigation as well. are you on the same page? >> well, i'm for kng doing its responsibility on oversight. i think the senate foreign relations committee's going to have an important role to play. we need to do that. what we do know is with a high degree of certainty, russia hacked into our -- into the

democratic party apparatus and to republicans also, and then they tried to influence our election. that's what we do know. i think it's important that there be a nonpartisan independent investigation so the american people have confidence that we're taking the appropriate steps to protect our country and to take action against those who have attacked us, whether it's a mig or mouse, we've been attacked. >> do you believe russia tried to tilt the election toward donald trump? >> i think it's very clear that russia did, in fact, commit a cyberattack against the united states, used that information to try to influence the election. now, whether that was on behalf of a particular candidate, there's been reports the answer is yes. i don't -- it's information i want to find out about. >> kellyanne conway says trump will not interfere in the investigation but mr. trump has called the cia's allegations that, you know, russia tried to tilt the election toward trump

ridiculous. he calls that ridiculous. so how will that come to play come january? >> well, quite frankly, we have the best intelligence agencies in the world. i respect their information greatly. i think we need to listen to what they have to say. that's why i think an independent investigation would be very helpful to the american people. it's not what mr. trump thinks or what i think. it's where the facts lead us. i think an independent investigation could help us in that regard. >> there have been reports that mr. trump is skipping daily intelligence briefings. reince priebus says that's not true but here's what president obama had to say about it, listen. >> if you're not getting their perspective, their detailed perspective, then you are flying blind. you know, part of what we have done is to just hammer away at

the basic principle that intelligence shall not be subject to political spin. and i'm very proud of the fact that over the course of the eight years, the message i've sent to every intelligence agency is i want it straight. >> so the president-elect says the briefings are redundant. what does that say to you about how trump will run his white house? >> that's of great concern. i think president obama's absolutely correct. the president of the united states, the office, must have the best information available. the president will make the decision as commander in chief. that we understand. but we must accept the information given to him by the experts so he can make the right decision for the national security of our nation. saying that he knows all this information or it's redundant, it's just plain wrong. things canning overnight every night. and the president needs to have that information.

>> he would say, sir, that the cia and the fbi have become politicized and he has to carefully choose what he listens to. >> that's just not accurate. we pride ourselves in having professional nonpartisan agencies that collect nfc, that analyze information that will prosecute where prosecution is needed. these are independent career people that are trying to do what's best for our nation. they present the facts. it's then up to the leadership, the president of the united states, to make the decisions that are required. >> mr. trump also says the intelligence services, namely the cia, it's been wrong in the past, so why should he believe everything the intelligence agencies tell him. >> well, quite frankly, the fact is they've been right so many times. when they're right, there's no press releases that are issued by it. since 9/11, our country has been kept safe. the intelligence community has

provided us information that we've acted upon that have kept america safe. they're professional career people who have only the interest of our nation at heart. they are not partisan. we have a responsibility to support their efforts so they have the tools necessary that they can give us that information. when the president-elect says that he knows more than they know, i think that's a real problem. or it's redundant information, that's a real problem because that's just not true. >> senator ben cardin, thanks for joining me this morning. still to come in the "newsroom," donald trump says no one is prepared to be secretary of state than his nominee. your insurance company

won't replace the full value of your totaled new car. the guy says you picked the wrong insurance plan. no, i picked the wrong insurance company. with liberty mutual new car replacement™, you won't have to worry about replacing your car because you'll get the full value back including depreciation. and if you have more than one liberty mutual policy, you qualify for a multi-policy discount, saving you money on your car and home coverage. call for a free quote today. liberty stands with you™. liberty mutual insurance. from icy ocean waters... to your kitchen counter. on. pure. pristine. each one its own delicious artic prize. when you cook with incredible ingredients...

you make incredible meals. fresh ingredients. step-by-step-reciepes. delivered to your door, for less than $9 a meal. get $30 off your first delivery blueapron.com/cook.

chris christie, newt gingrich and rudy giuliani, all top surrogates for donald trump during his campaign but all came up empty-handed when it came to getting a job in the trump administration. for his part, rudy giuliani says that it was his choice, not the president-elect's. >> it was not. but two very high positions. cabinet level positions. which he offered me and as far as i'm concerned, he fulfilled whatever loyalty that entails. i mean, it was my own decision not to do it. largely because of my personal life. >> still, for someone who places loyalty at the top of the list trump's shutout of the longtime friends has rumors swirling to be dramatic. cnn political director david chalian and cnn political analyst ron brownstein. what do you make of what giuliani said? >> it's a little different than what we heard. kellyanne conway the trump

adviser say when she called it a mutual decision, when it was announced giuliani will not be getting a job. rudy giuliani made it clear he wanted to be secretary of state, and after looking at the possibility of that, donald trump came to the conclusion that's not who he wanted for secretary of state. we know that there were talks about homeland security, other agencies, but giuliani really sort of was like state or bust. and you heard him. i think what really honestly he said there was it had to do with his personal life, his personal business dealings. he would have had a really tough vetting process to get through even though he likely would have been confirmed to any position. but i think a lot of the things we saw about private speeches, working for foreign governments we saw during the campaign with hillary clinton, rudy giuliani

would have had very similar circumstances. >> will he serve in some capacity unknown to us at this the time? >> a small handful of public officials who actually actively supported donald trump and i think david is right. he didn't get the job he wanted. whether or not donald trump offered him a consolation prize, as he says or not, really is immaterial. the job he wanted ultimately went to someone else. it was going to be a flash point of his own, secretary of state. yes, i do think, you know, rudy giuliani, there's no reason for him to be kind of exiled from the circle. i do think donald trump values his "vie his views, certainly values his support during the campaign. trump has shown himself willing to go beyond the narrow circle of republican officials who supported him. he's had more freedom in picking his cabinet than any newly elected president because so little of the party's infrastructure actively supported his candidacy. >> okay, so on that note, let's talk about rick perry. cnn has just confirmed rick perry is donald trump's pick to

be energy secretary. remember back in the day when rick perry was running for president and that horrible debate he had? well, let me remind you, here it is. >> in order to have peace in the middle east, you know that you have to be able to bring people to the table that might not always like each other but you have somebody that's capable of doing that. and so having relationships with people that would otherwise -- >> i'll tell you, it's three agencies of government that are there, commerce, education and -- ways the third one there, let's see -- >> five. >> oh, okay, five. commerce, education and the, um, um -- >> epa? >> epa, there you go. >> seriously? epa the one you were talking about? >> no, sir, no, sir. we were talking about agencies of government. the epa needs to be rebuilt.

>> but you can't name the third one? >> the third agency of government i would do away with, the education, the -- >> commerce. >> commerce. and let's see. i can't. the third one, i can't. sorry. oops. >> okay, so he meant to say -- that was so painful, david. i feel bad about showing that again. it was so painful. but he did mean the department of energy. an agency that he maybe will head very soon. so how does that wash exactly? >> remember, donald trump has talked about at one point getting rid of the department of education. you know, there will be one still. he's appointed somewhere there. this has been some sort of mainstream republican rhetoric to want to close down some of these federal departments. yes, now some of those very critics will be leading this. i do want to say, carol, that was rick perry's first presidential run. his second presidential run, which was more brief when he was actually an opponent donald

trump's very early in the season and came out with a scathing rebuke of donald trump at that time. and now he's going to be sitting in cabinet meetings working for donald trump as his energy secretary. to ron's point earlier, i think this is one of those that shows donald trump not afraid to take former critics and seat them at the table. >> so do you think that's it or is maybe rick perry someone that donald trump can control? >> no, look, think it's very telling to see perry and tillerson nominations kind of in tandem. they tell you a couple things. i think the biggest thing they tell you is on most domestic issues with a couple of exceptions, donald trump is largely in tune with what the republican party and congress has wanted to do in terms of rolling back federal regulation, reducing federal spending, cutting taxes and kind of diminish being the role of the federal government in national life. it is on foreign policy where he represents more of a break from what republicans have been

thinking. where it is more potential conflict over the role of nato, over the relationship with russia, over all of the questions that are going to come up in the rex tillerson nomination. i think what is so striking about that is donald trump went ahead with that after clear signals of concern from several republican senators about what this will mean for u.s. relations with russia. i think that elevates this nomination to something more than a test of mr. tillerson himself. it really is donald trump putting down a gauntlet for senate republicans about who is in charge, particularly as he try to redirect foreign policy in a way that is very different than many republicans have believed it should go in the past. >> all right, i have to leave it there. chalian, ron brown steen, thanks. donald trump has business ties all other the world. what he says he'll do with them before -- actually, he was supposed to tell us that on thursday but he's no longer going to do that. we'll talk about that next. 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, you switch to geico. growwwlph. it's what you do. oh that is good crispy duck. this year at t-mobile, the holidays are on us! switch your family of four to t-mobile, get unlimited everything, and we'll give you $800. that's right! $800 to spend anywhere you want. plus, all season long, get awesome deals on smartphones, tablets, and accessories. hurry in to t-mobile and get your holidays on us. imy moderate to severeng crohn's disease. i didn't think there was anything else to talk about.

but then i realized there was. so, i finally broke the silence with my doctor about what i was experiencing. he said humira is for people like me who have tried other medications but still experience the symptoms of moderate to severe crohn's disease. in clinical studies, the majority of patients on humira saw significant symptom relief. and many achieved remission. humira can lower your ability to fight infections, including tuberculosis. serious, sometimes fatal infections and cancers, including lymphoma, have happened; as have blood, liver, and nervous system problems, serious allergic reactions, and new or worsening heart failure. before treatment, get tested for tb. tell your doctor if you've been to areas where certain fungal infections are common, and if you've had tb, hepatitis b, are prone to infections, or have flu-like symptoms or sores. don't start humira if you have an infection. if you're still just managing your symptoms, talk with your gastroenterologist about humira. with humira, remission is possible.

good morning, i'm carol costello. thank you so much for joining me. on thursday, we were supposed to learn how donald trump was going to cut off all of his business ties so he could concentrate solely on being president of the united states. we got word in the last couple of days trump has now postponed that news conference. there's the tweet. of course it came via tweet. he said i will hold a press conference in the in near future to discuss the business, cabinet picks and all other topics of interest. busy times. brian stelter is here, our senior media correspondent and our chief business correspondent christine romans joins me as well. >> hi, carol. >> so we're just trying to

figure out why donald trump postponed this big news conference. because everybody is eager to hear how he's going to cut ties with his many businesses across the globe and concentrate on being president. >> a very thorny situation for him. one he must have been thinking about even before winning the presidency last month. his aides say he needs more time, more importantly, his lawyers need more time to figure this out. worth keeping in mind, he could also have a press conference about the hundreds of other questions we have about other topics. normally when a new president is elected after a second term that person holdings a press conference one, two, three, four days after being elected. the average since 1970 is 3.4 days. as with so many other things donald trump doing things very differently, not holding a press conference in his first five weeks. >> he held a press conference with kanye west. >> to trump's credit, he's had a few interview, but he hasn't had that formal press conference setting a lot of people are waiting for. >> could it be because his business ties are so complicated that they're just not quite

ready to say anything yet? >> they're legitimately very busy here. everybody on his team will say that. they're working hard and fast to get some of these name also out. in terms of how difficult it is to disentangle donald trump from his business empire, i mean, he has said now, these new tweets overnight, he's going to -- no new deals and he is, in january, going to talk about how he's stepping away from his business. but carol, stepping away from his business, if his children are still running it, if he, you know, we'd like to know what kind of loans he has outstanding, foreign governments, foreign companies, tied to over governments. what kind of entanglements could be a potential conflict? we still haven't seen his taxes. i don't think we will. so we don't know, carol, what is in that big ball of wax. i think they're buying themselves some more time to figure out what is going to satisfy the critics who would like to see a blind trust and what will satisfy donald trump who wants to see his kids in charge of his business. >> do you really think, brian, we'll see paperwork from donald trump? because i don't think we will.

>> this is not a black box but not a clear transparent box either. there's a lot we don't know about his business empire. it's very hard to know what untangling it will look like. >> 564 companies. he has stakes in. 550 international holdings. there may or may not be, i don't know, chinese banking money, russian banking money. there could be middle eastern money. >> right, it's the unknowns. >> he operates in 25 different countries. a little bit of financial disclosure there would be nice. you know, jimmy carter, bill clinton, george bush, they put things in a black box, in a blind trust. donald trump's name is on this empire, you know, i don't know how you take his name off the empire, that's not going to happen. >> it seems right now he's going to leave the running of the business to his two sons. eivanka trump it sees will not e involved because she's going to move to washington with her husband jared kushner and both

of them are going to play some role in trump's administration but we don't know what, right? >> to his credit, we have, what, five more weeks until inauguration day. we're at the halfway mark. i think what's intriguing is you wonder how much thought was given to this before election day. surely mr. trump must have thought about these issues coming up if he were to be elected but it doesn't seem -- it doesn't seem as if there was a formal plan that was thought about before election day. >> i thought ivanka trump was his point person for the business. >> now ivanka trump is the most popular of the trumps around the world. merchandise with her name in japan for example and around the world. she has become a role model and icon. she's more popular and more i guess sought after now as kind of an american symbol. so it's interesting that she'll be going -- some have said maybe as a kind of surrogate daughter/first lady type, ceremonial role. so it looks like she's stepping away from the business. she has a business that has millions of dollars of revenue every year that bears her name

too so that will be face n fascinating -- >> she wants to get involved in child care policies, working women across the country. >> she could get involved in things that are not conservative, by that, i mean climate change, paid leave policies, not popular among the business republicans. she might very well take that role, sort of separate or isolate her father from antagonizing conservative republicans. >> christine romans, brian stelter, thanks to both of you. aleppo is on the brink of falling. dozens of children trapped. pro-government forces execute innocent civilians. e in here fo? i'm gonna take mucinex sinus-max. too late, we're about to take off. these dissolve fast. they're liquid gels. and you're coming with me... you realize i have gold status? mucinex sinus-max liquid gels. dissolves fast to unleash max strength medicine. let's end this. won't replace the full value of your totaled new car.

the guy says you picked the wrong insurance plan. no, i picked the wrong insurance company. with liberty mutual new car replacement™, you won't have to worry about replacing your car because you'll get the full value back including depreciation. and if you have more than one liberty mutual policy, you qualify for a multi-policy discount, saving you money on your car and home coverage. call for a free quote today. liberty stands with you™. liberty mutual insurance.

nothseafood celebration.self" like red lobster's holiday so try new dishes like the new grand seafood feast, and the new wild-caught lobster & shrimp trio, with a lobster mac-and-cheese topped lobster tail. come treat yourself to feast fit for the season before it ends. that just tastes better. with more vitamins. and 25% less saturated fat. only eggland's best. better taste. better nutrition. better eggs.

a spokesperson for the united nations is calling the dire situation in aleppo, syria now. the latest unfolding emergency, the u.n. says about 100 children are now trapped in a building in eastern aleppo and that building is under heavy attack. a doctor on the ground says they've been separated from their parents. this comes after the u.n. cited reports that pro-government forces killed 82 civilians including 11 women and 13 children. the reports say forces loyal to the syrian regime shooting people on the spot. all of this happening in eastern aleppo. and that's where 7-year-old bana and her family have been hiding out. bana's twitter feed highlighting the toll the war is taking on syria's children. her last tweet, ten hours ago. quote, my name is bana. i'm 7 years old. i am talking to the world now live from east aleppo. this is my last moment to either live or die. bana.

cnn's frederik pleitgen live in beirut with more, hi, fred. >> hi, carol, you know, it really just shows how horrible the situation is on the ground there in aleppo and also how it changes really from moment to moment. at this point, it's really unclear what the situation for instance bana and her family is and what it will be in the coming hours. the syrian government is saying they're in the final stages of clearing out those final pockets the rebels hold there in eastern aleppo. again, it's unclear whether or not these atrocities took place, that you were mentioning before. the u.n. says it has reports they believe could be credible. it's unclear how many people have been killed in the past days, in the past hours. there's a group on the ground called the white helmets that helps pull people from the rubble when houses are destroyed and they're saying, i quote, this is also a tweet, there is no total number of casualties in besieged aleppo today. the streets and destroyed buildings are full of dead

bodies, quote, it's hell. i was on the ground in aleppo just a couple days ago. i think one thing we need to make clear to viewers is the firepower that's been unleashed on those areas is much more than we've seen even by the standards of syria's civil war. it was battles that were ongoing. there was no stop, there were very heavy weapons being used and that's why it's so difficult to come by any information, especially right now, as those syrian government forces move in. a lot of the sources of information we've been getting, really, they're offline at this point because many of them are on the run, carol. >> so frederick, who is responsible for this target killing of civilians in aleppo? >> you know, the u.n. says they have reports that it's pro government forces that are doing this. there's a lot of different groups fighting on the side of the syrian government. you have the syrian military itself. you have a shiite forces from iraq.

iranian forces. hezbollah, a group here from lebanon, fighting on the ground as well. then of course you have the russians with its air force and also with some ground forces again. now, we have to point out these reports are not verified yet, they're not confirmed. the u.n. says the people who told them this are people who have been trustworthy. but it's difficult even for them to come by information because many of them are on the run and the syrian government has not commented. of course there is huge concern for the safety of many of those civilians who right now are trying to get out of harm's way as these battles are really in a very, very decisive and very harsh phase, carol. >> all right, frederik pleitgen, reporting from beirut, this morning. up next in the "newsroom" we'll talk about the plight of the children in syria.

lyou gotta make a truck heavier to make it stronger, has been workin' too long without a hard hat. meet the all-new 2017 ford super duty. they cut weight with a high-strength, military grade, aluminum alloy body and reinvested a big chunk of it to beef up the high-strength steel frame. forging the most capable heavy-duty pickup in america. time to punch work in the face. this is the next level. this is the all-new ford super duty. i discovered a woman my family tree, named marianne gaspard. i became curious where in africa she was from.

so i took the ancestry dna test to find out more about my african roots. ancestry really helped me fill in a lot of details.

before the break, we saw a compelling story of a little girl in aleppo, but she is just one of so many people, so many children who have suffered in that city. hundreds of thousands of people have died in that civil war.

it's been raging since 2011. many of those who died are children. with me now is franklin graham, president and ceo of samaritans first and the billy graham evangelistic association, welcome, i'm so glad you're here. >> thank you, carol. >> i see you have a gift. >> you know, i do. it's christmas and i love christmas and we need a break from politics. this year, samaritans purse, we are gathering over 12 million shoe boxes just like this and we'll go to 130 countries with them. some of them will be in syria. we're going to iraq with them. especially the kids coming out of mosul now. this is all packed by individual families. we have several hundred thousand volunteers that help us put these boxes together. i want every child in the world to know that god loves them and that he cares for them and this is what christmas is all about. the bible says that god so loved the world. god sent his son jesus cite to this world to take our sins and

die on a cross for our sins. i want the children of the world to know god loves them. >> how can you give that message to children in syria? it's such a message of hope and i don't mean to dim that. what i just saw with fred pleitgen's report is so disturbing. 100 children trapped in a building being bombed right now. >> that's right, that's why i want the children when we give gifts to kids like that, that are coming out of mosul, coming out of aleppo, i want then to know they aren't forgotten, that god loves them. they have lived in horror, they've lived in hell. they have experienced and seen things we would never dream of. it's important we reach out to these children and tell them god loves them. and we love them. >> i know you work in countries like syria and you work in iraq, in mosul, iraq, you're going to building a hospital which is going to be up and running by christmas day, which is great. but many americans, well, they're not receptive to syrian refugees or children. some of them have no place to

go. so what do you say to those refugees, those children who can't escape their war-torn country and have nowhere to go? >> we go to they and help them there. that's what we do. >> it's very hard to get into syria now or anywhere near aleppo. >> we'll got people there now. you can get into syria. but it's dangerous, no question about it. any type during the war zone, it's dangerous. samaritans purse has teamed of people. that's what we do. we go into these difficult places of the world to try and help people there. america can't take all the people in the world. you just can't do it. we've got to find ways and avenues to assist people near their home. most syrians don't want to come to america. they want to go back to their homes. >> i interviewed a syrian couple who wants to do exactly that. but home syria is totally destroyed. they have no choice but to go to another country. >> after second world war, most of europe was destroyed. you have to build it back. weep got to help the syrians find a political solution and open up the avenue to rebuild.

>> you know i'm going to ask the tough question. what is the political solution in syria? >> you're going to have to get the united states and russia together along with the russians and syrians and work out a solution. >> germany's chancellor said russia is partly responsible for killing civilians in aleppo. >> it's a war and civilians are killed on both sides, no question. >> hundreds and thousands of civilians. >> this has been going on a long time. probably could have all been averted if president obama, when he said this is a line in the sand, if you cross it, this is what we're going to do, and he did nothing. so we have to go back to that point. >> what can president-elect trump, how can he establish a relationship with russia that would stop the violence in syria? does he not support bashar al assad? what does he do? >> i can't answer that question. i think no question, we're going to have to talk to the russians. you can't ignore them. just like benjamin netanyahu.

when russia put their troops into northern syria, he went to talk to them. he said, listen, we don't need something that will escalate out of control and we start a hot conflict. we need to work together to defeat these enemies and that's what they're doing. we need to work with russia. we need to work with the syrian government. >> you're all for normalizing relations with russia. >> of course, this is the largest land mass in the world. they've got nuclear weapons. we are just going to say we don't like you guys? >> you're not concerned that senator mcconnell has come out and said russia is not our friend? >> they're not our friend. >> senator mccain said putin is a thug. >> there's a lot thugs in this world. we've got to talk to the thugs. we've got to work with the thugs so we can have peace in this world. if we just sit back with our arms folded and say, you know, we're not going to talk to you guys, then nothing gets done. that's the problem with the politicianings in washington. they sit down there and do nothing. now we've got a man who's coming into the white house who wants to get things done.

and i hope and i pray, we all as americans, we need to pray for the president-elect and vice president-elect. they're going to be taking control of the reins of government very soon. we need to pray for them. >> let me ask you about the divisiveness in the country because there's a great divide in this country right now, right? >> yes. trump didn't divide it. this was divided long before -- >> see, when you say things like that, i think democrats in the audience are saying "oh, come on." republicans are saying go. >> i'm not a republican. so -- >> i know. but i'm just telling you how people receive those remarks. so if you want to heal the device itchneivisiveness in the what can be done? what should our leaders do? >> start working to make america great again. we need jobs. we need hope for the future. the only way you have hope for the future is if a kid goes to college and comes out and knows i can get a job. >> well, those people are

getting job, college graduates. >> a lot of them are not. a lot of people out there are unemployed. when you see our factories go to other countries and then let them bring their products back in with no tariffs. this is terrible. i live in north carolina. where so much of our manufacturing base has gone to other countries and people are out of jobs, out of work. they say, we'll retrain you. they don't want to be a computer programmer. they want to do the same job. there was pride in the manufacturing and building. and we've taken all that away. >> oh, man, you've opened a can of worms and i'm going to have a conversation with you later. >> okay. >> franklin graham, thank you. >> merry christmas. >> i'll be right back. oh, that's lovely... so graceful. the corkscrew spin, flawless... ...his signature move, the flying dutchman. poetry in motion. and there it is, the "baby bird". breathtaking. a sumo wrestler figure skating?

surprising. what's not surprising? how much money heather saved by switching to geico. fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more. imy moderate to severeng crohn's disease. i didn't think there was anything else to talk about. but then i realized there was. so, i finally broke the silence with my doctor about what i was experiencing. he said humira is for people like me who have tried other medications but still experience the symptoms of moderate to severe crohn's disease. in clinical studies, the majority of patients on humira

saw significant symptom relief. and many achieved remission. humira can lower your ability to fight infections, including tuberculosis. serious, sometimes fatal infections and cancers, including lymphoma, have happened; as have blood, liver, and nervous system problems, serious allergic reactions, and new or worsening heart failure. before treatment, get tested for tb. tell your doctor if you've been to areas where certain fungal infections are common, and if you've had tb, hepatitis b, are prone to infections, or have flu-like symptoms or sores. don't start humira if you have an infection. if you're still just managing your symptoms, talk with your gastroenterologist about humira. with humira, remission is possible.

we need to be ready for my name's scott strenfel and r i'm a meteorologist at pg&e. we make sure that our crews as well as our customers are prepared to how weather may impact their energy. so every single day we're monitoring the weather, and when storm events arise our forecast get crews out ahead of the storm to minimize any outages. during storm season we want our customers to be ready and stay safe. learn how you can be prepared at pge.com/beprepared.

together, we're building a better california. at 54 minutes past. in georgia, six officers have been shot in six days. latest last night in the city of lavonia. the gunman at large after shooting two officers while they were trying to arrest him. both officers in last night's shooting are expected to be okay. as for the other four shootings, two officers have died. a judge says bill cosby's deposition on sex and drugs charges will be allowed in his upcoming criminal case. right now, the same judge is hearing arguments on whether to let as many as 13 accusers confront him in court. prosecutors in the andrea constant case say they want to

show a pattern of behavior over decades. cosby's criminal trial set for next june. pennsylvania congressman fatah has been sentenced to ten years in prison. he was found guilty of racketeering, fraud and money laundering. a judge finding he misspent government funds and charity money to fund a past campaign and cover personal extensions. check your kitchen cabinet. cuisinart is recalling 8 million food processors because of a blade malfunction. nearly 100 people have fund broken blades in their processed food. dozens have sliced their mouth or broken their teeth. the recall applies to 32 different models made between 1996 and 2015. nearly two decades ago, a 6-year-old beauty queen was found murdered in her own home. today, that murder remains unsolved. we're talking about jonbenet ramsey.

with the 20 year anniversary of her death, cnn is digging into the mystery. jean casarez has a rare interview with her father john ramsey about finding his daughter's body and that odd ransom note. >> on new year's eve in their hometown, atlanta, georgia, the family buried jonbenet. >> i think it's the worst thing a human being can experience, is the loss of a child. >> but things for john and patsy were about to get even worse. investigators had grown suspicisu suspicio suspicious. >> a lot of things didn't make sense. why leave a ransom note with her body still in the house. >> my first impression was this guy wrote the magna carta. >> you will withdraw $118,000 from your account. >> if i were kidnapping this guy's daughter, i'd ask for a quarter million. million dollars. so the amount of money is really odd to me. >> the rams yips thought so too.

>> what's that mean? we looked at psalm 118. was it a biblical -- where did this number come from? >> when did it hit you the $118,000 equated to your christmas bonus? >> it didn't initially. because that bonus had actually occurred a year earlier, in january of '96, but it was on every pay stub that i got. >> police asked the ramseys for handwriting samples. john gave them two notepads. >> these pads were pads that were kept by the telephone and each, john and patsy had their own pads. >> detectives concluded the ransom note was written on pages torn out of patsy's notepad. >> jean casarez joins me now. it's just a fascinating case on so many levels. >> once you start thinking about it and talking about it and looking at the evidence there is, you just can't stop talking about it. john ramsey doesn't like to relive it. he does not do interviews, very

rarely. we were able to go into a remote small little town that he now lives in that he does not want disclosed. i spoke to him for hours. the insight you get as he relives this, and it was emotional for him to relive it and questions because he and his wife were indicted unanimously by the grand jury but the prosecutor did not bring charges because he didn't believe he could prove it beyond a reasonable doubt. that true bill of indictment was returned. one note, so fascinating, when he found her body, there was duct tape on her mouth, which i don't think we really know about. he ripped it off because he just couldn't stand having his daughter with the duct tape. i spoke to acclaimed forensic expert dr. daniel spitz who said it's a shame the duct tape was taken off because it could have been a mechanism of death, but it was a brutal death. >> does he have any idea who

killed his daughter to this day? >> he believes it's someone he worked with. remember, he had a company that had made $1 billion that year in boulder. he believes it was someone within the company that knew of him. because of that $118,000, which was the bonus that year. they knew intricate things about him in the ransom note which was a hoax because it wasn't a kidnapping at all. but that's watt experts tell him. >> well, you know what many people suspect, they suspect his son. his son was on dr. phil recently, right? so how do -- >> still controversial. >> yes, very controversial. do they still have a close relationship? >> oh, very close, extremely close. we have some pictures of his son that sflefr behave never been bt before. his response, it's ludicrous, it was a 9-year-old little boy. it was a brutal violent crime. he couldn't have done it. they have a wonderful relationship and he's very angry about those allegations. >> i can understand why he lives in a remote town because he'd

never be left alone. even to this day, even though it happened 20 years ago. i can't wait to watch the special, thanks so much for stopping by. cnn special report, the murder of jonbenet ramsey, airs tonight 9:00 p.m. eastern and pacific time. thank you for joining me today. "at this hour" starts now. hello, i'm kate bolduan. john berman is off today. waiting game is over. the winner of donald trump's latest reality show who wants to be my secretary of state has been decided. exxon mobil ceo rex tillerson. tillerson is a millionaire many times over with the wealth of global business experience but no formal political or diplomatic experience. his nomination drawing praise and concern at the same time. do in large part to his long-standing business relationship with russian president vladimir putin. that may be a problem for some of trump's own party. like this guy. republican senator