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successful team continue with me in leading our country. steve and reince are highly qualified leaders who worked well together on our campaign and led us to a historic victory. now i will have them both with me in the white house as we work to make america great again." let's dig into this breaking news, because perhaps the bannon announcement is even more significant than the chief of staff announcement. we're going to get into exactly why. dana bash is with me, our cnn chief political correspondent. dana bash, i'm going to get to reince priebus in a moment, but let's just talk about steve bannon. this is so unconventional. this is someone who leads up until just a few months ago breitbart news. >> that's right. >> seen by many as the leader of sort of the media for the alt-right movement. what does this tell you? and tell the american people who steve bannon is. >> reporter: right. well, you're right, reince priebus that was sort of -- as we're getting that information, the fact that he is the chief of staff in the trump administration, is a sigh of relief to a lot of republicans because he is somebody who's

respected and well known. steve bannon, frankly, among a lot of republicans, democrats and alike, is the opposite. he is somebody not only who has used, before he came to the trump campaign, used breitbart, which is a conservative publication, to go after republicans, even and especially more than democrats, fellow republicans. it also has been the source of a lot of controversy with regard to some anti-semitic comments, some comments that have been viewed as in line with white supremacy and others along those lines. it is -- frankly, he had represented a site, breitbart, that is as out of the mainstream as you could possibly think of. now, he argues that the people who are reading breitbart are the ones who were not surprised that trump won the presidency. but if you kind of dig deep into some of the things that he has said and done, which is going to

happen -- it happened a little bit when he became the ceo of trump's campaign, but when you dig deep, it's going to make a lot of republicans extremely uncomfort ab uncomfortable, the fact that he is going to have such a huge role inside the trump administration. >> and never mind that reince priebus is going to be working side by side with him. >> well, and dana, two questions. bloomberg politics did this big, deep dive on steve bannon last year, before he was part of the trump campaign. this is the headline -- "this is the most dangerous political operative in america." you remember this article. >> reporter: i do. >> and i wonder how the two men will work together. is it sort of like one on one shoulder, one on the other? who wins out? do these guys get along? >> reporter: they do. you know, they did work very closely together during the campaign, particularly during the last couple of months of the campaign when steve bannon not only became the ceo but became more and more prominent and

influential behind the scenes with the trump campaign and with donald trump himself. now, i was told by a source close to reince priebus that this is something that the two of them worked out based on their partnership in dealing with donald trump and his organization, meaning the campaign, during that time, and that they feel that they can each sort of manage different parts of the republican party, and frankly, different parts of donald trump himself. the fact that reince priebus is in the chief of staff role, that he is a conduit to republican leaders, to republican establishment figures, to governors, to people who he has a relationship with just by virtue of the fact that he's been rnc chair, never mind the house speaker, paul ryan who he has a very close friendship with. >> right. >> they grew up together in republican politics in wisconsin. but given the fact that, you know when we first heard the news first of reince priebus about an hour or so ago, i was reporting on the fact that this is going to make a lot of people

breathe a sigh of relief. but coupled with the steve bannon news, it's sort of relief, but then that's overtaken, i think, by a lot of people having heart palpitations about this. >> dana, stay with me. david axelrod, to dana's point, tweeting "choice of reince for chief of staff over bannon seems like a signal that trump is taking a more conventional, conservative path." that just before the bannon news broke. let me bring in our correspondent jim acosta on the phone. jim what can you tell us? >> reporter: well, i think this is a pretty telling move by donald trump here. he is, almost like he did with his vice presidential choice, he's going with a selection here that is going to keep the republican establishment happy. you know, we saw during the vice presidential search, a lot of people in the establishment pushing mike pence over newt gingrich and chris christie, saying this was the safer choice, this is the choice that's going to calm things down in washington, calm things down

inside the party. and donald trump was faced with a similar dilemma here -- go with somebody like reince priebus, who is going to absolutely keep the establishment happy, absolutely keep people happy and congressional leadership up on capitol hill, or go with the pugnacious steve bannon, who represents the alt-right, the conservative base, the part of the republican party that is very fired up about the prospect of a donald trump presidency. keep in mind, you know, steve bannon is credited with persuading donald trump to make that trip to mexico, which was sort of an in-your-face move. there was a lot of second guessing on the republican side as to whether that was a good move for donald trump. it ended up being a very good move for donald trump. and so, you know, he has counsel that he trusts in his inner circle, not only steve bannon and reince priebus, but kellyanne conway, his san in lowe, jared kushner, his

daughter, ivanka trump. and i think you're seeing that core team from the campaign making its way to the white house. i think absolutely that steve bannon becomes sort of the karl rove or david axelrod of this incoming administration and this is going to be the person that donald trump turns to for political advice, perhaps when he's thinking about taking on a more aggressive tone on a certain subject. and reince priebus will be sort of the guy that tries to cool things down, tries to calm things down. you know, poppy, he was credited in the last stretch of the campaign, along with kellyanne conway, in persuading donald trump, listen, you've got to get off twitter. listen, you've got to stay on script. >> right. >> we can't have you going off the handle at your rallies at the very end of this campaign. and you saw donald trump sort of tone things down and cool things down. and so, he is sort of going to have -- and forgive the analogy here -- sort of the good angel on one shoulder and the devil on the other shoulder.

that's sort of what he set himself with going into this administration. but just as everyone has been saying about this press release, you know when steve bannon is sort of given top billing over the white house chief of staff, i think it's pretty telling that donald trump continues to want to have a pugnacious, aggressive tone going into this new administration. >> jim acosta, stay with me. just some other reporting this week from our gloria borger about why donald trump likes and trusts steve bannon so much. because one source telling gloria he is "completely about winning." and also, one point that a source told our gloria borger that is often overlooked when it comes to steve bannon is that he is more pragmatic than you would think when trying to achieve a goal. for instance, not a huge paul ryan fan but encouraged donald trump not to go after paul ryan when paul ryan wasn't exactly on donald trump's side. let's dig into a lot more of this. jim and dana, stay with me, because my panel is here and we want to talk more about who these figures are, since they will be such a big part of the white house. our senior media correspondent,

brian seltzer is with me and brian globe. first, i want to play trump's acceptance speech on the early morning hours wednesday after he was elected president. here's what he did. >> a very special person who, believe me -- and you know, i'd read reports that i wasn't getting along with him -- i never had a bad second with him --. he's an unbelievable star. he is -- that's right! how did you possibly guess? so, let me tell you about reince. and i've said this. i said, reince -- and i know it, i know it. look at all those people over there. i know it. reince is a superstar. but i said, they can't call you a superstar, reince, unless we win. but i'll tell you, reince is really a star. and he is the hardest working guy. and in a certain way, i did this -- reince, come up here. where is reince? get over here, reince. boy, oh, boy, oh, boy.

it's about time you did this, reince. huh? say a few words. >> no. >> no, come here. say something. >> ladies and gentlemen, the next president of the united states, donald trump! >> all right, let's bring back in my panel. charles glow is a senior commentator and op ed columnist for "the new york times." brian setter is with us, host of "reliable sourced," sierra brown, senior editor for "the atlantic," and jack kingston, a senior adviser to donald trump and a former congressman from the great state of georgia. thank you all for being here. brian, let me begin with you, because i think it's important to explain to our viewers what steve bannon represents in terms of breitbart, which as of last week -- or this week, he was still, you know, going to go back to running. what he represents in terms of the alt-right movement. >> this is the normalization of extreme alt-right rhetoric,

unless americans don't let it become normalized. breitbart, a website that thrives with white nationalist rhetoric. very, very incendiary kind of commentary. this is the type that he was running up until he joined the campaign, he said he was going to go back as of wednesday, after the campaign ended. now, of course, that's a question mark. whether he completely separates with breitbart or not, breitbart will be the media wing of the trump administration. but let's concentrate more on the importance of the white house role here. >> right. >> john weaver, who ran john mccain's campaign in 2008, just said on twitter "the racist, fascist, extreme right is represented now footsteps from the oval office." bannon would reject that. in the one conversation i had with him during the campaign, he said this is not a white nationalist movement. this is a populist movement. but certainly, what many americans hear this afternoon is that a white nationalist is steps from the oval office. >> charles blow, your thoughts. >> well, it's not just up to him to say it's not a racist organization. i mean, the southern poverty law center, who tracks hate groups

in their april hate watch report actually spelled out what the alt-right is, and it is racist and it is anti-immigrant and it is anti-muslim and it is anti-semitic, and that is coming to the white house, right? and this idea of normalization is a real threat right now for all of america, because what trump is doing is mixing in kind of conventional conservatism in with the extreme racism of the alt-right. and not that it can be completely separate anyway, but now it is mixing all of it together to make it feel like it's normal, and that is a real threat to america and the democracy. >> that's an interesting point to make, for the appearance that it is normal, to make america feel like it is normal. ron brownstein to you. you say -- and i should note that many of the people closest to donald trump, including jared kushner, his son-in-law, including his children, wanted to see reince priebus as chief of staff. they were pushing for this. they got this. you know, i wonder how they feel

about steve bannon being in this very high position as well. they wanted reince priebus over steve bannon to have their father's ear. now both of these men have their father's ear. you say this is not a normal balancing of government. explain. >> no. no. i mean, look, there's a tendency to think of this as something like, say a reagan decision in 1980, where he brought in jim baker to make the trains run on time and ed niece as the conscience of the conservative movement, but those were two kind of professionals from within the mainstream of republican thinking at different ends. as they have said, steve bannon represents something very different. reince priebus is someone who can go out and work with republicans in congress on parts of the trump agenda that overlap with traditional republican thinking -- cutting taxes, cutting regulation, repealing obamacare. steve bannon is something very, very different. and as both of them have said, this was a website that has existed on the outer fringe of american political discourse with kind of virulent anti-immigrant, anti-muslim, at

times anti-semitic articles and attacks, for that matter, on paul ryan. and what donald trump is now doing by bringing this in is signaling i think to the republican party that there is going to be, you know, turbulent water ahead. i've said i thought that donald trump in some ways was an independent presidential candidate running under the republican banner. there's about half of his agenda, as we said, that overlaps the traditional republican ideas. >> do you agree with the pick? >> yes. i think it perfectly manifests that, because i think reince priebus is there for the half that overlaps with what republicans want to do. there's a whole other half in terms of, you know, accelerating deportation and limiting legal immigration and walking away from trade agreements and questioning nato, that is very much at odds with what most republicans in congress believe. and now you're going to have both viewpoints institutionally represented right at the heart of power in the white house. >> a spokesperson for speaker paul ryan just gave this statement from the house speaker to our jim acosta. "the speaker is very happy for his friend and ready to get to work." obviously, reince priebus was a

big part of sort of mending relations near the end of the campaign after the "access hollywood" tape between donald trump and the republican party that stayed with him or on the edge, and he was instrumental in, you know, paul ryan sort of coming back to donald trump. obviously, both wisconsin republicans. paul ryan very happy about it. john kingston, to you, as a donald trump adviser. steve bannon, as we've discussed, runs breitbart news. the southern poverty law center which tracks hate groups wrote the following about breitbart, the news site that bannon runs in april -- "over the past year, however, the outlet has undergone a noticeable shift towards embracing ideas on the extremist fringe of the conservative right. racist ideas. anti-muslim and anti-immigrant ideas all key tenants making up an emerging racist ideology known as the alt-right." what do you make of this choice, congressman? >> well, number one, southern poverty law center is not an objective third party. it's a partisan group.

it's a left-wing group, and they're entitled to that opinion, but that's all it is. it's an important. >> do you not think breitbart represents -- let's -- >> no, no, absolutely not. and let me say this, as a lifelong republican, i served eight years in the state legislature, 22 years in congress. the first time i had ever heard the term alt-right was from democrats who were against donald trump when steve bannon came on board. i think if you did a pop quiz to most republicans two months ago, they would have never heard the term. so, it's something that i think the democrats or the liberal groups have fabricated. steve bannon -- if you look at the product that he produced -- >> that's ludicrous. >> -- since he came on board, he kept donald trump on message, he kept him away from twitter a lot more, not perfectly, but a lot more than he had been before, and steve bannon did not bring all this division and gloom and doom that everybody said he would bring. remember, he came on board in

early august. and most of the rhetoric that the democrats and the protesters find so offensive happened prior to steve bannon coming on board. this is a harvard-educated mba, a navy officer, a father who had a -- >> former goldman sachs banker. >> this is a very good guy. >> but do you -- >> okay, brian, you jumped in there. you said part of what the congressman was saying was ludicrous. why? >> well, the alt-right is a term that has been around for years. i know you've heard it before, jack. we had all heard it more than two months ago. it's become popularized -- >> not me. >> -- when bannon -- well, jack, with all due respect, i don't know where you've been for years because the alt-right is 22 years and growing -- >> in congress, i've been -- >> it's become more significant in recent years. and in august, when bannon came on board the trump campaign it became popularized and some americans heard it the first time. i'm hearing from trump aides right now saying we're being completely unfair to donald trump. i'm trying to keep an open mind, but steve bannon is a name and a

figure who frightens many americans. jake tapper, a colleague from cnn, just -- >> i know you use terms like frighten and alt-right -- >> let's talk about his ex-wife, her experience. she alleges anti-semitic language from him. >> oh, she does. an ex-wife would have something critical to say about her spouse. what a shock. here is a guy -- i mean, again -- and i want to say this. you asked me where i've been. i've been involved with conservative political activities for 30 years. never heard the term alt-right. i don't think any of my friends had. the left always has to label so they can divide. i understand. it's label and divide all over again. but his product since he came on board in august was the best strategy. >> all right, guys -- >> and there was no rhetoric that came out from that point. >> poppy -- >> charles blow, quickly. i've got to get a break in. >> i simply can't do it. i can't watch him try to pretend that the alt-right does not exist. i can't watch you read a -- >> well, i know more about republicanism than you guys. >> i don't care what you know

about you, if you don't know about the alt-right, then that's a problem you're pretending doesn't exist, you're pretending is fabricated. it is a real problem. it is a part of the normalization -- >> i'm not as paranoid as the others -- >> the idea that paul ryan would love reince priebus but ignore the bannon announcement. it's in our face trying to make us believe that what is happening is not happening right in front of our face. this is a problem. there are racist -- this guy with a racist -- the fronter of a racist movement is moving into the white house. that is real. >> it's also important, congressman, to -- and we'll discuss this morning, the context of all of this. this comes in a campaign where, frankly, when donald trump was pressed by our jake tapper time and time again about whether or not he denounced the grand wizard of the kkk's endorsement, he said i don't know who you're talking about i don't know who that is. i don't know what that is. later, he said of course i denounce. also, this week in north carolina, the kkk is holding a

parade to celebrate -- >> and it has been denounced. >> it's been denounced by the republican party but not directly by president-elect donald trump yet. that is the context that we are talking about. and context is very important. sir, hold that thought. we are going to take a break. ron brownstein, charles blow, congressman kingston, brian stelter, we will be back. beyond is a natural pet food

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sodastream. love your water. but dad, you've got...tes are probably gonna double. allstate. with accident forgiveness they guarantee your rates won't go up just because of an accident. smart kid. indeed. it's good to be in, good hands. this is cnn breaking news. >> if you're just joining us, we are following major breaking news this sunday night, donald trump making two incredibly important white house appointments. today naming rnc chair reince priebus as his white house chief of staff and steve bannon, his campaign ceo and the executive chairman of breitbart news, as his chief strategist and senior counsel. our dana bash is back with me from washington. on top of all this, dana, you also have new reporting on what kellyanne conway might do in terms of any role with donald trump as president. she's the one who, frankly, came

in and turned around his campaign. >> reporter: yeah. she was obviously very much the public face of the trump campaign in the last few months, in addition to her title being the campaign manager. i am told that in the wee hours of election night, maybe the next morning, depending on how you look at it, that donald trump did have a conversation with her and made clear that he wants her to serve in his administration. i'm told that she has said that, first and foremost, it's a tough job for anybody, but she is also a mother of four small children, which makes it even tougher, and they don't live in d.c., but that just professionally she has been thinking that the better place for her is probably, not for sure, but probably outside the administration. and the model for that or the template is david plouffe, who was the campaign manager for barack obama. he opted not to go inside the white house. he stayed outside. he was more of a political person and helped the president that way.

in this scenario, what conway would do is try to help then president trump pushing his policies, pushing his legislation, pushing his ideals and helping to do that by trying to get the outside conservative groups, which are so important, particularly when you're a republican president working with the republican-controlled congress. you've got to get everybody on board to do that. the other thing is that -- i mean, it certainly pays okay to be in the government, but nothing like the way that somebody who has been such a public face and even had an "snl" skit done after her could probably cash in if she is not in the administration, poppy. >> and dana, on top of that, let's talk a little bit more about steve bannon being named chief strategist here. i mean, what kellyanne conway said about steve bannon just today on fox, you know, he was the "general" of the campaign, saying we couldn't have done this without him, or reince priebus, for that matter, she said. and you have some interesting

reporting on, you know, how much donald trump trusts him. >> reporter: a lot. a lot. and you know, somebody described it to me this way -- donald trump sees steve bannon as an equal. and that says a lot. if you're anybody, but especially if you're donald trump. so, you know, that is the way that he saw him, and frankly, the reason why he agreed to listen to steve bannon on some of the issues that really hurt trump during the entire campaign, you know, mechanical ones like his twitter account. i'm told that bannon is the guy who could actually take the phone away from him and say, you know what, this is not going to help, this is not going to help if you tweet about a republican who said nasty things about you. it doesn't com port maybe at first blush, given that he ran breitbart, a publication whose for a long time sole mission was

to try to keep the republican establishment in check. he talked at one point about -- and i'm looking for the quote here -- about the fact that he -- here's what he said in a radio interview in 2010 -- "what we need to do is bitch slap the republican party and get those guys heeding to, and if we have to, we'll take it over." so, that's where he comes from. and the fact that he in the past couple of months tried to get donald trump to kind of swallow some of that sentiment in order to get elected president and consolidate the republican base around him, which he did incredibly successfully, is kind of telling. >> dana bash, thank you for the reporting. stay with me. we have obviously a lot more to get through right here. we're going to take a quick break. much more of our breaking news straight ahead after this. i'm my team's #1 fan. yay. sports. i've never been #1 in anything until i put these babies on. now we're on a winning streak and i'm never taking them off.

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welcome back to our breaking news coverage, donald trump making -- president-elect trump making two huge choices tonight, reince priebus, head of the rnc, to be his chief of staff, steve bannon, an executive from breitbart news and a man who helped run his campaign as chief strategist and senior adviser. mike brownstein is with me along with charles blow, brian stelter and senator kingston.

i think telling is what was were anyone broomberg politics before he was part of the campaign. in the year of the outsider, it is perhaps fitting that a figure like bannon who no one saw coming would broil the debate. let's look at breitbart now. this is the news site he still ran as of -- you know, he was going to go back this week. here are two of the headlines -- "meltdown continues, wave of fake hate crimes sweeps social media." the second big headline on breitbart is "antidemocracy crybabies march by the thousands nationwide." brian? >> this morning i described breitbart as an example of antimedia, and i mean that it gives you an alternate reality to exist in. there have been, it seems, hundreds of examples of harassment and hate crimes, assaults, racist graffiti, kind of a wide array in these incidents. >> even in elementary schools, by the way. >> yes, in schools in the last five days since trump's election. a few of those have been

documented to be hoaxes. a couple of those people have recanted, a couple. there have been hundreds of these incidents. and if you read breitbart, you're told, don't worry, those are hoaxes, liberals are making that up to trick you, make you look bad. it's an example of how breitbart provides an alternate reality, one that donald trump has sometimes bathed in and repeated. i would describe bannon as a dirty political trickster, and it's not always a bad thing. sometimes you need that to get things done in washington or elsewhere. but an example of that, the day before the presidential debate in vegas, he was at the "national enquirer" offices working on an interview with a bill clinton accuser. so, that's an example of, again, antimedia. "the national enquirer" being legitimizy by the trump campaign or by bannon. he would work very closely with those kinds of news outlets or "news" outlets to get stories to bubble up from what i guess donald trump would call the swamps into mainstream discourse. >> congressman to you. you called steve bannon a good

guy. there are some people who agree with you and many who disagree and say he is anti-semitic. they say that he pushes white nationalists and tries to normalize them through breitbart, through a media outlet like that. would you want steve bannon to advise you? >> i would not listen to any steve bannon, but i haven't seen any evidence that that's part of his agenda at all. and when you looked at what's happened to the trump campaign from the time he came on board to victory night on tuesday, everything that he has his fingerprints on has done very, very well. and i want to say this as a republican. you know, we didn't really like paul begal or james axle red or carville because they were too tough for us. so, i understand why the liberals are screaming and hollering, because we felt the same way about these guys. these are tough operatives. they're bare-knuckle street fighters, and that's why donald trump is now president-elect trump, because somebody like this is very, very capable.

he's got a wall street background, he's got a business background. he actually has a connection to cnn, by the way, because he sold castle rock films or studios to ted turner. i'm not sure if that was when ted turner owned cnn or not. but you know, he's a media guy, a business guy, a political guy. and i want to say this in terms of him selling stories and pushing stories, that's what campaigns do. they talk to media that's friendly to them and try to get their side of the story published. nothing unusual about that. and you know, we've seen on wikileaks that the democrats had an ongoing operation with many major media outlets. and so, you know, fair game for all. >> not true. >> not true? are you kidding? >> what are you talking about, congressman? >> what about wikileaks? >> in the wikileaks e-mails, there are some examples of journalists acting like idiots, sometimes sending information to campaign aides when they shouldn't have. those were isolated examples. >> then we're in agreement. >> a trump aide as we speak to get information. that's what reporters do.

that's what was in wikileaks. >> ron, to the argument that the congressman just made, do you think it's analogous that steve bannon is analogous on the right to a david axelrod on the left? >> no. no. not in terms of where he comes from. look, i think the most important thing here, the one thing i think everybody can agree is from this point forward, there should be no confusion or illusions within the republican party or the country more broadly about what they are getting with donald trump. i think in the campaign there were a lot of republicans quietly, mitch mcconnell and paul ryan and kind of people in that circle who believed that they could kind of -- that donald trump would sign the legislation that they passed. that was the phrase you often heard, where they kind of agree -- where, again, he overlaps with republicanism on cutting taxes, cutting regulation, repealing obamacare, and beyond that, they could kind of steer him away from the elements of his agenda that were converging with the alt-right movement and taking the republican party in a more racially confrontational way. and for an hour this afternoon, they all probably felt like, well, we were right, donald trump is going to be

domesticated. reince priebus is the chief of staff. but when you see steve bannon in the white house, i think what you're getting is an unmistakable signal that the republican party has now signed on for this full program that includes not only the parts that they are comfortable with but the parts that could be historically racially divisive and risk branding the party as a party of white racial backlashers. they've now got the full monty. >> you do the not believe that. that's absurd. >> this comes as this announcement, charles blow, comes as thousands of people are in the streets of cities across america protesting this. many of them saying to our reporters on the ground it is because of what they perceive to be racism directed at them during the campaign. that is also, of course, met by half of this country, millions of american people cheering this election and thrilled with the outcome. my question, though, is

president-elect trump has yet to directly address the protesters except for what he's written on twitter. then he makes this announcement, which is sure to fan the flames of those protesters. your take on the timing here. >> i mean, it's horrible, but it is consistent, right? so, the track we don't want to take is to -- the false equivalency that racism is ideological, that there is an equivalency between bacala and bannon. there is none. there are republicans who hate racism. this guy, however, is not one of those people. he himself said that breitbart was now the home of the alt-right. it does not take a long time -- >> not -- >> i'm sorry, you're not going to interrupt me. >> i -- >> i'm sorry, you're still not going to interrupt me. don't say i'm sorry and then interrupt. it doesn't make it okay. >> what does alt-right mean?

>> if you don't understand something, that's not your problem. your deficiencies of understanding is not my problem. [ everyone talking at once ] they're your problem. >> i don't know what alt-right is. >> you cannot -- okay, keep saying that and try and interrupt and stop me from making this point. but the point still remains, racism is a problem. and if you're going to invite someone who has kind of hitched himself to that as a movement, that's a problem for all of us. and it does not take a long time with google to look at what has happened on breitbart since bannon arrived at breitbart. there are people who believe -- >> let me say this. >> >> -- that andrew breitbart hated racism and that changed under bannon. that is the problem. >> let me say this. number one, i respect david axelrod and paul begala. >> there you go. >> i consider them friends.

same with james carville. i don't know him, but i respect him. what my point was and is is that republicans feared and disliked them in the same way -- and accused them of all kinds of things the way you are steve bannon. >> wrong. that's a lie. >> much of this is nothing but a -- >> a lie. this is a lie, is a lie, is a lie, is a lie. >> the tone donald trump used -- >> racism is not ideological. [ everyone talking at once ] >> okay, i have to break in. it is an important conversation that will continue -- [ everyone talking at once ] congressman, charles blow -- >> have denounced the protesters. >> congressman, i've got to jump in here, get a break in. you will be back with me. thank you very much. straight ahead for us here, he is the former clinton chief of staff, and he says rebus is a solid pick. why? i will ask him live next. stay with me. our mission is to produce programs and online content for african women as they try to build their businesses and careers. my name is yasmin belo-osagie

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breaking news, two very key announcements from the president-elect tonight. two men he has named to very senior positions in the donald trump white house, chief of staff reince priebus and chief strategist steve bannon. on the phone with me now, former white house chief of staff under president bill clinton, matt mcclarty. thank you for being with me. >> poppy, delighted to be with you this afternoon. >> let's get your take on both of these picks. you like the reince priebus pick. why? >> well, i think chairman priebus has done a fine job as chairman of the republican

party. he enjoys a fine reputation. i think he is a solid pick. he rode the roller coaster of the campaign, which was indeed a mercurial, fast-paced campaign, to say the least, and seems to have established a good working relationship with donald trump. that's all to his credit. he's also worked with steve bannon as well as kellyanne conway and others. he will send a positive signal, without question, to the republican members of the house and the senate. he is particularly close to leader ryan. having said that, poppy, i did put a but, so to speak, in that description. while i have a good regard for chairman priebus, now chief priebus, i don't think this sends the best message in terms of forging a bipartisan consensus on the major issues of the day, and i think a president trump will need that to get things done. and i do have a reservation and concern about that. we've had other chairmen, robert

strauss, when he was chairman of the democratic party, frank farr farrincof when he was chairman of the republican party, have gone on to achieve things in a bipartisan manner but not in the chief of staff position. >> what do you make of his pick of steve bannon as his chief strategist? yes, these two men worked well together on the campaign, but they really couldn't be more different in the way that they go about politics. >> well, some would say it's an odd couple, but that's not the first time you've had differing personalities and differing views, really, in a white house. there's been some references with some of your earlier commentators in that regard. and it's not unusual for the chief political person, karl rove, for example, among others, to be in the white house. so, bannon played a key role in the campaign, he and others,

including reince priebus and kellyanne conway, which i mentioned earlier, were clearly key figures in donald trump's campaign and his victory. >> does he concern you -- >> but i think that his reputati reputation it's a really pugnacious, progressive person and personality in the breitbart affiliation, which i'm not totally familiar, but some of the values seem to be very, very much at odds with my values. i think that's going to be an issue. >> does it concern you on that point, his ties to the alt-right movement? >> it does, but from a political standpoint, i think it does respond to some of the conservative support that donald trump received in the election. i think that's fine. but when you move that needle further to the right, to the alt-right, and you have a racial inference there, that's not acceptable. now, steve bannon seemed to be

able to manage that somewhat in the campaign, but it's very different, i think, when you're in the white house, so i do have a concern there. >> your take on that, given the context, given the state of race relations in america right now. >> well, i think that's needed, and president-elect trump's kind of first comments certainly suggested that, is reassurance to the country. we've had a very, very bitter, hotly contested, close campaign, where really secretary clinton received more of the popular vote, but a very close campaign, very, very divisive. and what the country i think is yearning for is for the country to come together, to find common ground where we can. president-elect trump said that in his opening statements. he's talked about that. that's what i think the countr and, indeed, that's the signals that need to be sent

internationally. that that's, that's my point and that's my concern about the bannon appointment. but having said that, to be f r fair, every administration has had some type of political operative either directly in the white house or close, as a close adviser outside. the breitbart, and perhaps some of the things that's written about and said, that's the concern and reservation. >> mack mclarty, i appreciate your input on this, given that you held that role in the white house, chief of staff. thank you very much. >> it was a privilege to serve. thank you very much, poppy. enjoyed being with you. >> we appreciate it. let's bring back my panel. ron brownstein, brian setter, charles blow and congressman kingston. you know what i just keep thinking is i don't think we've seen an interview, brian set stelter, with steve bannon this

entire campaign. >> that's true. he's called into "breitbart news daily," his radio show. we called him after getting off a plane in vegas for a debate. we talked to him for a few minutes. he is a charming guy, a likable guy in person. he says he is focused on the movement. he was focused in our movement. he said you got to go to these rallies and experience what the crowds are like. that was his main message to us. other than the conversation off the airplane, he has hot spoken. to be fair to him, we don't really know him well because he has not spoken to the press. >> let's listen to what kelly ann conway said about him this morning on fox news. >> bannon has a background as a naval officer, a gold plman sac manager partner. he's so easy if you don't know

someone to think of the negative. if you're par of the trump campaign, that's what we have lived through for the last however many months. two of them will have important roles in this administration and inner circle. >> america's going to get to know steve bannon now. what do steve bannon who they get to know? the one kelly ann conway described or the one they've been debating? >> it's true. i believe josh green who wrote that story also talked through the campaign. steve bannon sees donald trump as part of a movement in the

u.s. but part of a global movement. this kind of rational nationalism backlash against globalization rooted in working class discon tediscontent acros globe. the message for republicans here is that they are not going to get just the donald trump that they were hoping for that they could domestic indicate. bann bannon, breitbart has had a cusade against paul ryan. donald trump has brought the parts of his agenda that are most at adds as he sent the reassuring be priebus. they are going to get both. >> as he brings in a conventional republican many reince priebus, how -- reince

priebus will help donald trump with paul ryan. how does steve bannon complicate that? >> he's a strategic thinker and a chess player. i understand why they fear him. i was to emphasize since he came on board, the rhetoric tamped down and it was about strategy. >> i was not just note it's just democrats trying to discredit him. it's journalists that are te telling our viewers about p him. >> john weaver is out saying it's racist and facists. >> journalist and democrats can be synonymous. >> i take issue with that. that's unfair. >> john weaver ran mccane's

campaign. >> there might be a bit of a bias there. >> we're not going to -- congressman, we're not going to do that on this show because i did not nor did any of my colleagues contribute to any political campaign. my question was will steve bannon complicate the relationship? >> absolutely not. >> with republicans on the hill? >> absolutely not. paul ryan is a guy who wants to get an agenda passed. that does include immigration reform, tax reform, repealing and replacing obamacare. there is some agreement on that but they all agree they want good trade agreements. those are all great commonalities that mitch mcconnell, paul ryan and donald trump have in common. now that's going to be possible

to get done. i think that what you're going to see is a real, real productive session. >> congressman -- >> i believe the cabinet is going to be diverse and the critics are going to be very, very happy when they see who the team is. >> it's already a diverse team. charles blow, you will be with me after a quick break. stay with us. much more of our breaking news ahead right here. coming up on a brand new episode of parts unknown, anthony bourdain get a crash course in sushi and japanese culture. here is a look president. >> sushi is the best meal. we can enjoy every single small piece fish. we can see the chef right there. >> japanese tiger prawn, octopus

and fluke. >> japanese cooking we care very much. >> strike jack rushed with soy and saki. >> do not miss this. grab it right. sip. you got to eat quickly. 30 seconds, 1 minute. >> it's dying. >> key is leaving. moving, swimming, very fast. done. amazing. this momentum is right there. it's very important. >> sea eel, a hand roll in fresh crackling seaweed. oh, man. wow.

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