top of the hour. 5:00 p.m. eastern. so glad you're with us. i'm poppy harlow in new york. you're live in the cnn newsroom. let's look at what's been all day pretty much a revolving door. not just today but all weekend. president-elect donald trump holding back to back meetings after meeting with potential cabinet and staff picks yesterday. he's working to fill key slots. these are the 12 people scheduled just today to speak with donald trump. included on the list, rudy gh l giuliani and new jersey governor chris christie. both have been loyal to trump.

as far as we know, neither have been tapped for a position in trump's administration yet. we saw giuliani arrive a short time ago. you see him there walking in. he is actively gunning for the secretary of state post. the same position mitt romney is said to be under consideration for. for chris christie, he was heading the transition this entire process until a few weeks ago. then trump very quickly replaced him with his vice president sia running mate, mike pence. phil mattingly is covering every single coming and going and every single word. let's get to rudy giuliani and chris christie. what do we know about their meetings today and where they stand with donald trump right now, where his thinking is at about these two men? >> you know, poppy, there's probably no more interesting individuals right now than rudy giuliani and chris christie and what happens to them. you look over the course of the campaign, there have been no two advisers more loyal to the

president-elect than rudy giuliani and chris christie. you could say, at least for a time after the president-elect's victory on november 8th, they were heading in divergent paths. chris christie, once the head of the transition team and no longer. chris christie's top allies, all senior positions on the transition team, they're all gone, as well. there is behind the scenes activity going on there, bad blood, questions about performance, some questions about perhaps some of the things that chris christie had done when he was a prosecutor in new jersey and a son-in-law of donald trump, as well. here's what we know. the meeting between chris christie and donald trump was not very long. when asked if chris christie had a spot in the president-elect's administration, donald trump replied, only that chris christie was a very talented guy. said nothing about a potential administration position. let's talk about rudy giuliani. has been openly asking, pleading for on some level, campaigning for the secretary of state position. for the better part of a week, the position trump transition

officials were confirming he had the leading role toward getting. when asked today, donald trump, the president-elect, about whether or not rudy giuliani was in line for the secretary of state. he nodded and said, also some other things, as well. a hedge there and good reason why. we talked about it all day yesterday, poppy. mitt romney coming in under active consideration for secretary of state. still a lot of questions about whether that's a real position, real possibility. no question at all, the president-elect is intrigued by the possibility. that may mean rudy giuliani might not be in position for that, poppy. >> phil, all right, so let's play a little game here, if you will. that is, let's assume that it is between giuliani and mitt romney for secretary of state. you've also got to think, you know, what message would donald trump be sending if he were indeed to form a team of rivals and to bring mitt romney on, despite the bitter back and forth and the barbs they traded

and the policy differences they have. that would send quite a message, wouldn't it? >> i think that's what is appearing. when you talk to advisers, talk to people in the trump orbit, part of the reason this romney idea floated up and became a real thing, much to the surprise of everybody, including some inside the trump transition operation, is this idea of the perception of it. what it would mean, what it would show, the message it would send to not just republicans but people in the united states and also world leaders, as well. again, i think there is a lot of questions about whether or not this is something that could actually happen. whether or not mitt romney would want to serve in a trump administration. whether the president-elect can put the 15 minutes behind him. and whether policy divergences can be married together, if you will. but i do think, as you talk about the game -- the hypothetical game we're playing here, the idea of the message it would send, perception it would bring, is very important and something you wouldn't overlook

as this plays out. >> we know we could get some of the appointment announcements tonight possibly. certainly, possibly tomorrow. you'll be there for us, phil. thank you very much. i'll bring in our panel. cnn political analyst and editor of "the atlantic." and former white house correspondent for abc news. and mary is here, a senior writer for "the federalist." when you look at giuliani actively lobbying for it and then the transition team clearly looking at mitt romney, listen to what mike pence, the vice president elect said today about trump's meeting with romney. >> i know the president-elect was very grateful that governor mitt romney came here to new jersey yesterday. we spent the better part of an hour together with him. then i know that the two of them actually had some private time

together. i would tell you that it was not only a cordial meeting, but also a very substantive meeting. i can ais thsay governor romney under active and serious consideration to serve as secretary of state of united states. >> i thought trump was all about loyalty. >> look all the reasons phil said, you can see why it would be attractive. also, i think it is more important on the domestic side. look back at the campaign. the biggest breech between donald trump and the republican intellectual policy and infrastructure was on foreign policy. you had 50 former senior officials in republican administrations writing a letter, saying they didn't believe he was fit by judgment or experience to be commander in chief. appointing michael flynn as the national security adviser is not going to reassure any of the people. >> no. >> appointing rudy giuliani as secretary of state is not going to reassure people. with mitt romney, he has a

better chance of tapping into the republican infrastructure. remember what mitt romney's foreign critique was, russia. is mitt romney prepared to implement a trump foreign policy that envisions closer relationships with russia? >> probably not but with trump get on romney's page? >> he was the one elected president though. one of the two men in the room was elected president. >> we've already seen him shifting on issues. this morning, a democrat, head of the house intelligence committee, he said he'd love to see mitt romney. that's a democrat saying he'd love mitt romney in that post. the "new york times" wrote about how they see trump picking his cabinet. mr. trump loves the drama of a selection process and sought to stoke it. a senior adviser described the romney meeting in part as mr. romney simply coming to pay respects to the president-elect and kiss his ring. do you buy that, or do you

believe this was exactly the way that the vice president elect described it, as a substantial meeting and romney is under active consideration? >> well, we'd have to imagine there is a little bit of truth in perhaps all of it. what strikes me is for donald trump, he's done a lot of hiring and a lot of fiefriring in his professional career. he's hiring now for positions that he's really had no experience in. he has not gotten and received intelligence. he's not run a foreign policy. and he's someone who is known to like entrusting his own gut instinct. these meetings are incredibly important because he is taking the measure in person of someone he vilified before. trying to think, could i work -- would i get along with this person? i have to think back eight years ago when barack obama took his primary opponent, hillary clinton, and installed her in exactly that same position. >> and she initially said no and

then he got her to say yes. maybe it'll take arm twisting. let me get your read on governor chris christie. yes, he was booted out of leading the transition, not only because of the fog of bridgegate over him but also the more than just a little bad blood between him and jared kushner, trump's son-in-law. does he have a role? is there a place for him in this administration do you think? >> it seemed to me from the moment that christie endorsed trump and he was, of course, one of the early establishment-type folks to come out and do that, trump has even sometimes gleefully kicked him around. told him to go home. took him off the transition team. i think all of this is largely, perhaps, trump enjoying putting on a show and having a lot of attention. it is like the greatest "apprentice" board room meeting of all time and playing live for everybody on tv. i don't know how much is drama

and how much is real. i'm sure somebody like mike pence is pushing for a romney to be the reassuring figure that ends up as secretary of state, who is a little more hawkish on russia. is trump interested in reassuring people? it remains to be seen. romney may be in the administration somewhere else, perhaps. i think people would be reassured no matter where he ended up. maybe va. could be a good fixer there, for instance. >> stay with me. got to get a break in. coming up, donald trump promised to keep his business interests completely separate from being the leader of the free world. with his children in such key roles, how is he planning to keep that pledge? a number of interesting, perhaps concerning, meetings he had with world business leaders already this week. also, he is tweeting a lot, taking on "snl" and the cast of "hamilton" in new tweets. this may have something to do with it. >> hello, sir. heard you went to see "hamilton." how was that?

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president-elect donald trump is promising to drain the swamp in washington, but the involvement of his children in the white house transition, as well as in his business dealings, may be blurring the lines between public service and private profit. our brian todd reports. >> our government will be honest, ethical and responsive. >> reporter: when donald trump is in the white house, he plans to hands off his business holdings to his children, but there are growing signs of potential conflicts of interest. trump's daughter ivanka joined him in his meeting with japan's prime minister. >> what it looks like he may be forming less of a team of rivals and more of a team of relatives. that's a problem. >> reporter: like any business, trump's empire is affected by policies set by the government. but with his children playing key roles in his transition team, choosing the country's top

policymakers, critics say it is pr problematic. >> conflicts at every turn. trump said there will be a wall between his kids and his business interest and his public ambitions. there is no wall we're seeing right now. >> reporter: the trump transition team says it will make sure all rules and regulations are followed, and trump's business organization says this is how it plans to handle the ethical dilemma. >> it'll be placed into a blind trust. >> reporter: experts say your children are not what lawyers would call a blind trust. >> it is not credible to say it is a blind trust because in an actual blind trust, he'd divest himself of all the interest he holds. he'd sell off his properties that he owns, and he would put the proceeds into a trust that's run by an independent third party. >> reporter: trump himself has shown uncertainty. >> well, i don't know if it is a blind trust if ivanka, don and eric run it. is that? i don't know. >> reporter: one of trump's supporters offers this

assurance. >> there will have to be a wall between them with regard to government matters. >> reporter: also complicated, the case of trump's son-in-law, kushner, playing a trusted role in the transition team. he runs a newspaper and a $1 billion real estate company. could trump give a top post to his son-in-law? >> it may be legally questionable and politically perilous for him to choose someone close to him, and the number one qualification being that they're related to donald trump. >> reporter: why doesn't trump turn his business empire over to an outside, third-party trustee? >> donald trusts no one more than ivanka, donald jr. and eric. the problem that donald has is that he doesn't trust very many people. >> brian todd reporting. thank you. my panel is back. let's talk about what happened this week. a number of things happened. he had a meeting with three indian business leaders who flew here to meet with him. they are the developers of this

luxury apartment complex in mumbai that obviously has his name on it. his daughter ivanka sat in the room when he met with the japanese prime minister, shinzo abe, this week. also, the "washington post" is reporting the d.c. hotel, trump's brand-new hotel, is marketing itself, to say the least, to the foreign diplomats. holding a party, inviting people over, saying you should stay here. this raises questions about potential conflicts of interest when he does become the president. here is how his chief of staff answered that this morning. >> look, donald trump has been very clear from the beginning, that his family is very important to him. i think while it is unique, it is certainly compliant with the law. obviously, we will comply with all of those laws and we will have our white house council review all these things. we'll have every i dotted and every t crossed. i can assure the american people that there wouldn't be any wrongdoing or any sort of undue

influence over any decision making. >> he is saying, take our word for it. rudy giuliani says, you have to trust the president. you do to an extent. the "washington post" editorial is calling on trump to put everything in a blind trust, have it run by an independent trustee. the "wall street journal" said he should sell his stake in the company entirely. as a conservative, what is your take? putting his children in charge complies with the law but is it enough? >> it could be a problem for him, given that the promise he made was drain the swamp and no cronyism. if that is the promise, then you end up putting your kids in charge and it looks like a conflict of interest. look, it is very obviously that trump cares deeply about trump and the trump businesses. that's always been number one for him, has it should have been. on the trail, he's criticizing hillary clinton rightly for all the conflicts of interest and appearance thereof. to do the same thing will be problematic for him. as is always the case with trump, if you freak out about

every single thing he does, it plays into his hands. there are going to be so many intersections here and so much reporting about it that many people and especially supporters will tune it out and go, it's not that big of a deal. that's what we've seen over and over again. >> the flip side of that is allowing him to normalize behavior that is outside of the boundaries we've ever accepted from presidential candidates, much less a president-elect. all three of the examples you gave this week are deeply troubling to anyone who looks at ethics. >> what is the most troubling? ivanka was in the room with shinzo abe without security clearance? >> meeting with indian business partners with trump is troubling. if this happened with hillary clinton, we would see an eruption from chaffetz in the house and conservative media. all of this is resting on the foundation we know less than we know about any previous presidential candidate in recent times because he never released his tax returns.

we don't know what all his business endeavors are and where they extend. >> important point. >> this is an area where, i think, we are going to see sustained focus and concern, unless they can draw broader lines than reince priebus saying, trust us. >> he can release his tax returns and let people know, these are the business interests i hold and these are the ones i don't hold. you said whoever he chooses to be white house counsel is so important here, as we look at him walking out of more of the meetings add bedminster. but you heard reince priebus say in the interview with jake tapper this morning, white house ko council will take care of it. >> the new chief staff at the white house already laid down the marker on one of the most important hires that donald trump will face sooner rather than later. the choice of a white house counsel. not a corporate lawyer from his trump organization but someone who knows government ethics and

someone who would be able to look at it and say, that's not enough. no one expects him to stop talking to his children. >> right. >> but you do expect a legal wall to be erected so he doesn't know how those companies are doing and he would never be in a position of making a government decision, a tax decision, that would have impact on his own properties. it would seem to be an almost impossible job. >> ann, ron and mary, thank you all very much. a lot more to get into but we're out of time. coming up, fear and anger after a trump transition adviser raises the idea of a registry for people coming to the united states from so-called high-risk or terror-prone areas. the real question now is will muslims in this country be singled out? if so, how? drew griffin investigates next. in her joint comfort... e "she's single." ...and high levels of humiliation in her daughter.

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donald trump hosting a steady stream of visitors today in bedminster, new jersey. he is holding face-to-face meetings with potential members of his administration, which takes over in just 60 days. a short time ago, this man had his time with the president-elect. the secretary of state from kansas. early supporter of donald trump for president and a man who's

strict immigration policies, like in arizona, are so sweeping, he's been criticized by some civil rights groups. drew griffin takes a look at one of his more controversial programs. >> reporter: it is an idea that has immigration groups in a panic, forcing some people from majority muslim nations to register when they come to the u.s. it comes from this man. the kansas's secretary of state, polarizing figure, a hard liner and reportedly helping president-elect trump form immigration policy. >> my plan ends illegal immigration and suspends immigration from terror-prone regions. now, i have to tell you, we're going to have the wall. >> reporter: the idea isn't new. the u.s. had such a registry in place for nine years. it was called the national security entry-spexit program,

developed by kobach at the department of justice. >> after 9/11, we implemented the system, taking people from high-risk countries and required they check in after 30 days. >> reporter: immigrants and visitors from more than two dozen countries were required to check in, be interviewed, fingerprint and had monitored while in the u.s. virtually all of those countries were predominantly muslim. kobach is talking with the trump transition team to bring it back. critics call it a muslim registry. kobach says there is no registry of muslims proposal whatsoever, he wrote. the model i discussed was the nseers system, screening without regard to blij rereligionen. the program was called obsolete,

unreliable and inefficient use of resources. >> it actually made genuine efforts at trying to combat terrorism more difficult by destroying relationships with immigrant communities and actually negatively impacting the ability of the federal government to cooperate with foreign governments in fighting terrorism. >> reporter: the screening of people from certain high-risk countries is just the hard of the aclu's problems with kobach. he's spoken before groups considered to be white nationalists. he pushed for strict immigration laws in at least six states. he was the architect behind arizona's bill 1070, allowing police to ask for immigration papers for anyone who looks like they might be from another country. kobach has been sued half a dozen times over his policies against illegal immigrants. the aclu says if trump follow

hes his advice, they expect to file more lawsuits. >> our focus is on his policies and the abject failure of those policies to respect the constitution and the laws. and the fact they've been incredibly discriminatory. >> drew griffin reporting there. i want to bring in peter, our national security analyst and an expert on al qaeda, isis and the key issues facing the next administration. thank you for being here. >> thank you, poppy. >> let's talk about a man that president-elect trump has already tapped. mike flynn, a retired, three-star general. he will be this nation's next national security adviser. you wrote a long piece on him. you note this pick is critical because he has serious credentials in the fight against al qaeda in iraq. the parent organization of isis. let's listen to what he said just this summer about islam as a whole. >> islam is a political

ideology. it definitely hides behind this notion of it being a religion. it is like cancer. i've gone through cancer in my own life. it's like cancer. and it's like a malignant cancer in this case. it hazs metastasized. >> there are 1.6 billion muslims in this country -- in the world. there are many muslims in this country. so your thoughts on this rhetoric from the person who will be the next national security adviser. does it alarm you? does it trouble you? >> well, it certainly is inaccurate. i mean, general flynn has had his distinguished military career. in the clip you just showed, perhaps he was summarizing some arguments in a not particularly articulate way. clearly, it is not islam, the political ideology, it is militant islamism and militant jihadism, a political ideology.

there are lots of forms of islam. that's a minority form. yeah, i think that wasn't an accurate thing to say. general flynn has also written a book whether claims we're in a world war with radical islam that may take several generations. he is -- he said a lot of different things. what distinguishes him, poppy, from so many other people we've heard on the trump transition team, other than mattis, who might become defense secretary, reportedly so, he spent significant amount of time on the ground in afghanistan and iraq, fighting the parent organization of isis in iraq. had a distinguished career as an intelligence officer. so -- and he will be -- we're at a point in american history where policy is very much set the white house. every administration we've seen that has come along has

increased that and made the white house even more powerful. the national security adviser is really the most important position for the kinds of decisions that will be made. more important, arguably, than the secretary of state and the secretary of defense, i think. >> wow. >> so, you know, he's going to have to -- >> so -- >> go ahead. >> to that point, because he certainly ruffled feathers when he testified in 2014 about the level of threat from jihadists, about the level of threat. he said it was growing. the position of the obama administration at that time was that it was not. that it was declining. obviously, hindsight is 20/20. many would argue he was correct when he said that. it didn't go over so well, necessarily. he is a registered democrat. did he have a better read on the situation than many of his peers at the time? >> i think he did. you know, i think that he was sounding the alarm bell about what would become isis and other

groups earlier than a lot of people. i think that, you know, why he was forced out of the defense intelligence agency, a controversy about that and there are probably multiple explanations. >> let's listen to that. we actually have him answering that exact question from fareed zakaria about a year ago. >> were you pushed out of the dia? >> i was not. nope, i was not. i was asked about, you know, some things, and i -- and it was a mutual agreement as to when i would depart service to this nation. >> that sounds like a diplomatic way of -- >> it was. it is. you know, i'm going to maintain the moral high ground and maintain my integrity. i've always stood on my principles. i'm not going to let my principles fall to the side. to me, i was standing on my principles of what i believed in. it was a mutual agreement as to

my departure. >> you were saying, peter bergen, about his departure, something of concern to the american people or a difference in ideology? >> i think there were three reasons for it. one, he was pushing defense intelligence agency to put more people out in the field. i think a great idea. >> yeah. >> that was getting a fair amount of resistance in the building. he also was having personality clashes with some of his bosses, and that contributed to it. finally, what he was saying wasn't publicly -- it was different from what the obama administration was saying. it was a complex set of reasons. he was pushed out. in his view, in his book, more recent than that interview, he says it was because of the congressional testimony in which he was saying things that were not in line with the obama administration line at that time. >> you note in your piece on him that the fiery speech that he gave at the rnc this year in support of donald trump really confounded and puzzled a number

of his peers. mainly because he was taking such a partisan position. >> yeah. i mean, it is one thing to sign a letter as 88 admirals and generals signed a letter supporting donald trump. >> right. >> more than 100 or so signed for hillary clinton. to lead a cheer of "lock her up," that was seen as outside the code of what a senior general, a three-star, not a one-star general, should do, even in retirement. general dempsey, the former chairman, wrote a letter to the "washington post," condemning michael flynn and general john allen, who had done his own partisan speech at the convention for hillary clinton. that said, you know, president eisenhower was, after all, a general before he was a president. so there is a debate that we're not going to resolve on this program about the extent to which it is okay for retired general officers to get involved in politics. certainly, some of michael

flynn's peers felt he'd gone over a line. >> as you said, you cannot overstate the importance of this choice as, you know, the western world and many in the middle east continue to battle isis, et cetera. critical choice, especially for a president who has no military experience. peter, fascinating piece up on cnn.com. thank you very much. >> thank you, poppy. coming up, live in the cnn newsroom, any moment, you will hear from president obama. his final international news conference ahead tonight, live from lima, peru. of course, we watch who will show up next at the door to meet with president-elect donald trump as he fills his administration. up next though, the vice president elect and the president-elect, not getting along well with the cast of a broadway hit show. "hamilton." the latest on that. the president-elect tweeting about it again today. also, he's back. >> what is isis?

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you're looking at live pictures of two big events happening tonight. first, president obama will give his last international address tonight from the apec conference in lima, peru. we're waiting for the president who could speak at any minute. we're going to carry it live in the entirety on cnn. on the left side of the screen, the revolving door where potential cabinet picks have been coming all day. it's been a busy weekend of transitions for trump. the president-elect, in the meantime, in the midst of all these meetings, he also took to twitter for a fourth time today, firing back at the cast of the broadway show "hamilton." he tweeted the cast and producers of "hamilton," which i hear is highly overrated should

apologize to mike pence for their terrible behavior. trump was referring to a speech made at the end, the curtain call, because mike pence was in the audience. they expressed their concerns about the incoming administration and asked the vice-president elect to, quote, uphold our american values. pence said he was not offended. >> i heard the remarks that were made at the end, and you know, what i can tell you is i wasn't offended by what was said. i'll leave to others whether it was the appropriate venue to say it. >> joining me now, cnn's senior correspondent, host of "reliable sources," brian shetelter. he tweeted a few times. one tweet appears to have been deleted. very rude and insulting of "hamilton" cast member to treat mike pence to a theater lecture. couldn't even memorize the lines. two-fold question for you here. a, is the media making more of

this than there really is? does it matter that he tweeted four times about this? also, if he deletes tweets after inauguration, is he violating the presidential records act? >> interesting question. it includes tweets and facebook messages. everything a president says online is archived and a public record. so, yes, the answer is yes. if he were to delete a tweet, it wouldn't be deleted. the library of congress, the government would have a copy of it. twitter, they keep close track of these things. in fact, there is a plan in place to move president obama's account over and make way for president-elect trump. >> to the potus account. >> is the media making too much of this? i think every word a president-elect says matters. that's something donald trump is getting used to. certainly, it is easier to cover a "hamilton" dust up than the conflicts of interest. also, trump going after artists, broadway. >> free speech. >> these are not people who probably voted for him but he is sort of criticizing artistic

expression by saying they should apologize. as i said before, trump should go and see "hamilton." it is not a bad idea. i was talking to an investor in the show who said, i pray he keeps tweeting about this because the show will be sold out for decades, not years, if trump keeps this up. certainly, the invitation is on the table for the president-elect to go see the show. >> what about "saturday night live"? he tweeted that, he said it was one sided, bias show, nothing funny at all and called it equal time for all of us. he's actually referring to a federal equal time law for networks. it only applies during the campaign, right? >> during the campaign, when donald trump was a guest on "snl," guest host, nbc had to provide equal amount of air time to his gop rivals. people like john kasich. they were given 12, 13 minutes of air time. it's only during an election campaign season. once the election is over, there is no equal time. i guess if trump was referring

to the equal time rules, he's not aware that once you win or lose, there is no more equal time. i suppose trump is suggesting that people should be making -- having just as many jokes, you know, positive about him as there are negative, or something like that. it was a curious tweet. i hope he elaborates on it. it is another example that possible chilling effect about artistic expression. >> let's pull up on the screen for people to see, it has been 100 days since donald trump held a press conference. >> that's right. july was the last press conference. normally by now, a president-elect holds a press conference. usually in the first few days. >> maybe we'll get one soon. thank you. we are waiting for president obama. he will make his final international address. it will be a news conference, live from lima, peru, tonight. set to come out any moment. you'll see it right here. stay with us. you're live in the cnn newsroom.

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you're looking at live pictures out of lima, peru. president obama there right now, attending for the last time as sitting president the annual apex summit. leaders from the economic powers in the asia and pacific rim region. the president is about to speak. we were just given that two-minute warning. let's go to athena jones, traveling with the president. walk us through what the past few days have been like for the president. i know he had a few minutes today with vladimir putin. >> he did, poppy. he chatted, we're told, for

about four minutes with the russian president. they talked about ukraine. they talked about syria, the need to continue to work towards a way to diminish the violence and suffering going on in syria. he also met today with canada's prime minister and also the prime minister of australia. yesterday, he met with president xi jinping of china. also the president of peru. in many of his meetings here and also on the other side of the atlantic, the first legs of his trip in europe, he's tried to do a lot to reassure world leaders and the citizens of the world that there will be some continuity of u.s. engagement with the world, even in a trump presidency. he's talked about the importance of remaking engaged in the world and also tried to ask really everyone, give the president-elect trump a chance. don't assume the worst about a trump administration. give him a chance to put his team together, to begin carrying out his policies.

then begin making judgments. that's something we've seen him stress here in peru and also before he left germany. those are some of the messages we could hear him make at this press conference. >> no question. quite a change in tone from certainly the final question weeks of the campaign, that he's woefully unprepared to do this job. >> absolutely. we saw a very different tune from the president immediately after. he spent months talking about how unqualified and how unfit trump was to be president.

i can't stress enough how the white house and the importance of a smooth transition. the importance of making sure they do everything they can to make the trump administration succeed. part of this began in the meeting a few days after the election in the oval office where president obama sat down with president-elect trump for 90 minutes and discussed a series of topics, foreign and domestic. we understand from that meeting the president talked about obamacare, for instance. while trump ran on a promise to repeal and replace it, later on he talked about being open to saving some of the provisions. this is the influence the white house hopes to have on him in the coming weeks. >> as this is taking place and the president said to give his final international press conference in just a in a moment from now, here in the united states, president-elect trump is holding all these meetings. any response from world leaders to the picks made thus far by

the president-elect? >> not so far. there hasn't been a lot of opportunity. when the president was in europe, he held a press conference with chancellor merkel. it's been a different set up here. >> let me jump in. let's listen in to the president. >> wonderful of peru for hosting us and their outstanding hospitality. peru is one of the strongest partners. standing up for democracy to promoting jobs and growth and fighting climate change. this summit has been a success thanks to the great work of our peruvian friends. this summit is occurred against

backdrop. historic gains in prosperity, education and health. at the same time when jobs and c capital can move across borders, when workers have less leverage, when wealthy corporations seem to be playing by a different set of rules then workers and communities can be hit especially hard. the gaps between the rich and everyone else grow wider. that can reverberate through our politics. that's why i firmly believe one of our greatest challenges in the years ahead across our nations and within them will be to make sure that the benefits of the global economy are shared by more people. that the negative impacts such as economic inequalities are

addressed by all nations. when it comes to trade, i believe it's to pull back or try to have barriers to trade for our global economies and supply chains that resolve but rather the answer is to do trade right. ways in which workers and ordinary people can benefit. all of this is of apeck. this debate moves forward in the united states it's important how vital the asia pacific prosperity.

six of america's top ten trading partners. more than half of the global economy and the world's fastest growing region. these 21 countries have tremendous opportunity for the united states to sell our goods. boosted u.s. exports by 50%. nearly 60% of our exports go to the region. this is part of broader progress. 95% of the world's customers beyond america's borders made it a priority to open up new markets overseas. to record levels and these exports support more than 11 million american jobs. moreover, we know that companies export tend to grow faster and hire more employees and pay

their workers benefits. all of which is why exports have helped to drive our economic recovery. that's one of the reason that u.s. businesses have created more than 15 million new jobs. that's the progress trade, when done right, can deliver. we're continuing our work to make it easier to do business between our countries so we're creating more jobs. in the united states we're simplifying the process of starting a new business, increasing access to credit, all of which will help more ventures especially small businesses get up and running and helping them to be able to export as well so they can access a global market even if they can't afford fancy lawyers and accountants and foreign offices. we agreed to increase our collective efforts against

corruption. we also discussed capacity that exists in certain sectors like steel and aluminum that distorts markets and hurts businesses and workers including american workers opinion even as i argued we cannot engage in protectist measures, my administration has been at the forefront of really cracking down hard on unfair trade practices and brought consistently cases against under the wto against those who are engaging in unfair trading practices and we've had a great track record of trade enforcement that has to be a part of this process. here at apec we have been taking

steps as we were at the g20 to start addressing these issues. with regard to the digital economy, we endorse rules to protect the personal information as it crosses borders. we discussed the importance of maintaining the moratorium on digital goods and inknnovation d given growing cyber threats our 21 apec economies confirm that no one should support or enable cyber theft of intellectual property including trade secrets. we're also moving ahead with making our economies more inclusive. one particular area foof focus making sure women have fair access to economic growth. expanding education, expanding access to careers in science, technology, engineering and math. helping more women entrepreneurs to finance and integrate their

businesses into the global supply chain. if women around the world participate in the labor force, it could add up to $28 trillion of additional output for the global economy. $28 trillion. when women are more prosperous then families, communities and countries are all more prosperous as well. my meeting yesterday with my fellow leaders yesterday was a transto reaffirm our commitment to the tpp with its high standards, strong protections, environment and intellectual property for human rights. our partners made clear they want to move forward with tpp. they would like to move forward with the united states. the number of countries starting to ratify tpp. at the same time we're hearing calls for a less ambitious trade agreement in the region with lower standards, lower

protections for workers, lower protections for the environment. that kind of agreement would obviously exclude u.s. workers and businesses and access to those markets so for all those reasons, i believe that tpp is a plus for america's economy, america's workers, american jobs. i think not moving forward would undermine our position across the region, our abilities to shake the rules of global trade in a way that reflects our interests and our values. finally, our cooperation with apec has been critical to our historic progress in fighting climate change. bringing thearis agreement into force, agreeing to limit aviation emissions, phasing out dangerous facs. we phase out fossil fuels and our commit to doubling our renewable energy. as i