much them, hitting the rink during last night's hershey bears game. they just kept flying. the team collecting more than 20,000 stuffed toys for charity as part of their annual teddy bear toss. that's awesome. thank you so much for joining me today. i'm carol costello. "at this hour with berman and bolduan" starts now. hello. i'm kate bolduan. john berman is off today. donald trump hasn't yet chosen his secretary of state but he may have already given the mystery nominee a few major to-dos and maybe a slight headache to deal with on day one. all weekend, the president-elect was fending off criticism for offending decades of u.s. policy by taking a call from the president of taiwan. now trump is amping it up rather than trying to quiet it down, it seems, by unleashing on china in a twitter attack that could set the stage for somewhat of a messy showdown. more on that in just a moment. first, there's also brand new this morning one position

that donald trump has filled as of this morning. his former rival turned supporter is now his nominee to head up the department of housing and urban development. ben carson becomes the first african-american nominated to donald trump's cabinet. vice president-elect mike pence talked about carson moments ago. >> we are excited to have dr. carson as our intended nominee for housing and urban development. we are looking forward to another very productive week to the transition that's setting a historic pace. >> let's go live for more to cnn's jessica schneider outside trump tower. let's go back to china real quick. what is the transition saying this morning about the president-elect's comments? >> reporter: well, you know, they are not saying much. we can glean alone from donald trump's conversation with the leader of taiwan on friday as well as his subsequent tweets, of course, that controversial call, ten-minute phone call on friday, then a slew of tweets over the weekend criticizing

china. but of course, donald trump is defending the phone call. he says it was a call that was made to him by the leader of china and also vp-elect mike pence is defending the call as well, saying this was just a courtesy call. over the weekend, donald trump did in fact double down on his criticism of china, tweeting this. he said did china ask us if it was okay to devalue their currency, making it hard for our companies to compete, heavily tax our products going into their country, the u.s. doesn't tax them, or to build a massive military complex in the middle of the south china sea. i don't think so. now, to be sure, donald trump did make many of these remarks when he was campaigning, talking about china devaluing its currency but of course, now with about six and a half weeks to go until donald trump assumes the presidency, there is a lot of concern that this could be a new hostile era in u.s.-china relations. in fact, right after this phone call with the leader of taiwan, chinese officials scrambled to

call the white house, tried to get some clarification and there have been a slew of statements over the weekend from the foreign ministry of china. they haven't said much in particular but they do say that they don't want to further scrutinize or analyze donald trump's actions or his tweets and then continuing to reiterate that the policies that have stood with the u.s.-china relations over the past four decades, they need to continue to stand to continue that relationship, in particular that one china policy. so a lot of confusion here. will this mean a change in policy? a lot to be seen but definitely drawing some controversy over the past few days. kate? >> also this morning, the transition is just saying, it got a lot of people's attention that ivanka trump is planning to meet with al gore today to talk about climate issues. that's a little surprising, to say the very least. >> reporter: yeah. the future first daughter meeting with the former vice president, of course al gore, his signature issue is clima

change and in recent weeks, we have actually heard that ivanka trump may be making this one of her signature issues as well. it's something she hasn't really spoken out about. when we heard her at the republican national convention she was focused on child care, making that her platform but it appears that she may be shifting or adding to so yes, she will in fact meet with the former vice president, the former presidential candidate al gore right here at trump tower. that meeting happening today. when asked if donald trump himself might meet with al gore, the transition team said that's not scheduled at this point but who knows. in addition, it's interesting, we have learned that jared kushner and ivanka trump are house hunting in d.c. it looks like that couple may make the move down to nation's capital with their three children. that bearing questions as to what exactly jared kushner's role could be in the presidency. of course he's barred by anti-nepotism laws from taking on an official position but we know he's had donald trump's ear

throughout this campaign as well as during this transition process. but yes, the kushners perhaps going down to d.c. we learned that they are house hunting down there. >> with the transition announcing this meeting between ivanka trump and al gore, it also renews questions of what is ivanka trump's role within the administration, the transition, because obviously donald trump said over and over the children are going to run the business. so this does raise a lot more conversation to be had. great to see you. thank you so much. joining me, cnn's chief national security correspondent jim sciutto, who spent many years working in china, including as chief of staff and senior adviser to former u.s. ambassador to china. richard quest is host of cnn international's "quest means business" and editor at large for cnn money. ron brownstein is here, cnn senior political analyst and senior editor for the atlantic. guys, thanks for being here. jim, the call between donald trump and the taiwanese president, what is your take on the real impact now, especially as we saw in "the washington

post" reporting this morning that this call was in the works for weeks, maybe months. >> that's right. that fights the initial spin, which was this was just one of many congratulatory phone calls that donald trump received as opposed to arranged. here's the thing. i spent a lot of time covering china and in china. china is extremely sensitive to the most minor shifts in rhetoric, diplomatic signals, policy shifts, et cetera. to have the president-elect tweet out, we know the way donald trump uses twitter, this is expressions of his policy positions, to have a president-elect tweet out two very, i don't know if antagonistic is the right word, but very firm statement, shall we say, on major policy issues between the u.s. and china, economic policy, foreign policy with the south china sea, that signal a substantive shift from a bipartisan decades-long bipartisan approach to china, right, on those issues, but also

in terms much tof taiwan that g back to 1979 recognizing beijing as the seat of china as opposed to taiwan. when that happens from the president-elect, that's major. that's substantial. while china's public statements have been very measured, saying well, this is a trade relationship that has benefited both sides, i have heard and i think this is quite credible, that inside china's foreign ministry, inside the chinese embassy down here the street from us in washington, d.c., there is genuine concern about what's next with the u.s. that's significant. >> richard, from your perspective, when you saw the tweet, jessica read the tweet trump sent out over the weekend directed at china, saying several things, how do you describe the relationship between the united states and china? let's say over the last eight years under obama and what this kind of -- do you think just these words are likely to change that relationship? >> oh, yes. it has all the potential for doing that. you have to understand, very

much as jim was saying, the idea of all of this whole business of diplomacy and communication between countries is that we are both doing the same dance in the same direction. so i agree with you we are both going to do the fox trot and we start to do it and we may not do it very well, but hopefully if d diplomacy is right we are both gliding around the floor. what donald trump is doing is telegraphing to people they are actually going to be doing the tango. now the other side is saying hold on, i thought we were doing the fox trot and somebody else says, no, i thought it was a rumba. i give you this exam wipleexamp rules of diplomacy are there for a purpose. it means when you sit down, you know where you're going and what you're doing. that's vital in business. who wants to commit billions of dollars of investment anywhere in the world inwards or outwards if you don't know? >> besides the fact i have this beautiful image of you and i

trying to fox trot, rumba and tango at the same time, which would be quite something to see, let me get your take on this, then. all of this in mind, what does this mean for donald trump's, at some point will be announced very soon we think, maybe, his incoming secretary of state? i found it interesting i think probably everybody did as well, as this is happening you have the former ambassador to china under obama, the former utah governor jon huntsman's name being added to the list of candidates being considered. >> look, as jim and richard well know, the u.s. relationship with china is always big and messy and sprawling and contradictory. there is always a mix of confrontation and cooperation going on at the same time. on the one hand, donald trump is clearly signaling a more confrontational tone with the tweets and the call. on the other hand, he is dropping on china's doorstep a giant christmas package wrapped up in a big bow which is withdrawing from the trans-pacific partnership which was the principal means by which

the obama administration was hoping to contain chinese economic power in asia and allowing china to fill the gap with their own regional free trade agreement. where this comes back to secretary of state, one reason why this job is so hard is because donald trump departs i think more decisively from traditional republican thinking on foreign policy than he does even on domestic policy. finding someone who basically shares the same coordinates in their views of the world as donald trump and is also credible as an international figure, as secretary of state, that is a narrow needle to thread. i think you are seeing the difficulty of doing that play out as this process continues. >> we see some of that concern, i don't know if concern, but it's also questions of course immediately going to republicans on capitol hill. mike mccarthy -- sorry, kevin mccarthy was asked by reporters about this on the hill. manu raju tweeting out mccarthy was telling reporters that one congratulatory phone call will not change u.s. policy. you see this delicate kind of dance going on. >> it is delicate.

i'm going to extend richard's powerful point there and go from rumba to mosh pit. because that's the difference here. we are swinging blows on the dance floor here. now, the thing about that diplomatic dance, i have been answering a lot of questions on twitter. they're like why is it bad to stand up to china. i'm not a diplomat or government official here, i'm not making judgments about policy decisions, but the reason diplomatic language and communication matters is because it avoids wars, right? throughout history, this is the way difficult states with difficult relationships try to communicate important stuff without shooting at each other in the simplest terms. and that's why i was just going to say, right now, the u.s. and china have disputes that have the potential to escalate. one over the militarization of man-made islands in the china sea, trade issues, human rights issues, et cetera. this kind of communication matters.

>> what is -- >> the important point also is we shouldn't be having these discussions at such level of detail until january 21st, when the president-elect takes office. the u.s. only has one president at each time. we are always told by both the winner and the incumbent. >> maybe that also, though, says that he hasn't done anything yet. >> he has. >> he's doing manasomething wit these statements. >> words count. >> words matter. lot of people say words played less of a role in a lot of the conversations had during the campaign as we went over and over again. ron, you get the last fun one. i dare you to make a dance metaphor in this. the changing world captured in one image. i will put up the picture. a lot of folks have been pointing to this as a lot of folks describing this picture taken less than a year ago. obama with the world leaders from the uk, france, italy, germany, taken in april 2015.

since then, just take a look around. especially after over the weekend. angela merkel's really the last one standing. obama's on his way out. hollande is not seeking re-election. and renzi and cameron have resigned or announced resignations. what does that say about the world right now? >> it says when you have a sustained period of slow growth and living standards you get a lot of political turbulence no matter what country you are in. what we have seen is this global backlash in countries across europe and certainly in the u.s. election among a big portion of the electorate recoiling against trade and immigration as kind of a target, as an explanation for those slowly growing living standards. but as we saw in austria yesterday, that tide is not necessarily irreversible. i think it is an enormous choice coming up as richard knows better than i, with germany and france this year, when britain has already pulled back and donald trump signaled support for the insular populist movements, which way europe turns in the next year is going

to be a truly consequential choice and one that is not entirely possible to predict today. >> great to see you. noteworthy, ron did not make a dance metaphor. thanks, guys. great to see you. much appreciated. more on the horrific warehouse fire in oakland, california. the death toll rising this morning, now 36 people confirmed dead. in the words of the oakland fire chief, she absolutely believes the death toll will rise again. overnight they had to halt all search operations at the warehouse after finding the building unstable and at risk of collapsing on rescue workers there. cnn's stephanie elam is at the scene joining us with the very latest. what are you hearing? >> reporter: well, at this point, the structural engineers should be on scene now working to make sure this building is safe for them to continue their recovery efforts and also to find out what started this fire. they do believe they have isolated the place where the fire began. in fact, take a listen to what the oakland fire battalion chief had to say about that.

>> where this steel is actually twisted and wrapped in the back of the building, we can see fire spread and atf and our local investigators feel very strongly they have identified the section of the building that is the area of origin. >> reporter: and they are also hoping that after they are able to shore up the building that the firefighters will be able to get back in there, investigators will be able to get back in there somewhere between noon and 4:00 p.m. local time so that they can continue these efforts to recover victims and as you say, they do believe they will recover more victims inside of this building. a slow, painstaking process they say will continue to move at this speed simply because they do not want to miss anything or anyone, despite the fact that rain is in the forecast for later on this week. kate? >> stephanie, thank you very much. in minutes, i will speak live with the city's district attorney who is launching a

criminal investigation into that horrific fire. an armed man walks into a pizza restaurant in d.c., fires a shot. why was he there? he wanted to self-investigate a fictitious news story conspiracy theory involving hillary clinton. we speak live with a witness who was inside the restaurant when this happened. the jury in the trial of the south carolina officer charged with murdering walter scott, the jury is back in the room after one of the jurors refused to join in the majority. hear about the note he isn't to the judge.

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police say a man arrested with a gun at a popular washington pizzeria admitted he was trying to investigate an online conspiracy theory about the restaurant and its owners being involved in a child sex ring which was the conspiracy theory links it to the clinton campaign. again, a fictitious online conspiracy theory. but edgar madison welch walked into a restaurant full of customers yesterday, fired the weapon, according to police, and pointed it at an employee. no one thankfully was injured. welch was arrested and charged with assault with a dangerous weapon. two fireappl arms were found in restaurant, another in his car. my next guest is one of the

customers in the restaurant during this entire scary incident. he joins me now. thank you so much. you were in the restaurant with your wife and three young kids. tell me what you saw. >> yeah. we were in the restaurant and the middle section of the restaurant where there's some ping-pong tables and fusball tables, my family was playing, i was playing ping-pong with my wife at the time. the suspect walked in, he walked behind me. i assumed he was a security guard. several people seen him with the gun and were obviously starting to kind of move around and shake things up. so an employee came and grabbed me and let me know that this was indeed somebody that wasn't supposed to be there and was a gunman, and obviously my first reaction was to get my family out and get my kids out and my wife did the same. thankfully we were out of there. the staff there did an amazing job getting everyone out. it was a very swift exit for all

the patrons. nobody seemed really nervous or anything. everybody swiftly left the place. we went out to the sidewalk and then proceeded across the street into a restaurant where we were safer. >> what did he seem like? what was his demeanor? in the brief time you saw him, was he calm, agitated? did you get any sense? >> it seemed that he was headed straight for the back room. that's why my thought was he was a staff member, because he was walking straight into the back room. he didn't engage with me or any other -- i didn't see him engage with any other customers or staff. he just walked straight into the back. >> what was the reaction of everyone else in the restaurant? you said everyone got up calmly and swiftly. whenever someone would walk into a restaurant with a gun, it seems difficult that everybody would be able to get out calmly, i guess. >> it was rather remarkable, i think, that we were probably the last family to leave because

like i said, we were kind of in the back in the ping-pong area and the people -- so the people in front of us were all moving very swiftly and calmly and we were all out. a couple like cooks i seen running kind of fast out of there so that kind of shook things up a little bit. for the most part, people were very calm. we were aware of the sort of controversy around the place and frankly, the lies that have been propagated regarding ping-pong but it's not going to deter us from visiting it. it's a delicious pizzeria that's an excellent place to go. we had a blast playing ping-pong weech . we are not going to be frightened by people's lies, like alex jones that are lying and manipulating people and are really in my opinion, i tweeted this out, responsible for the danger my family was in yesterday. >> you think they are responsible. you also i assume hold this guy

responsible who on his own free will came into this restaurant with a gun. >> obviously he's directly responsible. in my opinion, the folks like alex jones and others that are propagating these lies have some responsibility for these folks' actions. >> what -- >> they're pouring fuel on the fire. >> what have you told your young children since this whole thing? >> you know, we're muslim americans and we are basically, we see ourselves being demonized in the media and online, all over the place. i let them know we need to be vigilant and aware of potential threats around us. this obviously was a manifestation of that. but thankfully nobody was hurt. they were all very calm and very cool about it, surprisingly, and i was really proud of them. in fact, on our way home, i live in maryland, we were driving up to maryland, i said you know, what do you guys think, you want

to go home or go see a movie. they said no, let's see a movie. we went to a theater and watched a movie and didn't let it ruin our life or interfere with what we do and how we behave. we are out there and won't be scared by people. >> as you very well said, thankfully no one was injured. thanks so much for coming on and speaking with us. we appreciate it. >> my pleasure. coming up, days after he cut a deal with an american company to keep jobs in america, donald trump threatened a 35% tax on any company that moves operations abroad. where does he get the authority? will congress go along with that? plus, house hunters first family edition. two of trump's closest advisers, his daughter and son-in-law, are moving to washington despite trump promising no conflicts of interest.

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days after striking a deal with the u.s. company to keep jobs in the united states, donald trump offering now, warning other companies don't move your jobs overseas. in a series of tweets, donald trump saying the u.s. will reduce taxes and regulation but any company that's considering moving operations outside of the united states is going to be looking at a 35% tax when they bring their products back in. congressman jim hines of connecticut joins me. donald trump promises during the campaign, he tweeted about it over the weekend, you ship your jobs -- ship jobs overseas, your products will face a 35% tax coming in. that needs congressional approval. if that comes your way, what's your reaction to it? >> well, i saw those tweets and

i just thought my god, this guy is making foreign policy on the fly, saying things about our economy that have real impact on the fly. eventually he will sit down with steve mnuchin or some of his people actually trained in economics or international trade and say you start slapping those tariffs on, you can't just do it on u.s. companies, have you to do it on massive quantities of imports that go into the spry chain of companies who are building cars in the united states, of local domestic manufacturers. no, it's a terrible idea. by the way, it would probably start a trade war with a variety of countries, something he said he's okay with. what he's talking about would be profoundly economically damaging. the one piece that is sort of interesting is that i don't think you will see 35% tariffs, i don't actually think he will start a trade war with china, i hope, but in board rooms all around the country, i have to imagine board members are asking themselves holy smokes, i could get lit up in a very big way, my moving of jobs abroad could become front page news so maybe in that sense, there's going to be a little bit of slowing of

some of the exodus. >> that's an interesting take on it. you applaud the jobs saved with the carrier deal, of course, right? >> of course i do. there's hundreds of people there in indiana who will have better christmases and they might have otherwise. but let's face it, how many companies is donald trump going to be able to talk to whose vice president-elect happens to be the governor of the state and capable of writing the $7 million or $8 million check that was written to carrier? you don't talk about it much but of course offshoring of jobs has been a big deal for american manufacturing but we hardly ever talk about the automation, the evolving technology that has devastated whole industries. borders books, gone. eastman kodak, gone. a lot of this is the advance of technology. the fact we are doing things, making hotel reservations and buying books in ways we never have before. there is nothing the president of the united states can do about that. >> i want to get your take on some of the news this morning, congressman. ivanka trump, the transition announced that ivanka trump is

meeting today with al gore to talk about climate issues. as a democrat on capitol hill, when you hear that, what's your reaction? >> well, i hear two good things there. one, one of the things i'm really concerned about, and we were alluding to this earlier, that donald trump is making policy on the fly on twitter at 2:00 in the morning. that's no way for the president of the united states to act or even the president-elect of the united states to act. when i see his people reaching out to folks who are expert in fields and of course, al gore has devoted the last 30 years or so to the issues of climate change, it actually makes me happy. look, it suggests some outreach to people whose views may not be quite those views of everybody in the administration. that kind of outreach is really good. i hope we see similar outreach on the topic of foreign policy because he still seems to be freelancing that. >> do want to talk about foreign policy, the military specifically. you are renewing your push today i believe that the president be forced to seek congressional approval before taking any military action. the aomf as it is known.

why would the trump white house be any different in operating than how the obama administration has operated to this point? air strikes in iraq and syria, military personnel in both places and without a new approval coming from congress. we debated this for years in the past. what will be different about a trump administration, right? >> anybody who watches this stuff knows of course that donald trump is a very very different man than barack obama in just about every way, shape or form. but the larger issue, this is not just a trump issue. this is an issue of the last 50 or 60 years. since world war ii, congress has never declared war. the constitution is very clear that the decision to go to war, how to go to war and when to end the war should be in congress' hands. the president of course is commander in chief but since world war ii, that authority has really migrated down pennsylvania avenue to the white house and that's not a good thing. this is really about recapturing an authority that our founding fathers put in congress' hands. quite frankly, congress has been complicit. congress more often than not says hey, we don't want to take

ownership of this issue, that's what they have done with this last president, but it's time for that authority to migrate back to the congress and yes, look, donald trump is a different -- is maybe fair to say, perhaps a slightly less reflective person than barack obama. don't get me wrong, i was not happy when barack obama unilaterally went into libya without congressional approval but we have a different sort of president right now. we don't want to wake up one morning and discover the 82nd airborne has been deployed in some country none of us have ever heard of. >> congressman, if you have the obama administration still looking at the 2001 aomf as reason to operate the way they have operated, did they set a bad precedent for donald trump? >> they did set a bad precedent. i disagree with the president's argument that the war on isil which i totally support, we need to be at war with isil, is in fact authorized by the aumf which gave authority for the president to fight al qaeda. it's that kind of sloppiness we need to take out of the system. i completely disagree with president obama's arguments on that front. if we are going to war, congress

should say exactly who, exactly for how long we would anticipate it to be, not give the president authority to say well, you gave me this authority and i think it also means this. we are talking about the lives of an awful lot of uniformed americans and activities that often cost tens, hundreds of billions of dollars. it is time for congress to reassert its authority in that regard. >> with both houses of congress and republicans in the majority, we will see how many republicans you get along with you in your effort you begin today. always great to have you. thanks for coming in. >> thanks, kate. coming up for us, the son of donald trump's new national security adviser with an alarming tweet regarding an online conspiracy theory. this as even after, just after, the armed man was arrested for looking into fake news, that armed man went into that pizzeria in washington, d.c. what's the fallout there? also this. it was something out of a horror film. survivors of the oakland warehouse fire speak out about

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the gunman arrested in a washington pizzeria says he was investigating an online conspiracy theory that's been spread by fake news reports. linking the restaurant to a fictitious child sex ring and the clinton campaign. then there's this. michael flynn jr., son of trump's incoming national security adviser, seemed to continue pushing the conspiracy theory even after this very scary incident. michael flynn jr. writing this on twitter. until pizza-gate proven to be false it will remain a story. the left seems to forget podesta

e-mails and the many coincidences tied to it. joining me now, patti solis doyle, former campaign manager for hillary clinton during her 2008 bid. jim garrity, senior political correspondent for the national review. steve cortes, former campaign adviser for donald trump. patti, you said full disclosure you live very near comet pizza. this is a personal thing for you. what do you make, what do you say about this, the kind of -- the police report said this is what this guy was self-investigating, looking into this conspiracy theory, then you have the scary incident and then you have what in your mind? >> so look, in full disclosure this is my neighborhood pizza place, three blocks from my house. we go there all the time. it's a family-friendly place. they have ping-pong in the back for the kids and fus-ball tables. on weekends they let kids perform. my son was supposed to perform there yesterday afternoon

because he's in a band, but his lead guitarist sprained his wrist so they had to cancel last minute. therefore, but for the grace of god we would have been there during this very terrifying event. look, the fake news is obviously a problem. what is a bigger problem in my mind is that our republican leaders are giving it credence by peddling in it, retweeting it, promoting it, the fact that general flynn who will be our next national security adviser is retweeting these stories. his son even after the fact, even after this dangerous incident occurred, is retweeting it. you know, rudy giuliani peddling conspiracy theories that hillary clinton has serious health issues and even our president-elect peddling conspiracy theories about whether our president was born in america. it is at minimum wildly irresponsible. at maximum, dangerous. >> jim, you wrote about this already today.

you wrote -- i found what you wrote fascinating. i want tyou to talk about it. you have a very different take. what i read from your writing is you think people are making too much of it. >> okay. >> i'm just going to read one line of it. this is what -- the one line i picked up. there's no broader lesson for actual news organizations. the only way you will ever stop nut jobs from trafficking in lunatic conspiracy theories is by shutting down the internet. >> no defense for this guy. he's a nut job. prosecute him to the fullest extent of the law. i was interacting with some people, some i respect a great deal who were telling me this is all caused by the fake news. i'm sitting here thinking if michael flynn jr., by no stretch of the imagination should he be retweeting this, but is that what made this guy do this? do we know what did it? he assumes like he's from the yosemite school sam of investigation. he showed up with a gun, was going to start shooting people. if he hadn't done it at this pizza place he seems like the kind of conspiracy minded nut job who would have gone to area 51 or gone hunting bigfoot.

this area of we can point the finger at fake news is an attempt to apply rationality to a guy whose decision making is irrational. i remember seeing this after the columbine attacks, this is from violent video games. the shooter in tucson, the accusation that oh, sarah palin's facebook page had a bull's eye on it. it seems whenever there's a terrible shooting like this, there's this eagerness to say yes, the perpetrator is bad but the real problem is this guy over there. i get very nervous when you start extending it to let's start spreading the blame around instead of putting it on the guy who went there with a gun and started shooting. >> steve, what do you make of what both jim and patti seem to agree on, that michael flynn jr., he shouldn't be pushing this at all. michael flynn jr. of course is not the president's national security adviser, he's the son of the president's national security adviser but he's becoming part of the story with the tweet that i read. there's also a tweet from november 2nd that a lot of people are pointing to from general michael flynn himself

that said you decide, nypd blows whistle on new hillary e-mails, money laundering, sex crimes with children, et cetera, must read and links to an article that is pushing conspiracy theories. look, i'm not saying that donald trump needs to take responsibility for one of his advisers' sons. that's a lot of steps getting there. but do you see a leadership role here for the president-elect now when there is a scary incident and you have these elements that are coming afterward? >> well, look, i would say there's a leadership role on both sides for democrats and republicans, and our country i think is as divided sadly as it has ever been in my lifetime. i think a lot of that's because of slow economic growth. i think a lot of that's because of identity politics, quite frankly. we have to be very careful when somebody does something terrible, this guy did something almost terrible, he wanted to do something terrible, it sure seems like and congratulations to the washington p.d. for defusing this without anybody getting hurt. when somebody does something terrible in the streets we have

to be careful about ascribing blame to a political leader. for instance, here in chicago, a guy was viciously beaten on videotape and the assailants believed he had voted for donald trump. he was pulled out of his car, carjacked. are we to immediately then ascribe blame to hillary clinton for that? i think that's incredibly unfair. even though they purported on video that that was the rationale for viciously beating an elderly man in the street. so terrible things have happened on both sides. i think we need calming words by the way from all leaders and i believe president-elect trump has been incredibly responsible since the election. he told anyone who wants to do something bigoted in his name to quote stop it. he said this forcefully on "60 minutes" and he's focused, while the left wants to continue to rehash the campaign and continue to call us racist every time they have a microphone in front of them, we are focused quite in contravention on building the economy and security going forward in the new administration, in the new year. >> we have got to go.

patti shaking her head. i know jim wants to jump in but we got to go. we do know since donald trump has become president-elect, he has said something that there hasn't been evidence for which is that there are millions and millions of illegal votes. so there is still inconsistency with donald trump when it comes to -- when it comes to where he's getting his information and what he's putting out on his twitter feed. it's not necessarily quite clear yet. i will be very interested and a lot of people would love to hear from the president-elect on this one, hear those calming words coming from him as you suggested. great to see you. thank you so much. right now, criminal investigation is under way in the deadly oakland fire. the warehouse is known as the ghost ship. it had hazardous trash and debris inside. only two exits. no evidence of sprinklers. who will be held responsible? who should be held responsible? we will talk to the district attorney who just dispatched a team of investigators to the scene, a criminal investigation is now under way. we'll be right back. well i thid great. move over.

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jurors in the michael slager trial are back right now in the room deliberating this morning. this after one lone holdout kept

the jury from reaching a verdict on friday. but they've already sent a note to the judge saying they are still undecided and asking new questions about the charges they can consider. on friday the judge sent them back to deliberate after indicating they still couldn't come to a unanimous decision. slager is charged with the murder in the shooting death of walter scott caught on video. you see this disturbing video right here. what caught the nation's attention when this video was released. scott was running away when then officer slager opened fire shooting scott in the back. joining me now, cnn correspondent nick valencia, following the trial closely. nick, where do things stand right now? >> reporter: kate, today started with a series of questions read out lewd from the judg-- loud f judge. this is the fourth day of deliberations and on frud seemed we were heading towards the

mistrial news of one lone juror telling the juror in a note saying he could not in good conscience convict this cop. today we learned it may be noorn one juror undecided. in fact a majority of the jury sill undecided an based on that fact that the defense attorney, andy savidge, defense attorney for andy slager asked for a motion for a mistrial, denied by the judge. those jurors continue deliberating. more than 20 hours are dl deliberation so far. inside the courtroom, the mood is tense. sitting one row behind slager's and scott's family, sitting in the same row. slager's wife nervous, biting her nails throughout the morning. scott's mother had her hands clasped in prayer for most of the time. on the way into court this morning i did speak to the attorneys for the family of walter scott who told me they hoped for a verdict today. and i think it's safe to say that they're not alone here in the city of charleston.

>> fascinating what you describe, nick. quite different how things were left friday when the judge said they needed to deliberate longer and obviously had to stop over the weekend. then they are -- where they started, then, again today. any indication from the judge how long this could go? >> reporter: very different. in fact, the judge sent the jury back at least three times to continue their deliberations. something called the allen law, which he can only use once. he's used it multiple times. the conversation among journalists in the gallery, if this judge would do it again. this jury, though, seems they are still undecided but not deadlocked. that's an important distinction for this judge which is why he says that he was go to deny the motion for a mistrial and wants them to try to work it out. people in this community and throughout the nation want them to work it out at well. kate? >> all eyes on that jury room. thank you very much. coming up next for us,

donald trump once compared him to a child predator. today the president-elect just nominated ben carson to his cabinet. they're complicated relationship and what position ben carson is likely to be taking on, next. plus, ivanka trump and al gore. why those two are meeting today in a very surprising move. le sae best simple salad ever? heart healthy california walnuts. the best simple veggie dish ever? heart healthy california walnuts. the best simple dinner ever? heart healthy california walnuts. great tasting, heart healthy california walnuts. so simple. get the recipes at walnuts.org.

welcome to "newsroom." i'm brianna keilar. the deadliest fire in the history of california. recoveriest stopped because of fierce the converted warehouse