also if you want to see ainsley -- >> come to barnes & noble in brentwood, right outside of nashville. that is noon on saturday. barnes & noble. i can't wait to see all of you. thank you for coming. >> see you tomorrow. >> and pie. bill: good morning, everybody as we say helloç to you. cabinet picks for team trump and the names will not please those on the left. this time to run department of homeland security, picking a strong critic of the epa to run the epa. this is intriguing. morning everybody, good show. live at "america's newsroom." martha: he will get a big welcome when he shows up there i bet. good morning, everybody, i'm martha maccallum. happy thursday to you. get started with former marine general john kelly, third general offered a top post in the trump white house while oklahoma attorney general scott pruitt, who has deep ties to the energy industry will be the man at epa this is how the trump cabinet is shaping up so far.

you have key silhouettes not quite filled. we go to david lee outside the trump tower today. david, good morning to you. what do we know about these gentlemen? reporter: the headline, martha, the man chosen to the head the epa has a very long history opposing that agency. scott pruitt is now the attorney general for the state of oklahoma. he has a lengthy history as a staunch defender of states rights. he also repeatedly challenged federal restrictions dealing with environmental issues. the trump transition team cited pruitt's role attacking epa what they describe the epa's war on coal. but critics like vermont senator bernie sanders say pruitt is climate change denier and too closely denied to fossil fuel industry. kellyanne conway, the trump transition team spokeswoman, says pruitt is the right person for the job.

>> naysayers and critics and so we know some people are still running a permanent campaign. attorney general pruitt has great qualifications and a good record as the ag of oklahoma and there were a number of qualified candidate for the position that the president-elect interviewed. he selected attorney general pruitt and we'll look forward to the confirmation hearings. reporter: trump named to join his cabinet, retired general john kelly. he is chosen to head homeland security n 2010 his son michael was killed in afghanistan. he stepped on a landmine there. as head of southern command he oversaw guantanamo bay. he is strawn much enforce of u.s. borders. he selected worldwide wrestlings entertainment founder, linda mcmahon to head the small business administration. she and her husband vince mcmahon, took a 13 employee company took into into a global empire. she had two failed senate bids

costing her $100 million. trump has a long history with the wwe. he has appeared on the television show and also has been a member of its hall of fame. and lastly, trump yesterday named the iowa governor terry branstad as the ambassador to china. trump already had a contentious relationship with china. as you know, martha, he accused of china of being a currency manipulator. he says trade deals with china are lopsided and unfair favoring china.ç branstad will be in very difficult position in his new job but he has a long history with beijing. in fact he has a long relationship with the president of china. he met him decades ago when a chinese delegation first came to iowa. martha, back to you. martha: thank you very much, david lee miller. bill: up and running there at the tower. they're up and running at the white house too. dana perino, co-host of "the five." white house press secretary and

back home again. how are you, dana? >> i'm very well. bill: a number of things i want to tick through for you. can you characterize yet how the white house is reacting to donald trump? >> i think the current white house is showing some restraint as well. i think that by all accounts the transition both in public and especially in private is going very well, and with donald trump saying that doesn't agree with everything president obama might believe in terms of his ideology or politics or policy decisions but he likes him very much personally and they're getting along. i think at this time, you saw catherine herridge reports yesterday we have a lot of chatter when it comes to terrorists. they like to try to do something when there is transition because they think there is instability. i think this white house and the trump transition team show there is no daylight between the two of them in terms of this handover. i think so far so good when it comes to response. bill: as it should be. scott pruitt, epa what do you

know about him? how big of a fight will this be? >> well, i think it's amazing. going to tell you something that i don't think anyone else really thought about yet. because the democrats took that action not too long ago, with the "nuclear option," so that means you don't need 60 senators to confirm nominees anymore, well, now you see a lot of democrats saying they regret that. why? guess what, turnabout is fair play. i think it is amazing that scott pruitt, who wonderful guy. attorney general from oklahoma. does amazing work for oklahoma but also is very helpful to all the other attorney generals, attorneys general working on similar issues. think about this. in 2001, president george w. bush appointed christine todd whitman, former governor of new jersey to head the epa why? well, she was moderate choice. acceptable to the environmental community, but it really didn't make the far right happy and there was some concerns about her tenure. now you have donald trump. he is able to appoint anyone he

wants. scott pruitt, i think will be an excellent advocate for policies that are common sense when it comes to the epa. and i also think that the epa bureaucracy should just maybe take a moment, calm down a little bit. he probably will get confirmed. i would put money on that. he will also become an advocate for them. i think agency will improve. bill: what you're characterizing there the manuever by harry reid is coming back to bite him? >> absolutely. remember the conservatives said if you break this seal, you will not be able to put it back on. i don't think that the republicans should. this is a new world that we're living in. because the republicans were so strong, nouç just at executive branch level in senate and house and senate they will be able to confirm nominees he wants. watch. i don't think all the democrats will vote against scott pruitt. i think you'll see some democrats in red states like in ohio, you might see them change their mind. sherrod brown maybe i'm wrong on that ohio. there might be some red state

democrats up for re-election who will decide to support his nomination. bill: we'll watch that your business is communications. two more things. twitter last night, went after chuck jones, the union leader critical of trump because he said all the jobs that he promised really not all the jobs that we're getting. nonetheless, 7 or 800 families happy over the holiday. trump said this, right, chuck jones, president of the united steelworkers 1999. done terrible job representing workers. no wonder companies flee. if he was any good, would have kept jobs in indiana. spend more time working, less time talking, reduce dues. i think that is something that republicans really like to hear when you consider the long-running battle with union leaders. go ahead, what do you think? >> i imagine that is true. however i do think that chuck jones and donald trump, at the strip away the politics, they have the same goals. i think that most americans would say, yes we want to keep

jobs in america and steel issue is very interesting one and not necessarily black and white. i would say from a presidential standpoint that he has the power to make somebody's life miserable if he wants. and he is not afraid to go after people, believe me. we know that. how he chooses to use that power is interesting. i see that chuck jones this morning i have had people coming after me for years. one of the people works for him, this guy works for pennies at a factory. trying to keep jobs in america. so at the end of the day, donald trump and chuck jones probably have a lot more in common. if they were ever to meet face-to-face they would probably fet along pretty well. bill: at this rate they probably will, right? al gore. leo dicaprio. rahm emanuel. >> even bowing, even bowing, donald trump says we'll work it out with boeing. it will be okay. initial punch to the face that is short of shocking from a presidential level but this is the new world. embrace the chaos is my motto.

bill: right on. last thing, you went to interview josh earnest in the last hour. what did you pick up about what's happening inside of the west wing during this transition what do you want our viewers to understand, dana? >> one of the things i did ask josh if he would be willing to sit down and talk with my for a package running on "the five" in a week or so. not necessarily to get news of the day. talk to him as former press secretary and him on his way out in the next 45 day, what it is like comradery of a press secretary. i will have a chance to talk to hymn about president obama's relationship with the press and advice he has going for the transition team. i talked what it was like to be white house press secretary. he saidç he never expected to t the job. that when he was a little boy he wanted to be a pitcher for the kansas city royals. that is baseball right, bill? bill: that it is. >> i knew what he was talking

about. it is a way for us to show there is comradery among press secretaries no matter what political party you represent. bill: looking forward for reaction to that. see you an "the five." thank you for being here, on the front lawn at your back old home. martha: great to see dana at the white house this morning. embrace the chaos. donald trump might want to put on a hat because it is very, very different and everyone is scrambling to get used to way things are being done. more to come on that as we move along here. one big appointment remains a big question mark. >> i don't get a sense he is rushing to pick mitt romney. i get a sense he is looking for an alternative. martha: hmmm. what is going to happen here? rnc strategist sean spicer on the secretary of state sweepstakes. plus there is this. >> ability of isil to initiate major land offenses is, that was not on my intelligence radar. bill: so is that a bit of

revisionist history from president obama? we're going to debate in a moment here. fair and balanced of the it is very interesting now as we look back. also, a disturbing scene on a high school campus. did you see this? [shouting] >> oh. >> stop. >> oh [bleep] bill: we'll show you what led to the chaotic moments with a student wielding two knives on campus. >> hey, get away. go, go. corkscrew spin, corkscrew spin, flawless... ...his signature move, the flying dutchman. poetry in motion. and there it is, the "baby bird". breathtaking. a sumo wrestler figure skating? surprising. what's not surprising? how much money heather saved by switching to geico. fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more.

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martha: a manhunt is underway in georgia for a suspect accused of shooting two police officers and killing one of them. it happened yesterday, a couple hours of south of atlanta at an apartment complex near georgia southwestern state university. investigators say that miguel kennedy lembrecht shot the officers as they responded to a domestic disturbance. >> someone who shot two police officers and killed one of them is very dangerous. if he resists we will overcome that resistance. it is absolutely upsetting that we've got this level of violence directed against not only georgia law enforcement officers but american law enforcement officers. martha: these are very difficult times in law enforcement. this is a live briefing that we are watching on the update for

this man. 25-year-old american police officer nicholas smarr. a second officer with cam bus police in critical condition. $30,000 award for the information leading to that arrest. we have one ear on the press briefing. we'll let you know of any news coming out of there. ♪ >> if he ends up picking romney, which i hope he doesn't, if he does i will support him because i think the president-elect is allowed to have the cabinet he thinks will help him best but i'll tell you, given the people he is interviewing, give the range of people he has brought in, i don't get a sense he is rushing to pick mitt romney. i get a sense he is looking for an alternative. bill: is newt gingrich right, talking about the search for the most prominent position, the job still on the board as we speak. as mr. trump narrows down the candidate we believe this list is still in play. most of them we should say. sean spicer, chief strategist,

communications director for the rnc. how are you doing, sean, how are you doing over there at trump tower. we showed you up for work 15 minutes ago. >> calling me out for being a little late. bill: you're on time or a little late. let the boss determine that. he said yesterday he will make announcement yesterday on secretary of state. does that mean he has made up his mind, sean? >> i honestly don't know. speaker gingrich noted there has been a number of highly qualified individuals that have come through and sat down with him, once, some cases twice or had additional calls. mr. trump understands the importance of this role, to enact his agenda overseas, to restore america's place in the world. he is taking it unbelievably serious. meeting with these individuals. hearing them, probing them for their opinion and advice. talking about his vision and how they would enact it. he is taking this in a very, very deliberative process, meeting with these folks. going through the back and forth required to make sure there is a level of comfort and understanding what it takes to

enact a trump foreign policy and restoring america's place in the globe. bill: with that answer i don't get the impression if he made up his mind, right? >> i don't, absolutely 100%. he alone will let us know when he made up his mind. bill: okay. >> because he is continuing conversations it would seem to me that the decision is not final. bill: a lot of things to get here in a few inches in. liberal democrats go nuts for scott pruitt, the nominee for the epa how big of a fight will that be? >> i don't think that will be a fight as dana perino before. a lot of democrats up for re-election in state with mining conservation efforts no scott pruitt is good leader on effort. there is dig riff tweens between what the left talks about caring environment. he has a -- people being able to coexist and having clean air,

clean water, something we all ascribe to. he understands mr. trump's vision is one of conservation and healthy and clean environment but knows there is balance between allowing businesses to flourish and not, you know, tampering with excessive regulations. bill: push you on here, okay, twitter spat with the union boss, what does mr. trump want out of that? >> he wants the truth. here you have a guy that talked about carrier and importance of keeping jobs. he picks up the phone. he closes a deal. you have a thousand people will have blessed holiday season. not worried about jobs. spend time with family and friends knowing they have a job, good benefits. that should be something that is celebrated. then you've got a union boss and goes out and fabricates how the story went down for no reason. he should be grateful for mr. trump and governor pence's efforts to help save the jobs. instead the guy whose job it was to be advocating on behalf picks a fight with the president-elect who went out of his way to advocate and fight for thousands

of, a thousand people's jobs so that they could live next year and years after, knowing that they have got a good-paying job with good benefits. i think mr. trump is never going to sit back and let someone take a shot falsely at him without responding. bill: more on the transition process. report out of the washington says the administration is alarmed at the slow pace that is characterized about the agency level transition. is that true? how would you characterize it? >> if you look at the pace at which this transition has appointed people to the cabinet level on day one, far outpaying anyone in modern history. has over 10 picks for cabinet level people. landing teams are in place. individuals designated by transition team to go to various departments and agencies insure on day one they're ready to enact a trump agenda. we are well ahead of the curve. i think frankly there might be a little bit of jealously going on at the pace which this is happening from the trump administration, not just number

of people but highly-qualified people filling these roles and making sure, they are already to get the transition done. again, numbers don't lie, bill. he is far ahead of where any modern president has ever been. that is something that should be more recognized as opposed to nitpicking at some lower level agency. bill: strong commentary from spicer this morning. army-navy is saturday. will mr. trump be there. >> he will. he will. bill: has that been announced? >> he will, be there spend half of the game on army side and other side with the navy side. as navy goes for its 15th in a row. bill: sean spicer, thank you. appreciate your time. martha: that will be great. markets are set to open in just a few minutes. they have been a cheery place lately. wall street riding a postelection wave with record numbers. will the dow pass 20,000? i was on the floor when it passed 10,000. doesn't feel like all that long ago.

maria bartiromo will be here live to talk about that. arrest in deadly tennessee wildfires, stunning news who police think is behind all of that.

bill: we have a lot of thoughts this morning and concerns for american hero. john glenn hospitalized with unknown stated condition. at ohio state university james cancer hospital. in 1962 glenn became the first american to orbit the earth. sitting behind the controls of the mercury 7 space capsule as it circled planet three times in under five hours. john glenn decorated war hero, former senator, he is 95. he has had a full life. our very best for full recovery for him back in ohio.

martha: a few minutes before the opening bell today, the so-called trump bump continuing. the dow jumping nearly 300 point at the close, notching its 12th record close. unbelievable since the election. joining us now, maria bartiromo, global marketed editor and host of "mornings with maria" on fox business. good morning to you. >> great to see you. martha: i remember all the trepidation and fear and markets would be more comfortable with hillary clinton. not so much. >> i never bought into it, the reason it is growth plan. what he is trying to do, cut taxes and roll back regulations that will end up in the bottom line for earnings for corporate america. earnings drive the market. on the morning show fox business network i had on an analyst from jpmorgan. he really put it in perspective when it comes to context and numbers. a cut in the corporate tax from 35%, to 15% will lead to earnings pickup of 20%. he thinks the s&p 500 earnings

will be up 20%. martha: that is extraordinary. >> that is why this market is rallying. earnings drives the stock market. that is what i saw from the growth plan. once investors figured it was a sweep, republicans take the house and senate, they knew not only dealing with a growth plan and growth and economic plan get through. we will see tax reform next year. martha: two questions. some say he won't get it to 15%. 15% is the like 35%, 4 billion, that is a big number that gets thrown out there. where do you think the number settles? >> 2 could be. gop house plan, paul ryan's plan was 20% on the corporate tax rate. they have been talking about lowering taxes on house side for a long time. paul ryan came up with a plan to cut taxes 20% on the corporate side. everyone i've spoken with in terms of leadership in the house, could be 15 to 20%. they will have to negotiate that. but even 20%, martha, is so much better than 35%. it will boost earnings. martha: why paul ryan has a big

smile on his face. he has been wanting this so long. he might actually get it and will stimulate economic growth. what about personal level? rich will not gain as much from the tax changes. they're going to get a bigger cut and middle class won't get that much of a cut in the tax rate. what's true? >> here is what is true. there are three brackets trump proposed, 12% on low end, 22% in mid-cap, 25%, and 33%. 12%, 25% and 33%. on the high-end, you're not going to see as much of a tax cut as you will see elimination of deductions. so those hedge fund managers who have been enjoying carried interest, that is going away. martha: they will pay a lot more. >> for high-end earners, especially hedge fund managers enjoy having earnings looked at like capital gains where they had such a low rate, that will go away. though may feel like taxes went up for them. but the top -- martha: middle class will feel a tax cut? >> 100%. 25%.

martha: that will put money in their pockets. have better ability to buy more things and. good for the market. maria, fascinatings to watch. always good to have you here. >> thank you so much. bill: thank you, ladies. house republicans are taking steps to put general james mattis on the fast track to head up the pentagon. can he get a waiver to head the pentagon? we'll talk to ohio congressman jim jordan in a moment. martha: a terrifying scene at a high school. a knife-wielding student. how a campus police officer saved countyless lives. >> he was going around telling everybody he would shoot and stab everybody. so i mean he finally did it, and he got shot. there was no way to know for sure. hey guys.... daddy, it's pink! but hey. a new house it's a blank canvas. and we got a great one thanks to a really low mortgage rate from navy federal credit union. pink

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bill: 9:32 in new york. same as d.c. a live look on the senate floor. at the moment nevada senator harry reid's farewell address is about to begin. retiring after three decades in d.c.

we should see the vice president. we should see hillary clinton on the floor of the u.s. senate for this event. so we'll keep an eye on it, pass it along to you in a minute. martha: big moment. we'll be watching. ♪ >> sounds for me is, if the president elect populates with more positions with military figures. i will have heart burn. it will place the mattis waiver in real jeopardy. >> the kind of people president-elect trump chosen appear to have in many cases different priorities, different styles, and in some cases, starkly different bank accounts. martha: what do you think about that? so the trump administration taking shape. critics expressing some concern that the president-elect is leaning too heavily on billionaires and generals. as house republicans look to

fast track the appointment of general james mattis as secretary of defense. lawmakers tweaking last minute funding bill that includes language that would allow mattis to be retired for seven years before taking the reins. he has been out since 2013. jim jordan, ohio congressman and chairman of the oversight committee on reform. great to have you with us this morning. tell us how the it will go with mattis. >> he will get the waiver. the president should given wide latitude and deference in their selections. general mattis and his amazing service to our great country, think this will sail through the house without a whole lot of push back from the other side. martha: topic number two, i have a number of things to ask you about this morning. i want to play the sound bite from "special report" last evening from george will, you as

member of freedom caucus are very concerned with true consearch tim. play george will to get your thoughts on that. >> the problem is when you have in the carrier case, political power used to bring pressure upon a privately-held corporation that has a fiduciary duty to maximize shareholder value and drive them off with political pressure from making economic decisions about economic assets, you are in effect at the end of the day getting federal government involved in capital allocation. there is a name for that. it is called socialism. martha: he is saying that carrier and the interference as he is putting it by donald trump in these issues amounts to socialism and that it is enabling certain entities because they're getting helped out and they're becoming victims of sorts in society essentially. >> yeah. you don't want government picking winners and losers. you don't want cronyism which we had way too much of in the obama administration. so government should not be coming in with its heavy hand trying to pressure companies to do certain things.

or rewarded them with taxpayer dollars for engaging in certain kind of behavior, but what i think largely happened here was, they went to carrier and said look, there is a new game in town. we'll actually get a tax policy that makes sense. you were talking in the previous segment lowering the corporate rate, maybe even doing something i think makes sense, taking our corporate rate to the lowest in the world for where it is the in the world now the highest in the world. that is the thing i think companies are seeing why the market is up. there will be real tax reform. real regulatory relief coming. we'll create environment conducive to economic growth. why wouldn't we want to headquarter here, stay here, keep jobs here. that is the message largely is conveyed. mr. will is right, never let the heavy hand of government come in talk about the environment to increase growth. martha: are you talking about federal contracts like air force one and morbidders and more interaction holding to feet to the fire and budgeting on those issues?

of course you always want competition. competition produces excellence. competition is most efficient way to allocate resources. that is the of course you want competition. you never want cronyism environment for eight years where government picks the favorite industry like green energy, give money to solyndra, beacon power and companies go bankrupt after they got a bunch of taxpayer money. you certainly don't want that. that is what is being conveyed, businesses say this looks great and seeing market go up. martha: take you back down memory lane for a moment let's play this. >> late march he came in front of this committee and did not tell us, you didn't tell us her computer failed. wasn't quite sure we lost them all. who told you the information. you can't remember. >> i do not remember. >> did you tell the white house? >> i never tell the white house? >> when did you tell congress. >> we produced public report 10 days ago. martha: so has john koskinen carried out duties to clean up way things are done at irs?

no not even close. he allowed 422 backup tapes to be destroyed. he learned lois lerner's emails were missing. waited four months to tell congress. in that time frame made numerous false statements to congress. yet the house of representatives voted to send the resolution that we brought forward to impeach him. voted send resolution in very committee it has been in for 18 months. this is frustrating to me but frustrating to the american people, who voted a month ago, drain the swamp, clean the place up and hold people accountable, people like john koskinen, whose agency, never forget the underlying offense. they targeted people for their political beliefs. you can't have that happen in great country like ours. you can not say, because you're a conservative we'll come after you or can't have it other way, you can't have it because you're liberal come -- particularly agency with power and clout of irs. this is frustrating to so many americans. we were told on election to come here and clean this place up. we had a chance to do it other

day, unfortunately we didn't get the votes. martha: partly because people on your own side of the aisle. this would be example that kind of drain the swamp mentality so powerful in the election. >> totally. martha: let me ask a question with regard to that, has speaker ryan or anyone in leadership directed you in any way to drop the investigations into hillary clinton? >> not that i know of. and frankly, look, we should treat everyone the same. equaled equal treatment under the law. one. hallmarks of this great nation. you can't have what we have now, a double-standard at the justice department. one set of rules for you and me. and different set for politically-connected people like john koskinen and hillary clinton. if anyone else is continued to be investigated so should secretary clinton. that is our job. martha: i have got to go, quickly is the investigation for hillary clinton ongoing. >> i believe it is. chairman chaffetz hasn't indicated as much in his statements publicly the last few weeks. martha: representative jim jordan, always good to have you here, sir. thank you very much. >> thanks, martha.

bill: frightening moments out of reno nevada, when a high school student starts waving a knife, threatening classmates. when a campus police officer took action. some of this is certainly disturbing but this is how it ended. [shouting] >> no. >> oh. oh, [bleep] bill: it was single gunshot. correspondent jonathan hunt in l.a. telling us what happened prior to that, good morning. reporter: this was disturbing for everyone at hugg high school. 11:30 in the morning when a disturbance was reported on campus. >> there was an altercation between two students on campus. at some point, following that altercation one student, a 14-year-old male, had armed himself with a knife. once armed with the knife, the student began threatening others on campus. reporter: here's that moment. you can see the student in the blue t-shirt with what looks

like a large knife in his hand, apparently threatening other students. as someone said, back up, back up. then the moment the police officer takes down the student, with a single gunshot. witnesses say the officer had ordered the student to drop the knife and fired when he refused to obey that command. the school was immediately put on lockdown, as students and parents alike dealt with the shock. >> he is going around telling everybody he would shoot and stab everybody. i mean he finally did it and he got shot. >> there was shooting at hugg? i was like what? i run out of the house and came. i feel nervous. i'm desperate. i can't wait to hug her. reporter: the student who was shot, bill, taken immediately to the hospital. he is currently listed in critical condition. bill? bill: how the story played out there. you seldom sigh the prior. we did. jonathan hunt in l.a., thank you. martha?

martha: what did president obama really know about isis, how much it was growing, how much it was spreading during the terror group's early days? >> to be completely honest and say the rise of the islamic state surprised you? it took you by surprise. it took the administration by surprise? martha: the answer to that question as our panel debates whether president obama was truly caught off-guard. >> our focus must be on defeating terrorism an destroying isis. [cheering] see me. see me. don't stare at me. see me. see me. see me to know that psoriasis is just something that i have. i'm not contagious. see me to know that... ...i won't stop until i find what works. discover cosentyx, a different kind of medicine for moderate to severe plaque psoriasis. proven to help the majority of people find clear or almost clear skin.

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♪ >> completely honest and say, the rise of the islamic state surprised you, it took you by surprise, it took the administration by surprise? >> the ability of isil to

initiate major land offenses, that was not on my intelligence radar. bill: president obama there reflecting on his legacy as his time winds down. doug schoen, former advisor to president bill clinton, monica crowley, on line opinion editor "washington times," both fox news contributors. the last end of that, that was not on my intelligence radar. how did you hear that? >> directly contributes what the intelligence community and the military were telling the public as well as the president as early as early 2014. so this did not come as a surprise to president obama. remember he was and is idealogically allergic to any military interventions in the middle east. therefore he did not want to hear what the military and intelligence communities were telling him about the rise of isis. bill: he is using intel community as rationale, doug? how do you hear that? >> i heard this, the word that comes to mind, damning on the intelligence community, the

president, the national security advisor. bill, to have our country be at risk in the fundamental way it was and is, and president say, we missed it, goodness, gracious, this scares me as an american with all that we spend on intelligence, we missed it. i think also his policies led to it. i think pulling out of iraq, no status of forces agreement, time limit in afghanistan, red lines crossed and in syria, all of it contributed. bill: petraeus was asked about this too. we could have left 10,000. i don't know if it would have been successful or not i would have liked to have tried it. i take you back to what was it, january 2014, on screen now. the analogy we use around here sometimes, and i think is accurate is if the jv team puts on lakers uniforms that does not make them kobe bryant. >> we now know the intelligence was being manipulated possibly on orders of the white house in

order to try to minimize the threat. the intelligence communities and the military leadership, they saw this developing. they warned the commander-in-chief this was happening. to doug's point, they knew that this was happening. not that they missed it. it was the president of the united states did not want to hear it because he did not want to have to act on it. >> bill, i wish i could disagree with that as an american. this isn't a partisan issue. we failed, the new president-elect donald trump has got a heck of a job to have to do because we failed as an administration, and as a country. not democrats versus republicans. bill: another comment about elections. northern states, southern states, watch. >> attitudes about my presidency among whites in northern states are very different from whites in southern states. so, are there folks who, whose primary concern about me has been that i seem foreign, the

other, those champion the "birther" movement, feeding off of bias, absolutely. bill: you, he was elected twice. >> reelected resoundingly by the american people. the fact that this president is playing the race card in the final days of his presidency, an eight-year term i find particularly appalling. >> so do i. i must say, bill, the fact that he is not speaking about racial unity, didn't achieve racial unity, didn't appeal to people's best instincts regardless of race or regional part of the country, that so discourages me. i say that as somebody who believes in civil rights, who worked for civil rights and to hear a president doing that is very sad. bill: you think he failed on both these counts. you're both saying so. >> i think so. big failures. bill: "washington times" today, crowley, donald trump and the

art of getting it done. she quotes elle woods. that is the tease for the piece. >> elle woods, "legally blonde." >> a great piece. bill: thank you, monica, thank you, doug. martha. martha: check it out. go to the senate where harry reid is beginning his farewell address today. and we will keep an eye on it. we'll be right back with on "america's newsroom." >> my parents did the best they could.

bill: here is a bit of a stunner now for many after those devastating wildfires in tennessee. two teenagers have been arrested suspected of starting the fires which killed 14 and destroyed 2400 buildings. the teens are facing charges of aggravated arson. the investigation is still ongoing.

in gatlinburg residents were able to go home to where they fled for the first time, full time, just yesterday. ♪ martha: more testimony today in dylann roof's federal murder trial. the 22-year-old's lawyer is not denying that roof killed nine black parishioners last year during a bible study at church but trying to spare him from the death penalty. roof showed little emotion, listening to survivors emotional account of that attack. jonathan serrie live for us this morning. good morning, john. reporter: hi, martha. the testimony of one survivor, that the defense filed a motion for a mistrial. the defense and prosecution are debating the pros and cons of that. this witness in particular, her name is felicia sanders, one of the parishioners present at the church the night of the shooting last year, she described to the

court how she held her 11-year-old granddaughter tightly against her chest to keep her quiet during the shooting. she watched dylann roof fatally shoot her 26-year-old son as he tried to persuade the gunman to stop his attack. the defense lawyer david brook, asked sanders whether roof said he planned to kill himself last night. she replied quote. he aville and there is no place on earth for him except the pit of hell. that is the statement that the defense is taking with for their motion for a mistrial. the prosecution plans much of today to delve into the crime scene investigation following the massacre at emanuel ame church. out of respect for the families involved, judge warned the courtroom some of the testimony an so far dylann roof displayed no emotion during the testimony but his mother collapsed after opening statements and had to be taken from the courtroom to seek medical attention. the court has released demographic information on the

12 jurors and six alternates, among the 18 panelists, 12 are white, five are black. the race of one panelist is unspecified. 13 are female and five are male. those figures include all 18 panelist, until the end of the trial we won't know which have been selected as alternates. martha? martha: tragic story. jonathan, thank you very much. bill: we're keeping a close eye on trump tower this morning. mr. trump announcing some key cabinet appointments but what about secretary of state? today we have some new clues and that's next.

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for a free quote today at coverage compass™ gives you the policy information you need at a glance. available 24/7 on your mobile device. switch to liberty mutual and you could save up to $509. call that's liberty stands with you™. liberty mutual insurance. martha: brand new members of the trump cabinet about to be revealed. six spots are still open as the cabinet takes shape. president-elect trump saying he's going to have more announcements today on this thursday. we look forward to that. these are the latest picks,

retired general john kelly who will head homeland security for our nation and scott pruitt to lead the apa -- bill: epa. martha: that's coming up as well. welcome, everybody, brand new hour. bill: maybe we could head the apa. martha: the environmental protection agency. bill: i'm waiting for the names to be pulled. mr. trump heading out of town today. he continues his thank you tour. holds rally later tonight in des moines, iowa, we will see that live. martha: columnist for the washington post and fox news contributor, mark, good morning to you, good to see you here this morning. let's talk about the pick that is we have right now. let's get your take first on general kelly in terms of homeland security.

there were a number of people who would have liked that job. first, your thoughts on him. >> he's a terrific pick. there's been a lot of talk how president-elect trump is choosing a lot of generals. in the case of homeland securities it's good to have to have general because it enforces the nation and putting a general to protecting homeland is smart. kelly is a perfect fit for it. one of the principal missions to secure southern border. and he was -- in that job he was sounding the alarm when very few people were listening in iranian infiltration of saudi arabia, hezbollah and infiltrate terrorist through our southern borders. he will put big focus on that. >> when you look at the process, kelly's name first surfaced in

secretary of state search. first of all, they are very public. you walk-through the lobby. he grills these people and tries to try to get them off the game a little bit. he wants to see how aggressive and how smart they are about subject matter, right? >> absolutely. he had a lot of practice in the apprentice. martha: he sure did. >> i think donald trump, one of his qualities, whether you're a supporter of opponent, one of the qualities is picking and finding talent and picking talent. he's i think to a fantastic job. this is going to be one of the most cob servetive cabinets any president has put forward. jeff sessions as attorney general, betsy, one of the champions of school choice of education, ben carson at hud, first hud secretary who has lived in an inner city as opposed to talked from the tower and general kelly and scott pruitt now at epa who is going to be fantastic choice for epa.

in fact, it's funny, you called it the apa, it's going to become the american protection agency. martha: i renamed it. >> apa instead of epa. [laughter] martha: in terms of who didn't get pick, one of the names who doesn't pop up rudy giuliani who did a great job after september 11th, thoughts on that? >> rudy giuliani was -- i'm a new yorker and rudy giuliani was a terrific mayor and terrific leader in the days after 9/11. we will see if the bet pays or not. he would have been a great pick for homeland security as well. we will see where hi comes out on that. martha: mike mccaul was in and

it's clear that already a lot of people in the mix and some of them are maybe getting into a different position. talk to us a little bit about pruitt because people who are concerned about the environment, some of them feel that he is not the right guy for this, what do you think? >> well, pruitt is concerned about the environment. we are all concerned about the pruitt. it's great to have the state official in charge of epa. the states are intended to be the principal regulators of the environment. people closest to be making decisions and he -- president obama has been abusing the powers of the epa to impose a radical environmental agenda on this country that is killing jobs and hurting the economy and pruitt is going to roll that back so we have clean air environment.

the sierra club is like putting arsonist. epa has been pouring cold water on energy development and all the other things. that's the kind of person we want at the epa. someone who will are responsible energy production, protect the environment, differ to states but also clear the way so we can create jobs and become energy independent both for national security and our economics security. martha: a shake-up at that agency, there's no doubt about it. >> it certainly is. martha: thank you very much. bill he's tapping four star general john kelly for national security. live on the pentagon for more on that. third general to be nominated in trump's cabinet, jennifer. >> that's right, bill. in fact, it seems that president-elect donald trump is assembling a band of brothers rather than a team of rivals which, was, of course, president

obama's motto for his cabinet. three teams would be leaving pentagon and homeland security. a long-time friend of general kelly. he delivered the news that kelly's son second lieutenant had been killed in afghanistan six years ago appearing at kelly's front door wearing full uniform as assistant marine. when he saw his old friend at the door, he knew immediately his son was dead. general kelly is the highest ranking military officer to have a child killed in combat. four days later general kelly delivered a speech to society in st. louis. he called out the fact that so few families served and so few are protecting so many. [inaudible] >> that was days after his son

was killed. i remember sitting next to general dunford and wife ellen in veterans day, that morning they had accompanied general kelly to retrieve their son's remains. no underestimating the bond that these two marines feel for each other. bill: wow, that is remarkable. why do you think general kelly was picked for his job, what do you think he brings, jennifer? >> many forget that he was robert gates military adviser and that was the time that the current dhs secretary jay johnson was general counsel here at the pentagon. he has been advising jay johnson in receptmonths. in fact, he's been advising him his last job before retiring was head of u.s. southern command responsible for gitmo and border security as well as assisting in drug interdiction. he's not afraid to speak his mind. here is what he said in fact, about the military being told to

open up all combat positions to women. >> it would be the pressure for not probably the generals that are here now but at the generals, common add -- admirals , the agenda-driven people here in washington are in the land, the they way want it to work. >> trump is assembling a group of generals who are not atrade to speak truth to tower, bill. bill: jennifer, thank you. what a sacrifice he has made for our country. jennifer griffin, thank you very much, at the pentagon. martha: president-elect trump is taking thank you tour to iowa today. but before that, he will make a stop in ohio for a much more somber occasion, he will meet with the victims from last week's attack at the ohio state university. mat from columbus.

what is the scene while they wait for mr. trump? >> good morning, martha. people are still recovering here emotionally and physically on campus. a short while ago, the emotions are still very raw here now. president-elect donald trump is expected to meet with victims and first responders here around 3:00 o'clock local time today. ohio state university tells us trump's team prepared the list of people he would like to meet with and it's not confirmed if the officer alan who took down the attacker on november 28th will be meeting with trump. the officer labeled a hero. artan, somali-born student drew his car to crowd on campus and got out and stabbing people with knife. injuring 11 people total before the police officer took him out. there were controversy over

donald trump initial response on twitter when he tweeted out, isis is taking credit for the terrible stabbing attack for somali refugee who should not have been in this country. the student was at least legally here. now, next up today up to this visit in ohio state university, donald trump will be heading to iowa where he will continue his thank you america tour. martha. martha: all right. mat, thank you very much. we look forward to that later on this afternoon. bill: breaking news right now. earthquake off the coast of northern california measured 6.8, well north of san francisco. ferndale, california, just crossing wires right now. we don't have a lot of information.

martha: escaped inmate sparking man hunt, at least one officer reported injured where police think the convict may be now? bill: mr. trump now under fire for appointing another general to his administration. is that the case, is that the trend? general jack keane will react to all of that. martha: democrats fighting back accusing gop accusing the war on seniors as the nomination of tom price for health and human services secretary raises new questions about the future of medicare. senator john thune joins us next

bill: a manhunt underway in south carolina for an inmate who escaped a maximum security prison, dexter alan williamson was serving a life sentence. fibles believe that 47-year-old traveled to colombia, south carolina when an officer was stabbed several times in that city. the officer is listed in stable condition. he was sentenced to a life in prison. williamson was for 1998 armed robbery. he was also convicted in 1997 of assault and battery with intent to kill and yet again he's a wanted man. martha: there is a battle brewing on capitol hill over health care, democrats accusing republicans or waging a war on seniors and vowing to fight any

gop efforts to cut or privatize medicare. some democrats also suggesting that health secretary nominee tom price may be in for a very tough confirmation hearing. nancy pelosi saying this, destroying medicare and making seniors pay more is not what people voted for in november, whether he do everything in our power just as we did in 2006 when president bush we wanted to privatize social security. senator, good to have you here this morning. welcome. >> good morning, martha. martha: we are getting signals in the tvs about which of the nominees are likely to have fairly smooth sailing, general mattis appears to be in that category and you can tell me if you agree with that, but tom price maybe in for a fight. >> well, i think the democrats, they would love to slow down president-elect trump's appointment of nominees and getting them confirmed and we will move quickly to confirm tom price and other nominees that

he's put forward. these are people that are qualified for the positions they've been nominated for. tom price has enormous experience as physician and also member of congress who has been leader of health care issues and ready to roll up sleeves and try and repeal replace obamacare with something that works for the american people. we are anxious to help them get into that roll. the democrats can try and throw roll blocks up. because they changed rules two years ago, he would be confirmed at 51 votes. martha: that was a rule that harry reid came up with. they were warned about it at the time, as i remember. >> we were. at the time, obviously they used the nuclear option. they broke the rules to change the rules so that they could get some of their nominees on the courts but they also changed it for executive branch nominees and those are the rules.

it's 51 votes and a lot easier to get people into the positions quickly. martha: in terms of tom price and medicare, is it truthful that he wants to eliminate the program as being said in some websites this morning? >> there's a lot of crazy talk out there, martha. i think people just need to accept and realize that there are a lot of people who are very concerned about the outcome of the election and want to muck things up as much as they can around. a lot of rhetoric out there is that is completely unfounded and people need to accept that for what it is. tom price wants to make obamacare, a healthcare system work, which means getting rid of obamacare and moving to a new system that has more choices for parents, or i should say for patients, more flexibility for businesses and hopefully more control for doctors and patients than what we have today. these ideas that are being

proposed out there are just crazy and i think they need to be treated as such. martha: donald trump said on the campaign trail, i'm not going to cut social security, medicare and medicaid and every other republican is going to cut them. so if there are changes to be made, do you think that that can be worked out given what he said when he was running for president? >> president-elect trump has made statements on the campaign trail. obviously we all belief in social security, medicaid and medicare. people dpeend upon them. like any other program, they can work better. and so i hope we can get into a discussion of how we can make that happen. i think the reality is that starting out first thing of the gate in january a vote here in the senate on a resolution to repeal obamacare and too move toward replacing that in a step

by step way with health care insurance solutions and coverage that work for american people. first out of the gate is obama repeal and getting a new supreme court justice on the court, tax reform, getting the economy growing and expanding and a whole range of things that we think are priority. martha: you guys get a lot of rest over christmas holiday. >> we are going to need it, that's right. martha: busy for you that watch and proo ceses and report it. bill: if you saw the market this week, the dow is on. the companies will pay. literally, is he right? and will republicans in congress get on board of that idea?

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and add phone and tv for only $34.90 more a month. call today. comcast business. built for business. martha: new details on the deadly warehouse fire in oakland that took the lives of 36 people. city officials say that the warehouse had not been inspected in the last 30 years. authorities say investigators would only enter the build if someone applied for building permit or make complaints about something going on inside. apparently neither of those things happened. investigators still trying to pinpoint the cause of that fire. there was a discussion yesterday about a refrigerator perhaps being the cause. bill: plan to tax u.s. companies that outsource jobs. something to watch. eddy henry live in dc, how are

you doing, buddy? not all republicans are on board in what sense? who are they and what's happening? >> well, because of tariff of 35% on companies that ship jobs overseas. it's basically a tax and you have republican leaders like paul ryan and kevin mccarthy, they want to work with this new president, but they also have heartburn at the idea of going after companies that already feel they are overtaxed and overregulated. there's going to be regulatory relief and maybe tax relief as well, something donald trump has promised. but this seems to run over republican orthodoxy. >> there are many ways about doing it. there's a lot of ideas. i would rather see all of the ideas. bill: it sounds like a no?

>> i do not want to get into a trade war. i want companies to be built in america and lowing the tax incentive is the best way about doing. bill: you can see the divide there because they want to work with the president and concerned about sparking a trade war. they've had similar concerns about that carrier deal. they we wanted to save the jobs in indiana but concern that ran against conservative principals in terms of free market. bill: his message resinated with a lot of people special in the midwest states? >> yeah, rust belt states, also state like north carolina that's been hard hit by the loss of manufacturing jobs and frankly that's exactly why you see donald trump right there in north carolina this week at one of those thank you rallies. the previous one in your home state of ohio and donald trump is making it clear. he's not backing down from these fights because he wants to stand up for workers whether it's against conservative principles or not. watch. >> our trade deficit now nearly

$800 billion a year. we have a deficit, think of it, $800 billion a years. you think who is negotiating the bill? a destroyer of jobs and wealth in our country. >> they're going to debate back and forth does this 35% tariff make sense on companies that shift jobs overseas, but at the end of the day that woon in states and that's going to help him. bill: thank you, ed. ed henry in washington, d.c. thanks. martha: world famous performance artist challenging and changing the way we think about everything. why the wall street journal describes the president elect as the lady gaga of politics. bill: a pair for you. three generals name for top national security jobs in the new administration. one too many or just about right? general jack keane will analyze this in a moment.

>> nato supreme ally commander, what transformation. this is going to be so great fos

. . martha: we are watching breaking news off the coast of northern california where an earthquake has been recorded. it measured 6.5. the quake is centered about 100 miles off the coast of ferndale, california, north of san francisco, as you can see. we'll keep a close eye on that. we'll let you know how that moves through underground and whether or not -- bill: so far donald trump said he intends to nominate three generals to his inner circle. general john kelly, to head up homeland security, general james mattis for secretary of defense and lt. general mike flynn as national security advisor. flynn is only one of the three who does not need senate

approval. general jack keane, chairman for institute of study of war, fox news military analyst, should be on that list. he is not. he is with me now. general, how are you, good morning to you. >> good morning to you, bill. bill: what is going on here in trump's thinking? why is he attracted toward these men. >> first of all, i think there's some. best athletes on the playing field to be nominated for these positions. that is number one. number two, if you think about what is happening to the couple in the last 15 years. the united states military has been committed to war. being committed to war they have the best promotion process calling out for the very best. they are at the top of the profession. what he needs are people who are appealing, who are competent to him, and they have proven professionals, they're dedicated

to this country for some years, and the confidence they have lacks arrogance. when you think about, the president-elect himself, bill, i mean he is a leader. he's successful. he's a man of conviction and he's a straight talker. so i felt a little of this chemistry myself when i dealt with him on a couple of occasions even though i never met him before. that is part of the story. bill: that is a very interesting answer. he went to military school for a while when he was younger. did that, does that play into these decision, do you think? >> i don't know. i suspect it could certainly, and i think he always had tremendous regard for the military and particularly what the military has done for this great country throughout the course of history. he refers to the particular generals from time to time in that reference point. bill: interesting point. >> so i think some of that's

there. bill: how about this, general? is it one general too many? you heard that from some circles already in the past 24 hours. what is your feeling on that? >> i don't, what is the concern? i don't understand what the concern is? are we militarizing the national security function? is that the concern if the concern is that these generals somehow are going to push the country towards more more than civilians would, that's nonsense, because the fact is, anybody can check on this, our history is we force and demand our national leaders to exhaust all the options that they listen to us, before they select the military force option. then, bill, when that force option is selected, the generals are insisting we want to see a set of clear objectives and an end state. they will still go to war without it but that is what they insist on. so i don't see militarizing the national security function as being anything that's dangerous to this country. quite the contrary.

bill: on the topic of isis, intriguing comment from the commander-in-chief. in an interview on cnn he said the following on screen, the ability of isil not to just mass inside of syria but then to initiate major land offenses that took mosul for example, that was not on my intelligence radar screen. how do you interpret that last phrase, not on my intelligence radar screen? is that reflection on him, is it reflection on the intelligence community, is it both? when you heard that, you thought what? >> well, i don't disagree with the statement but i profoundly disagree with everything that is behind it and here's why. when we pulled away from iraq politically in 2009, they were withdrew most or all of our combat forces in 2010, then withdrew all of them in 2011, what we left the iraqis no intelligence we had. we had absolutely the best

fidelity when we were on the ground. secondly we took away our soft counterterrorism force. when icy emerged inside iraq, arakky fighters only, just a few hundred, they didn't see and didn't have the ability to kill it. we would have seen it and had the ability to kill it that didn't happen. because the syrian war was stalemated, in the sense that opposition forces we wouldn't assist them, syrian assad regime assisted by russians and significantly by iranians, the opposition force initially had got momentum, pushed back by iranians coming in. we refused to help them. baghdadi made the number one decision of his existence, said i could go into northeast syria and have a safe haven and no one will contest me because they can't afford to. he did that he grew those several hundred fighters in two years into international force of 30,000 that invaded iraq. both of those realities, iraq in

2011, syria in 2012, were obama policy decisions that was a catalyst for the growth of isis? bill: remarkable answer. general, thank you for that. there is a lot of discussion about this comment and interpretation of it, and it's the historical record right now as we wrap up eight years of his administration. thank you, sir, very much. jack keane there in washington, d.c. ♪ martha: potential turning point in the the fighting in aleppo. syrian rebels are calling for an immediate cease-fire and the evacuation of civilians including the wounded, but seems the fighters are not giving in to the government's demands to withdraw from the city. john huddy live from syria israel border. john, russia and the united states trying to work out a cease-fire. we've been down this road before. will syrian president bashar al-assad go along with that? reporter: what assad is basically saying, martha, they will agree to a cease-fire with

syria's government, if one, the rebels in eastern aleppo, retreat or two, if they surrender. at this point that is not looking like it's going to happen. syria's government says it now controls about 75% of eastern aleppo and continues to gain ground as it attacks rebel positions and a humanitarian crisis there also continues with thousands of people as we've seen cut off from food, water, medical supplies. in fact one aid worker said a hospital in eastern aleppo looked like quote, unquote, slaughterhouse. while the discussions in geneva continue between the u.s. and russia about a cease-fire, when russian official warned about having quote, unquote, high expectations, martha. martha: so it has been going along the border where you are along israel and syria? reporter: right. we're in the golan heights. we heard, martha, sporadic gunfire throughout the day.

small gunfire, machine gunfire, artillery fire, in the distance, the lights there is u.n. compound along the kinekra crossing. just beyond that, and that is syria. it is an area along here that has become increasingly more dangerous. you're looking at a syrian village that has been destroyed in the fighting. i'm standing probably just a couple hundred yards, if that from the border. i'm in an unmanned bunker. i don't want to get too high because of the threat of sniper fire. due to the violence, israel's military has increased its presence along the border here. syria, actually, we're hearing, we're hearing what sounds like bombing and gunfire. i don't know if you can hear that, martha. that sounds like an explosion there in the distance. quickly syria's government says israel attacked one of its

airbases. israel says it is preventing any weapons of mass destruction from getting to hezbollah but that israel's not interested in getting involved in the civil war but real quick, i don't know if you keep hearing that? that -- can you hear that? that is another explosion, small-arms fire. very hot area. martha, back to you. martha: john huddy. bill: be well, take care. 20 minutes before the hour. blizzards overtaken major parts of the country have not even begun yet for some you. where the nasty, cold winter weather going next. martha: where is president-elect trump being compared in the "wall street journal" to lady gaga. how he came up with that comparison. coming up. ♪ what makes this simple salad the best simple salad ever?

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♪ martha: what do president-elect donald trump and lady gaga have in common? according to some they both captivate audiences and reshape the way that people think. an editorial piece in the "wall street journal" reads? part, the answer is coming into view. donald trump is lady gaga. he is performance artist. he is challenging what we think is normal, first, for a presidential campaign and now, for a president. dan henninger wrote that piece, deputy editorial page editor of "wall street journal." william mcgun columnist for will sj we have very prestigious panel here. >> thanks, martha. martha: when did this occur to you, donald trump is performance artist like lady gaga. >> one night listening to all my lady gaga cd. >> that is how we all picked ture. >> that jumped into my head.

donald trump trying to come to grips with the tweets he sent out. president-elect on thursday appoints one of the most esteemed generals of our time, james mattis, secretary of defense. two nights later, saturday morning, alec baldwin, unwatchable, terrible, preposterous. martha: sad. >> sad. martha: he likes saying sad. >> occurred to me when jill stein started her recounts and press is running around whether this is a challenge to his electoral total. suddenly trump's tweeting illegals voted for her by millions, illegal millions. next day he tweets if you burn the american flag you should be imprisoned or maybe your citizenship should be taken way. press runs around like little terriers finding cases that you can't do with that. he is playing these people. that is what performance artist was. he is disrupting them and won't let anything stay stable in the media.

martha: this is fascinating, bill. we have never seen anything like this? >> i think dick cheney had a similar take. didn't use the laid city gaga reference. donald trump tweets because it works for him. a way to bypass the media not respond to their questions and have them respond to his. for example on the flag, when he says people should be locked up, the press goes all crazy you can't put people in jail. what he is really doing saying to his followers, the people who dislike me are out there burning the flag. and so forth. it's very effective i think. so far. again he is only president-elect. he is not president. the question whether you can do this in six months into your administration. >> or four years. >> four years. martha: you know, people who opposed donald trump feel that all of this leads to something very dark, very dangerous. we've heard a lot about raising instances of hate crimes out there. there was very, you know, very covered in great deal back and forth between kellyanne conway and jennifer palmieri.

jennifer palmieri also wrote an editorial this morning and she basically said look, i know how to lose graciously but, when given the opportunity to do so at the harvard forum a week or so ago, she chose not to do that because she felt it was important not to do it to her. so she is continuing to follow up on that. today she published this in "the washington post." i don't know whether the trump campaign needed to give a platform to white supremacists to win, she writes, but the campaign clearly did, it had effects of empowering white nationalist movement. trump provide ad platform retweeting white nationalists giving their fuse an audience of millions. now what are your thoughts on this? you look at some of these things passed along, retweeted, dangerous or not? >> i think she's wrong. we live in a world of social media where things get retweeted all the time and white supremacist, white national its

truly a marginal group in american life, because of the media -- martha: you wouldn't think so given a lot of discussion going on out there. the most prominent fake tore of electorate. >> that is because a lot of mainstream media made big stories out of these and these people existed. media gave them much greater stratture than they had in reality out there. this is conflated, martha. make no mistake. donald trump won because he tapped into lower middle class blue-collar workers, pennsylvania, michigan and wisconsin, that the hillary campaign overlooked. they're now trying to suggest trump somehow tapped into white people who have bad thoughts about people of color. martha: i think on "the view," bill, whoopi goldberg talking about how instances where muslim people are being pushed down stay cases, hate crimes that are going on, which think trace back to the election of donald trump and the fact that he has given people like this a voice. >> listen, jennifer palmieri had the voice.

we learned from the podesta emails of her anti-catholic attacks and so forth. this is part of the delusion. they want to see russians under the bed. they want to hear dog whistles no one else hears and want to find white supremacists that most americans haven't heard of. to me what jennifer palmieri did is confirmed that hillary clinton meant it when she said half of donald trump voters were deplorables who were irredeemable, if you have the attitude voters are degenerates or some kind of another, all racists no wonder you lose. that is the big problem. she is not the only one. martha: bill mcgurn taking us to main street and dan henninger to wonderland every week. thank you both. >> thank you, martha. bill: chris wallace confirming a moment ago, trump transition team, mr. trump interviews alan mulally as early as today as possible secretary of state. he used to run ford.

he used to round boeing. if you remember the exxon ceo was also under consideration for the same job. mitt romney was under consideration for this same job. there is a, there is a common thread here about either business leaders or generals that mr. trump is attracted to, especially when it comes to the category of secretary of state. no announcements. just interviews. nonetheless interesting to consider a that in a moment. first though, here is a christmas idea you ask yourself. who in their right mind would buy this? that's a rock, folks! you will not believe what we have heard. ♪

martha: so it seems that leather-wrapped rocks are very popular this holiday season. this was not on my list. how did i miss it? sold out at nordstrom.com. it's a rock. description says paper weight, conversation piece, it is up to you. these stones sold for $85 each. i wonder if you can make stone soup with them. remember the children's book? bill: sold out. martha: like emperor's new clothes. bill: sold out. at top of my list. martha: what was pet rock? bill: i bet it's a really special rock. martha: yeah, yeah. bill: winter is coming for folks in the northwest. it is already here. a blizzard blasting the dakotas and shutting down roads and stranding drivers. look at this mess. this is just the beginning. janice dean on that, first storm of the season always gets a lot of attention. this one for good reason. what is up, jd? >> you got it. it is cold arctic air plunging

in. the coldest air of the season reaching there. minus three in denver. it is windchill that is dangerous. look at current temperatures across rockies and northern plains. single digits but minus 27 in casper. that is without the windchill. the wind along with the cold makes it feel even cooler. that is why we have dangerous windchill watches and warnings in effect for all of these areas. minus teens, minus 20s. the coldest air of the season of the because we had a mild fall it's a little bit of a shock to the system. right? friday, saturday, the blue is the freeding mark. that is below zero. as you see we get into saturday and sunday along the gulf coast into the southeast, behind this one, another shot of cold air. winter has arrived, hashtag. lake-effect snow we could see upwards three feet downwind of eerie and ontario and lake michigan. we'll watch for that. the next big system moving into

the west, that will give us not only inches of rainfall but feet of snow. this is the weather-maker that could bring us snow across the midwest and maybe, maybe, the northeast on monday. maybe manhattan. a little pretty snowflakes in the atmosphere. bill: really? should we get awe rock for that? >> all i could think of, remember charlie brown at halloween and all he got was a rock in his -- that is not good. bill: today it is 85 bucks. thank you, janice. martha: comes with a stone massage attached to it? >> nice. now we're talking. martha: now we're talking. president-elect trump, getting ready to hit the road again. leaving trump tower for another stop on his thank you tour but there may be some more cabinet announcements. we're just getting word to expect something. we'll be right back.

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martha: california police deputy got a bit of an unexpected passenger. look at the little guy curled up in the front seat. he left the door open for a

moment and the dog hopped in the car and curled in the seat. the cop was able to find the dog owner's. that's what we tell the kids. he must have heard that. back at the house. so sweet. have a great day, everybody. happening now starts right now. ♪ ♪ ♪ jon: let's just start with that. we could see more announcements today from trump tower as the president elect moves full speed ahead in selecting cabinet. welcome to happening now, i'm jon scott. jenna: i'm jenna lee. mr. trump is heating to the heartland where he will meet with victims and first responders in the car and knife attack in the campus last week that's still being investigated as part of terrorist attack. in the meantime