>> chris: i'm chris wallace. inauguration week is here. as president-elect trump deals with an unverified dossier linking him to the kremlin. ♪ >> i think it's a disgrace, and that something that germany would have done and did do. >> chris: we will discuss mr. trump's testy relationship with the intelligence community when we sit down with vice president elect mike pence just five days before he is sworn into office, and we will find out why the nation's spy chiefs briefed mr. trump on the russian rumors and an exclusive interview with cia director john brennan. we will also ask him about the hot spots the trump team faces from isis to china. john brennan, only on "fox news sunday" ." plus, the politics of white

hillary clinton didn't win the election are still playing out. >> the american people are owed the truth. >> chris: we will ask our sunday panel about the general investigating fbi director james comey for possible possible men conduct. and our power player of the wee week. >> putting on the olympics in 60 days. >> chris: all right now on on "fox news sunday." if and aloe again from fox news in washington. donald trump takes the oath of office in just five days, but on the brink of his presidency, questions about russia's involvement in the election won't go away. today, we want to discuss that and of the agenda with the man who will be sworn in next friday as vice president. we are honored to be joined here in studio by mike pence. mr. vice president-elect, welcome back to his "fox news sunday" ." >> mike: thanks chris it's good to be here. an exciting week.

>> chris: at one of the icons of the civil rights movements says he is not going to attend the inauguration, and he has explained why. >> i don't know if the president-elect is a legitimate president. >> chris: what's her reaction to ? >> mike: donald trump one this election fair and square. more counties then any republican sense ronald reagan. i have great respect for him, particularly in the civil rights movement. i was deeply disappointed to see someone of his stature question the legitimacy of donald trump's election as president and say he's not attending the inauguration, and i hope he reconsiders both positions. we'd even had recounts in this election where the numbers for the president-elect had actually gone up. there's no question about the legitimacy of the selection, and

for john lewis to make those statements is deeply disappointing. it's also disappointing because i truly do believe this is a time when the american people should be celebrating the peaceful transition of power. that's what this week is really all about, chris, and to know that four living presidents will be on the stage acknowledging that peaceful transition of power, the world will be watching, will hear the first remarks that donald will make as president of the united states in his inaugural address. i hope that john lewis, and some others who have joined his plans to take a pass on the inauguration, will rethink that and will be with us and celebrate this extraordinary moment in the life of our natio nation. >> chris: you talked about his comments about mr. trump. i would also like to ask about mr. trump's comments about mr. lewis and i want to put up

this tweet, because in response, the president-elect called him all talk, talk, talk, no action. can he really say that about the man who got his head cracked open walking across the bridge in alabama on blood he sunday do you think that's appropriate? >> mike: i think donald trump has the right to defend himself. when someone of john lewis' stature, someone who is not only an icon in the civil rights movement, but also by somebody who by virtue of his sacrifice on that day that we know as bloodied sunday, he suffered that abuse and cross that bridge, and it was true that the voting rights -- for someone of his stature to use terms like this is not a legitimate president. it's just deeply disappointing to me, and i hope he reconsider reconsiders, but what donald trump was talking about their was literally generations of failed policies coming out of

washington, d.c., that have failed to many families and too many cities all across this country. i will tell you, donald trump is a man who is profoundly inpatient with failure, and you saw in the campaign. he went to major cities in this country and said we are going to bring safety to our streets. we will bring school of choice and to our we will bring jobs and opportunities to our cities. remember that great line "what the heck do you have to lose?" he committed to bringing all the people in this country jobs and prosperity in ways that the failed liberal policies of the past several generations have not. >> chris: let me pick up on another controversy this week, because mr. trump has been going after the intelligence community, especially after they briefed him, and it became a public that they had briefed hh as unverified research that the kremlin allegedly put together on him on friday. he sent these tweets.

"probably released by intelligence, even knowing there is no proof, and never will be." it does president-elect really believe that the intelligence community is trying to undercut him and does he stand by those tactics compared to germany? >> mike: obviously, everything that we received a week ago it was a classified briefing and i can't comment on anything that happened there. >> chris: the intelligence community has -- >> mike: i never will. >> chris: they have verified. >> mike: the very fact that a few organizations, not this one, the opposition research and salacious garbage, it was deeply troubling. >> chris: what about the intelligence community? >> mike: or whatever the source, and we don't know what the source was that put this into the traffic. i know that the director of national intelligence said this

information had been his floating around for months. i think the president-elect and i, it was an act of your responsibility by a handful of news organizations to actually traffic in and pay attention to these materials. again, i think the american people saw for what it was, and our focus is going forward. when you see the team that the president-elect has assembled, of course, of miss transition, particularly when it comes to national security, you're going to see an effort to reinvigorate our national security, national intelligence, and the president will see to that from day one. >> chris: let's talk about policy going forward, because the president-elect's seemed to suggest in an interview this weekend with "the wall street journal" that he might dramatically change relations with russia, and in fact lift sanctions against russia if they begin to cooperate with us on isis and other areas.

i will put "from that interview. how quickly might he end sanctions on russia? >> mike: i think the president-elect has made it very clear that we have a terrible relationship with russia right now, and that's not all our own doing, but it really is a failure of american diplomacy in successive administrations, and with the president-elect is determined to do is explore the possibility of better relations. we have a common enemy and isis, the ability to work with russia to confront, hunt down, and destroy isis at a source, it represents an enormous important priority of this incoming administration, but what i think the american people like about donald trump is he someone who can sit down, roll the sleeves up, and make a deal. and i think what you're hearing

in his reflections, whether it be with russia, whether it be with china, whether it be with other countries in the world, we are going to reengage. we are going to put america first, we will put our interests first, but we will reengage that advances our position in the world. >> chris: i want to ask about to go very specific questions briefly so we can move on to domestic policy. we now know that the trumps national security advisor mike flynn had several conversations with the russian ambassador just at the time that president obama was announcing new sanctions to the hacking of the u.s. election against russia. number one: did mike flynn ever discussed lifting sanctions in any of those conversations? do you know? >> mike: i talked to general flynn yesterday, and in the conversation he said that took place at that time, there were not in any way related to the new u.s. sanctions against russia or the expulsion of diplomats. >> chris: all right.

a second: can you flatly deny -- if this continues to be out there -- but there were any contact at any point in the campaign between mr. trump's associates and russian operatives, including cutouts, as we know, about the hacking of the democrats during the election. >> mike: some of this derives from this opposition research memo, i guess, that made its way around the internet. there was about 24 hours were michael cohen, who has worked in the trump organization for many years, was accused for having a meeting, they did a little checking, it was a different michael cohen, and michael himself has never actually been to prague. >> chris: other talk, and if i may, the senators specifically asked fbi director comey about that. was there any contact in any way between trump or his associates

and the kremlin or cutouts they had? >> mike: i joined this campaign in the summer, and i can tell you that all the contact by phone campaign and associates was with the american people. we were fully engaged with taking his message to make america great again all across this country. >> chris: i'm just trying to get an answer. >> mike: of course not. why would there be any contact between the campaign? chris, this is all a distraction, and it's all part of a narrative to delegitimize the election and to question the legitimacy of his presidency. the american people see right through it, and truthfully, this is a week, i just sat on with our transition team in washington yesterday, we've named a 20 out of 21 of our candidate officials, we will probably have all of them named before we get to inauguration. the caliber and character of men and women that the president-elect has assembled, the hundreds and hundreds of interviews and conversations he

himself has had, i think should be deeply inspiring to millions of americans. they know when he raises his right hand on that inaugural platform this coming friday that he is going to be ready on day one to keep his promises to the american people to turn this country around. >> chris: it let me ask you about that. i'm going to ask you three questions. let's try to get them all in. a lightning round. obamacare. the president-elect he wants to see repeal and replace. here he is in his press conference. >> it will be repealed and replaced, it will be essentially simultaneously, it will be various segments, you understand, but will most likely be on the same day or the same week. >> chris: i don't have to tell you that replacing is a lot more complicated than repealed, especially how do you pay for some of the provisions you want to keep it like the pre-existing conditions? can you really do the really two

at the same time, and when will that be? how quickly? >> chris: the short answer is yes. >> mike: the short answer is yes. the president-elect made it very clear to congress this week. they moved resolutions this week. >> chris: realistically when can you do it? >> mike: you are seeing an incredible increase in premiums on america. obamacare as failed. we are going to repeal it, but at the same time, we will pass the kind of legislation that will lower the cost of health encourage without growing the size of debt. we will deliver on that promise for the american people. >> chris: it does mr. trump still have confidence in -- does he ever have confidence in fbi director comey? >> mike: you will have to ask him. i know it's been the subject of some commentary. at the end of the day, i know

that whether it's our security at home or abroad, president-elect trump is going to put the safety and security of the american people first in every decision. >> chris: you are not willing to give it a vote of confidence at this point. >> mike: i think you would have to the president-elect. they had conversations. that will be a good question for him after january 20th. >> chris: and finally, one minute left the central message. central theme that president trump wants to advance in his inaugural address. the message he wants to send to the american people? >> mike: i will let him speak for himself on friday. i think the american people will see the same donald trump they saw every day of this campaign. when he steps up to the podium, he will speak from his mind, he will speak from his heart, and he's going to lay out a vision to make america great again, and i have to tell you, when i stand surrounded by my family and take

the oath of office as vice president of the united states all i will be thinking about is what an honor it is to stand next to a man who i know -- who i know -- can restore and revive this country, and i will also just be thinking as the grandson of an irish immigrant, what a great country this is. >> chris: i should also point out that you will be taking the oath of office on the reagan bible, and is the first time it will have been used since ronald reagan put his hand on the bible back in the '80s. i know how much you revere ronald reagan, that will be pretty emotional. >> mike: it will be, and the oath of office administered me by justice clarence thomas, someone who i admire for his philosophy and his courage on the bench in his 25th year on the supreme court. again, it's very humbling for me. we are approaching it with prayer, but with deep, deep gratitude to the president-elect for his confidence and deep

gratitude to the american people who have elected donald trump and elected a man who i know it's going to make america great again. >> chris: mr. vice president-elect, thank you, thank you for joining us and is very busy time. it's always a pleasure to talk to you sir. >> mike: thanks chris. >> chris: up next to the cia's john brennan on the russian rumors. we talk to him about the hot spots mr. trump will face around the world. >> announcer: january 20th, it's inauguration day, and fox news channel is live in d.c. first, get a preview of the big day on "fox & friends," then bill hammer and shannon green are live from lafayette park. and as trump is sworn into network has a real coverage the entire event, with expert analysis. watch as bret baier and martha anchor america's election headquarters. full coverage, all day, right here on fox news channel.

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>> chris: a look at the inaugural stage in the west front of the capital where donald trump will take the oath of office on friday. mr. trump begins his presidency in an extraordinary split with the intelligence community, a split that only widened after they presented him with unsubstantiated research the kremlin allegedly compiled, a file that quickly went public. joining me here in washington for an exclusive exit interview is the outgoing cia director john brennan. mr. brennan, welcome back to "fox news sunday" ." president-elect trump has made it clear as we just discussed

that he believes the intelligence community released, put out information about this unverified dossier in order to undercut him. here's what he said at his press conference. >> i think it was disgraceful. disgraceful that the intelligence agencies allowed any information that turned out to be so false and fake out. i think it's a disgrace, and i say that and i say that, and that something that germany would have done and did do. >> chris: mr. brennan, your response. >> john: i think is the director of national intelligence that in his statement, this has been circulating for many months. it's not a question of the intelligence community leaking this, it was already out there. >> chris: one of the reasons it happened is because it hadn't been verified and when you briefed the president on it, you collectively briefed the president on it as president-elect, that made it news. >> john: and nothing has been very ipod. it is unsubstantiated and it has

been circulating in the private sector and the media as well by affirming that pulled this information together. what i do find outrageous is equating the intelligence community with germany. i do take great umbrage at that, and there is no basis for mr. trump to point fingers at the intelligence community for leaking information that was already available publicly. >> chris: but it wasn't available publicly. various news organizations had it, but they weren't reporting it because it hadn't been verified. and this brings me to the real question, why on earth within nations intelligence spy chief's brief president-elect trump in your first meeting collectively with him on this unverified information? first of all, it wasn't intelligence, it was rumors, and secondly, my briefing him on it, you made it a news event and therefore gave news organizations an excuse to report it. >> john: i do not think news

organizations should not assume what happened during that discussion with mr. trump. >> chris: it's been verified by the director of national intelligence that he was briefed on this information. >> john: bringing it to the attention of the president-elect and the current president that this was circulating was a responsibility in the minds of the intelligence directors, of the intelligence community to make sure there would be no evaluation of it, and making sure that the president-elect was aware that it was circulating. >> chris: aren't there a bunch of better ways rather than this fight she's getting into the president west and mark >> john: with reports that are out there, i think there are some very salacious allegations in there, again, unsubstantiated, that were circulating, and so making sure that the president-elect himself was aware of it, i think that was the extent of what it was that the intelligence community wants us to do. >> chris: one of the questions is whether the intelligence community is going after -- or somehow is going to try to

undercut by selective leads the new president-elect. let me ask my question, because former top intelligence officials have been bashing mr. trump for months, and i want to put a couple of these on the screen. in the intelligence business, we would say mr. putin had refuted mr. trump as an unwitting agent of the russian federation, then former cia director michael hayden said that's the useful full, naive, manipulated by moscow, held in contempt, but his blind support is happily accepted and exploited. can you understand given that and given all these leaks that have been coming out for months, why the president-elect with think the intelligence community had it in for him? >> john: these are private citizens now for speaking about the current political environment about individuals, so i'm not going to try to defend or explain what they said, but i can tell you that the intelligence community is prepared to support the

president-elect and his incoming team, as we have done throughout the course of our history. there is no interest in undermining the president-elect and the team coming in, it's our responsibility to make sure they understand exactly the dangers that are on the world stage, so they can decide on which policy courses they want to pursue, they will have both the full benefit of the expertise, ability, experience and intelligence that we have so he can make the best decisions for this country. >> chris: you said you were offended, and understandably sold by his comparison to germany. what's the danger when a president-elect and an intelligence community are at such odds -- and at least at the of the president-elect, such distrust? >> john: i think the world is watching now, what he says, and listening very carefully. if he doesn't have confidence in the intelligence community, what signal does that send to our partners and allies, as well as our adversaries? i think we must be very disciplined with what he says

publicly, he will be in a few days' time, the most powerful person in the world in terms of sitting on top of the most powerful government in the world. he needs to recognize that his words have impact. they have very positive impact, or very undercutting. >> chris: i want to end this part of the interview with one more question, which is the same question of the device president-elect fence. does the intelligence community have any information, i'm not talking about rumors, any connection between the trump camp and associates of the kremlin about discussions during the campaign about hacking the democrats? >> john: the intelligence community collects more intelligence on foreign parties and communities. if in our investigation we pick up information, which we refer to as incidental collection, which are that with those parties, most instances with the fbi. if we did come to that type of information, we would share with

the fbi and we would make sure that the intelligence committees were aware of that as well. >> chris: so is there such information? >> john: if we had that type of information, we would share it with the fbi. >> chris: that's not a denial. >> john: i wouldn't confirm or deny something like that on a program, as much as i respect i it. >> chris: thank you, sir. let's talk about hot spots. mr. trump said this weekend and "the wall street journal" that he might lift sanctions on russia if they start helping us, enters with a president-elect set about relations with the kremlin and his news conference. take a look. fico if putin likes donald trump, guess what, folks? that's called an asset, not a liability. >> chris: do think that mr. trump understands the threat from russia? >> john: i don't think he has a full appreciation of russian capabilities, russia's intentions, and actions that they are undertaking in many parts of the world. that's with the obligation and

responsibility of the intelligence community is. i very much hope that our relationship with russia improves in the coming administration. absolutely. there are very important things we need to do. there is a fair amount of responsibility on russia's part to change their behavior, change their actions, and what we need to do is make sure that mr. trump and vice president-elect pence understand exactly exactly what it is we know. they will be informed decisions. >> chris: are you concerned when you hear it mr. trump that interview with "the wall street journal" already talking about a situation where he might lift sanctions? >> john: i think he has to be mindful that he does not yet have a full appreciation and understanding of what the implications are of going down that road, as well as making sure he understands what he's doing. >> chris: one of the implications? >> john: you look at what's

going on in this area and what happening in the cyber realm, mr. trump needs to understand that absolving russia of the various actions it's taken in the past number of years is a road that he -- i think -- needs to be very, very careful about moving on. >> chris: from your vantage point at langley, as director of the cia, what's the most immediate and pressing crisis? >> john: at the problem is, the challenges that he will face numerous ones immediately. you have the problems of terrorism, clearly, the cyber challenge we are talking about in terms of elections and other types of cyber capabilities that other countries have. increasing development of nuclear capability and north korea. instability that has wrapped middle east. there are so many responsibilities they will have on day one, and we will make sure that he and his team are

fully briefed on all of these issues. >> chris: as you have heard, and i don't know if you are able to say this, but you're five days from leaving office. what do you think that his plan, his prescriptions, what he saying about these various trouble spots, crises, challenges around the world? >> john: it what i think mr. trump has to understand is that this is more than being about him, it's about the united states and national security. he has to make sure that now he's going to have the opportunity to do something as opposed to talking and tweeting, he's going to have tremendous responsibility to make sure that u.s. interests are protected and advanced. i'm very much hoping that he has some very good people that he has pulled together, pompeo, john kelly, and others. they are the ones that are going to be able to give him some wise counsel about what he needs to do and not be very spontaneous in his words and his action.

spontaneity is not something that protects national security interests, so therefore, when he speaks, when he reacts, make sure that he understands the implications that they have on the united states could be profound. it's more than just about mr. mr. trump, it's about the united states of america. >> chris: finally, you are ending eight years of service as one of president obama's top national security advisors, both in the white house and also as cia director. what, looking back on these eight years, what is your greatest source of pride in what is your biggest regret? >> john: first source of pride would be being part of a administration that has tried to advance our ability in the world in a challenging time. bringing obama bin laden -- osama bin laden to justice. the administration and the government as a whole really did great work. regrets, when i look at the

situation in syria, a lot of my heart bleeds over what has happened in that country, and i regret that we were not able to find a way to arrest the growth of violence and bloodshed there so that we could make sure that syria is going to have a future for the next generation of syrians, that's the one area that i'm very regretful about. >> chris: very briefly, is there a policy that you now believe with hindsight could have worked to stop the carnage and interrupted the civil war? >> john: 20/20 hindsight is always very clear. looking back over the last six years, i think a lot of countries in the united states could have been more aggressive and proactive in terms of what we should have done to prevent the deterioration into so much bloodshed in syria. >> chris: director brennan,

thank you. thank you for your time. and we want to thank you for your years of service to this country. >> john: thank you. >> chris: up next we will bring in our sunday group to discuss russian intel. this week's confirmation hearings where donald trump's top cabinet picks discuss some disagreements with their new boss.

>> chris: coming up, some of donald trump's cabinet nominees flipped with him on russia. >> we recognize that he is trying to break the north atlantic alliance. >> russia has reasserted itself aggressively. as we went we will ask our sunday panel with those different opinions mean for our

>> a thing like that should've never been written, it should have never have been had, and it should certainly never have been released. >> i always wondered what russia has on donald trump.

>> chris: mr. trump and house democratic leader nancy pelosi reacting very differently to the unverified russian dossier that supposedly has compromising information on the new president. it's time now for our sunday group, gerald c, executive editor of the washington "wall street journal" ." jane harman, director of the woodrow wilson center, and "washington examiner" contributor lisa boothe. bob, this is something we discussed with both of our guests, the way the intelligence community and handled so-called russian dossier, and overall, how do you think of the way they handle donald trump? >> i think what he reported here is trump's point of view on it. you laid it out when those former cia people said these things about trump, that he was a recruited agent of the russians. a useful fool, and they started

this in trump's mind, he knows the old adage, once a cia man, always a cia man. no one came out and said those people shouldn't be saying those things, so act two is the briefing when this dossier is put out. i've lived in this world for 45 years where you get things and people make allegations. that is a garbage document. it never should have been presented as part of an intelligence briefing, as you suggested, other channels have the white house counsel give it to trump's incoming white house counsel. trump's right to be upset about that, and i think if you look at the real chronology and the nature of the battle here, those intelligence chiefs who were the best we had, i think they made a

mistake here. and when people make a mistake, they should apologize. >> chris: let me bring in the former top democrat on the house intelligence committee, congresswoman harman. there is the sense that the intelligence community developed about russia hacking, the garbage at the dossier, and it got compelling. can't you understand why donald trump would feel why these guys are trying to knife them? >> i can understand that. from the other side, i can understand the very careful and highly trained intelligence professionals think they are being dissed. john brennan said he might have done things differently and hindsight. salacious two page unsubstantiated dossier, but i think the intelligence community seriously has put out its case starting in early october when jay johnson and i think it was mike rogers put out the case that there was russian hacking,

and i think it's important for donald trump and his groomed cabinet pinks to end this war, for two reasons. >> chris: the war with the intelligence community. >> yes. for two reasons. number one: these guys are in the front lines now in undisclosed locations. i have visited them all over the world. they are fabulous. we need them, but the second reason is, we need our allies to have confidence in the trump-intelligence relationship. it's crucial to us understanding the united states, so it will be compromised in some way. the one you are one of the two reporters that conducted that interview over the weekend with president-elect trump. how dramatically does it seem to you who wants to reshape our relations both with and china? >> that's not clear, but what is clear is mindset is totally different.

everything is open for negotiation. most importantly with russia and china. he said with china, everything is open to negotiation, including the 1-china policy. for years and years we have recognized beijing as the only true government. and on russia sanctions, he said we will keep them in place for a while, but we will see how they behave, and it's a transactional kind of approach to foreign policy. you are nice to us, we will find ways to be nice to you, and vice versa. it's going to be different. people argue the wisdom of it, but the one thing that's clear is that the mindset going in is going to be different. >> chris: of the senate started holding confirmation hearings for his cabinet this week, and one of the things that everyone noticed is the sharp differences between the nominees and mr. trump. let's put some of them up on the screen. there were real differences over the threats posed by russia, waterboarding, building a wall, and tearing up the iran nuclear

deal with. >> my number one priority is to dismantle the disastrous deal with iran. >> it is an imperfect arms control agreement. it's not a friendship treaty, but when america gives your word, we have to live up to it and work with our allies. >> chris: lisa, are we headed for a constructive debate, divergent opinions in the capital, or we headed for chaos? >> i think we are. >> chris: which one? >> good point. i think it will be constructive. for clarity sake. if donald trump can't win here, because he got a lot of criticism during the general election that he didn't take the advice of counsel, he didn't take the advice. he surrounded himself with some very smart and capable people, as the cia director pointed out. general medicine, and i think you will have a lot more in an intelligence community when he has somebody you trust like mike pompeo. in regards to russia, i think

the biggest problem here is to trust -- the invasion of trust with institutions at large when you have something medial reported that "the new york times" said was very difficult to check. and even what can be checked is problematic, sitting members of conference saying they're not going to recognize president-elect trump as the president because he is illegitimate. we have individuals that are calling for the abolishment of the electoral college, and they are calling for electors to defect. the biggest problem we are dealing with right now is the erosion of trust in all of the institutions, whether it's the intelligence community, the media, and the government at large. >> chris: we are going to take a break here. it's certainly worth noting, barack obama came into office on the same week as an approval rating in the 60s. donald trump is in the 40s. when we come back, an inspector general announces he will investigate possible misconduct

in the way fbi director james comey handled the clinton email investigation. what would you like to ask the panel about the ig investigation? we may use your question on the air. ♪

>> i'm an engineer. i am a billionaire. i will upgrade to the best technology money can buy. we are going to change the worl world. >> there is evidence they were extremely careless in their handling of very sensitive, highly classified information. >> if he has acted improperly in

the american people can no longer have faith in his ability to carry out justice, i think at that point, someone should step down. >> chris: hillary clinton's former campaign manager questioning whether fbi director james comey violated fbi regulations and being so public about the clinton email investigation. after the justice department inspector general announced he will review comey's action. bob, as somebody who has had a lot of dealings with the fbi, it did comey violate fbi regulations and going so public, and frankly, should he step dow down? >> he's got almost no friends right now. lots of people are calling for his head. i wouldn't anticipate learning too much from this inspector general's investigation. he can't compel people to talk. it's confidential, it's connected to something

classified. i think trump and his people have a lot of respect for comey on the issue of counterterrorism. the fbi has done a spectacular job in preventing the mass casualty attacks in this country which were much anticipated after 9/11. it may hang on that. >> chris: we asked you for questions and we got a bunch like this one from lillian murphy on twitter. i want to know why the ig is not questioning the tarmac meeting between bill clinton and attorney general lynch. lisa, how do you answer western mark >> i agree. if i'm glad to find that they will be looking at the fbi andrew mckay. closely connected to the clinton's. >> chris: he gave a lot of

money to who was running for office. >> i think he was set up to fail with all this, because any decision he had made from the start would have been met with extreme criticism. if you hadn't recommended a indictment against hillary clinton, can you imagine how that would have gone over, and of course lorelle lynch tied his hands by setting up a meeting with president bill clinton on the tarmac of that plane, and i think this is scapegoating from the left. if they want to look for reasons why hillary clinton lost, look no further than the fact that they elected someone was under investigation by the fbi to begin with, or the fact that she spent more money in omaha, nebraska, and michigan and wisconsin combined. >> chris: in a talk about russia and the fbi this week, all the talk is lost about the fact that donald trump finally announce what his plan is to separate himself from the trump businesses.

the head of the office of ethics immediately dismissed it. >> the planet the president has announced doesn't meet the standards that the best of his nominees are meeting, and that every president in the past four decades hazmat. >> chris: congresswoman, the trumps to business around the world, and every time that he makes a decision, or sent his administration makes it decision about his policy, does it raise the likelihood that people will say it advances his business interests? >> i think he wants his business to be over -- this business to be over. i'm sure jerry has some specific ideas on how to do more. i just want to say a couple words about comey. he certainly had my admiration for interviewing former attorney general's hospital room to block a bush administration effort to ratify or remove some surveillance standards against the standard legal procedure.

but in this case, his actions this last year are inexplicable. the inspector general is supposed to be independent. i think he is within bounds to want to investigate this, and we just checked this comic he could be replaced by donald trump if he chooses to replace him. >> chris: should comey step down? >> i think that is his call. i don't pretend to make suggestions to donald trump. >> chris: gerald, what to think of this? i think congresswoman harman is exactly right. he wanted to end the controversy. has he? >> absolutely not. this is going to be a continuing feature. the issue here is that donald trump has set up a trust, my sons will run the business, they are in charge of it.

it's not a blind trust if you're sons are running the business. you are not blind to that by any means. the trump response is these aren't liquid access. you can't just sell that. if you saw all those things, it's a fire sale, the value i built up goes out the window. that is the contention in this question. it's not going to go away. everybody in town is going to have to deal with questions. >> chris: is it something reasonably that he could have done, as somebody pointed out, he can't un- un-know what he k. >> i think he could have legally separated himself from the trump organization then he has. the other option would have been to take his family entirely out of the ownership and leadership of the company, but that wasn't going to happen. this is the trump family, so they weren't going to go there. >> chris: i kind of wonder

when he says he's not going to talk to his sons about the business, i think that will be an awkward holiday. how about the redskins? >> [laughs] >> the trump organization make some deal in the middle east, people are going to be asking him if you talked to your sons about this. >> chris: he said there's not going to be any new deals. we've got to end. thank you, panel. to be continued. up next, our power player of the week. the man donald trump picked to run his inauguration gives us a surprising preview.

>> chris: a look at the national building museum, site of the salute to our armed services inaugural ball this friday. whether you like him or not, donald trump always likes to do things big, but it turns out that's not how he wants his inauguration. here is our power player of the week. >> we need to thank the people who were faithful to us, and we need to encourage those who aren't, way to do it simply and quickly, elegantly, and let's get back to work. >> chris: tom barrack is chairman of the presidential inaugural committee, in charge of organizing 19 events over six days. he says donald trump's marching orders may surprise some people. >> in its simplicity, the idea is to organize what's already here and available, rather than focusing on the coronation of

the man. >> chris: are you saying that donald trump wanted to deemphasize the celebration of his victory? >> he wanted to deemphasize at the celebration of him. >> chris: even a simple inauguration is a big deal. barrack has a staff of 360, backed by a security force of 35,000, handling events for as many as 750,000 people. he's running everything, except the swearing in ceremony. >> it comes together just for that moment, to allow that peaceful transition of power. it's like putting on the olympics in 60 days. >> a very elegant day. the 20th is going to be something that is very, very special. >> chris: a donald trump is a pretty good producer. how involved, how micro-managing has he been about this? >> he wants to know the color of the napkins, the linens, what's the people coming, the players.

i said could you go back and manage the free world and leave me alone? >> chris: one of the president-elect's ideas is to do what andrew jackson did in the 1820s. open the white house and the toe public. >> it's not a great idea. they trashed the place last time. >> chris: about other ideas are going better. barack obama had ten inaugural balls in 2009, mr. trump said he only wanted three. >> after what we went through, we need a more healing kind of inauguration. we don't need a celebration of the victor. >> chris: of course there will be protests, but barrack says as long as they are not violent, that's fine. >> remembering the dialogue is alive is a good thing, not a bad thing. that comes from the president himself. people getting hurt is the issue, not protest. >> chris: barrack and trump

have been close for more than 30 years. barrack runs a private equity real estate firm with $58 billion in assets, but they've always known where to draw the line. >> is one of my best friends, and i'm not going into the administration if i intend to keep it that way. given the chance, he's not even president yet. >> chris: first things first, there's an inauguration to put on. >> 46 degrees and sunny. >> chris: of the forecast continues to be good weather on friday. return to two -- be sure to tune into this fox nation for coverage by shepard smith, or all day on fox news channel where i will be. that's it for today, we will see you next "

welcome to "mornings on 2". thanks for waking up with us, sunday, january 15th. i'm claudine wong. >> i'm frank mallicoat. nice day on tap. first a couple of headlines. we are keeping an eye on this. this is in pacifica. a monster sinkhole. it's apparently been there for several months. >> it got bigger, though. repairs take weeks and weeks. crews don't know what is to blame. we will keep an eye on it all morning. as we approach the inauguration, we are watching presidential politics. china and trump in a back and forth. he is back on twitter this morning. what he has been tweeting about and we will take you beyond the tweet and