>> thank you. that's it for "the five." "special report" is up next. as donald trump names a trio of top advisers, apparently including another general, the democrats are backing down from a fight over one of them. this is "special report." good evening. welcome to washington. i'm james rosen in for bret baier. where donald trump boasted of knowing more than the generals, tonight as president-elect he is surrounding himself with retired military leaders, with all indications that he is planning to name a third general for a key position in his administration. this occurs as "time" names mr. trump its person of the year. c correspondent peter doocy is outsiou

outside trump tower. >> reporter: good evening. that's right, the president-elect has another general in mind for a key cabinet post. he is telling us as well that the secretary of state sweepstakes is almost over. president-elect trump asked john kelly to run the department of homeland security. that according to the retired general. kelly said this afternoon he would consider it an honor. oklahoma attorney general scott pru it, who says he is not sold on the science of global warming, is the pick to run the epa. linda mcmahon is trump's choice to top the business administration and terry branstad is the nominee for u.s. ambassador to china. this as the list of secretary of state possibilities is shrinking. >> i think i have in my own mind. i don't want to say which ones, but i think i have in my own mind. >> reporter: "time" named trump person of the year because he identified the central issue motivating the electorate and

convinced them he was the best person to bring change. a lot has changed since last year when mr. trump was the runnru runner-up and protested i told you "time" would never pick me as the person of the year despite being the big favorite. they picked the person who was ruining germany. the 2016 edition cover photo show mrs. trump seated next to a banner calling him president of the divided states of america, a description he does not care for. >> putting divided is snarky. i'm not president yet. i didn't do anything to divide. >> reporter: the soon to be 45th president got a visit from the 44th president's first chief of staff, rahm emanuel, who is mayor of a city mr. trump has called out as violent and dangerous. >> look at what's going on in chicago. it's horrible. >> reporter: mayor emanuel told reporters he met with staffers about white house operations and separately stressed to the president-elect that he thinks the windy city benefits greatly

from being a sank actuary city. >> i was clear where i stood and other may ors stood on immigrants. >> reporter: further coordination happened in d.c. where susan rice met with her successor general michael flynn, whose son was fired from the transition team for his role sharing unproven conspiracy theories on social media. inside trump tower today, visitors included north carolina governor pat mcrory, andrew punter and barry switzer. >> i've been invited to inter t interview for secretary of offense. >> reporter: we have known mr. trump has a small circle of advisers. he is listening to president obama. the president-elect said he consulted with him before naming key cabinet slots.

>> peter doocy, thank you. let's learn more about general john kelly and the challenges he would face if confirmed as homeland security secretary. for that, we are joined by catherine herridge. >> reporter: the president-elect settled on john kelly as his pick to lead homeland security. his last government job was the united states southern command which oversees 32 countries in in the caribbean. his portfolio included immigration and drug trafficking. those close to kelly say that experience makes him well versed on southern border issues. when he retired in january, he seemed to check another trump box, emphasizing his work with intelligence and homeland security outside the beltway. >> at least it's been my experience, the further you get away from washington, the better things work. people talk to each other, people actually socialize with each other. they work together. there's no rice bowls. >> reporter: he is widely

respected having led forces in western iraq and he understands the human cost of war. in 2010 his son was killed in afghanistan by an ied. kelly rarely speaks about the loss. when he does, he addresses the importance of finishing the mission. >> i think the one thing they would ask is that the cause for which their son or daughter fell be carried through to a successful end, whatever that means, as opposed to this is getting too costly or too much of a pain in the ass and walk away from it. that's when they start thinking it might have been not worth it. >> reporter: the new secretary will take over the sprawling department of 240,000 employees at a time the administration's counterterrorism chief warns the threat has never been broader, wider or deeper. >> there exists a greater number of potential terrorist actors who aspire to do us harm than at

any point in our history since 9/11. >> four eight years, the obama administration reluctantly played global whack a mole jihadists rather than leaning into the fight with decisive leadership. they said terrorists were on run when they were on the rise. >> reporter: kelly is traveling outside the u.s. a form announcement is expected in the coming days. >> catherine herridge in our dc newsroom. pentagon says another soldier died today from wround suffered last month. at the time of the attack, four americans were killed, 16 wounded. officials say an afghan day laborer tied to the taliban infiltrated the air base in afghanistan. 12 americans have been killed in combat in afghanistan since early october. a marine corps pilot is missing after ejecting from his jet during a training mission off the coast of japan. the u.s. navy destroyer is

headed to the crash site. japanese military aircraft are also assisting in the search. this is the sixth marine f-18 to crash during a test training run this year. we soon get a sense of how hard senate democrats are going to push against some of donald trump's big picks. mike emanuel reports from capitol hill tonight on the first major test. >> what a great guy he will be incredible. he will get that wafber. >> reporter: the first fight between the new trump administration and congressional democrats is playing out now over the president-elect's selection of retired general james mattis to serve as the civilian secretary of defense. >> if he didn't get that waiver, there would be a lot of angry people. >> reporter: mattis makes the round on capitol hill,i includig a meeting with mitch mcconnell. they tucked it into the must pass continuing resolution to keep the government running after friday through next april

28. it would expedite consideration to ten hours of debate in the senate, limiting the ability of democrats to stall but that would strip power from the minority party. eed is on the appropriations and armed services committee and said, trying to jam an historic change like this on a year-end spending bill or changing the rules before a serious debate can take place is not the way to conduct business. mattis needs the waiver because law requires the defense secretary to be a civilian who has been out of the military for ten years. mattis retired from the marine corps in 2013. >> military officers in my experience tend to be very can do. if you ask them, can you take that hill? the answer is always yes. that's the way they are trained. if you are the secretary of defense, the answer is not always yes. there are a lot of other considerations. >> reporter: other democrats say it really isn't about mattis. >> we need to have a debate

about it because that's how we do things in congress. we should have a debate. i would support the waiver. i would support general mattis. >> reporter: the trump team has made it clear, it doesn't want any surprises on a critical role. >> when you start to form your government and make these significant cabinet picks, this is the setting of defense, very significant, you want certainty in the process. >> reporter: while some democrats are grumbling about the process, there will be a debate and vote in the new year over mattis' waiver and then on confirmation. it seems rather unlikely they will risk a government shutdown over this one provision. >> more on this with the panel. mike emanuel, thank you. washington's newest luxury hotel belonging to washington's newest and most powerful landlord is both a hot spot and a hot topic. ed henry looks tonight at what some allege to be donald trump's conflict of interest over the trump international hotel blocks from the white house. >> reporter: it's not just vice-president-elect mike pence using the glamorous new trump

international hotel as a backdrop for major events to promote president-elect trump's brand. >> we truly do believe that our president-elect has secured a mandate for leadership. >> reporter: while there's no mandate to stay at mr. trump's washington hotel, many do anyway. on wednesday, it was the government of bahrain hosting its national day reception there amid reports that dell daawa de are snapping up rooms. one asian diplomat saying, why wouldn't i stay at his hotel blocks from the white house so i can tell the new president i love your new hotel. isn't it rude to come to his city and say, i am staying at your competitor? >> they are saying, we will stay at the trump hotel. we will see the president. when we see the president, we want to say, you have a wonderful hotel. he is really profiting from this. it really creates conflict of interest. >> reporter: at issue is the

foreign clouz of the constitution which bars u.s. government owe fishes from accepting gifts from foreign powers without congressional approval. in addition to bahrain pouring money into the coffers, others are hosting a hanukkah party. mr. trump declared he would distance himself from the business and make sure his children take on a bigger role in the trump organization. he and his daughter told "60 minutes" the company's brand paled in comparison to goff he wering. >> i don't think it matters. this is so much more important and more serious. that's the focus. >> i think what ivanka is trying to say, who cares? this is our country. our country is going bad. we're going to save our country. i don't care about hotel occupancy. it's peanuts compared to what we're doing. >> reporter: with the president-elect promising a

december 15 news conference where he will officially turn over the business to his children, good government groups are suggesting that is not enough. the entire family should get out of the business. >> this is a dangerous area. he will see -- hopefully, he will see it and they will divest. >> reporter: now, while ivanka trump and her husband suggested that she and her sib lilings ar going to take on a bigger role, there are reports she and her husband will move to washington, suggesting she's taking on a bigger roll in the government. >> we are learning mr. trump went on a selling spree a few months ago. what can you tell us of selling off of stocks? >> reporter: yeah. he is saying he sold off all of his holdings back in june. his critics are saying that we never knew about it until now. and have not seen records showing what he held and whether or not he really sold it. what trump advisers are saying is, look, there's no violation of a constitutional clause because these are not gifts from

foreign governments. they're getting services that they are paying for in that hotel and other hotels around the world. on top of that, his advisers also note that look all this was litigated by the clinton campaign. it's been transparent about his businesses and that brand behind me. he won anyway. >> ed henry opn a busy pennsylvania avenue. keith ellison says he will resign from the house if he wins election as chairman of the democratic national committee. he was an early front runner, but first muslim elected to congress faced criticism over past comments about israel. he has two opponents. vice-president joe biden was honored this afternoon by his former colleagues in the senate. >> here is a man who has known great joy, who has been read his last rights and has never lost himself along the way. >> joe biden continues to serve his country, will continue after

january 20th. he continues do what is right. above all, love to care for his family. >> he has been part of the united states senate either as a senator or presiding over it as vice-president for 44 years. two juveniles have been charged in the east tennessee wildfires that left 14 people dead. a local district attorney says the pair face aggravated arson charges for the fire in the chimney top section of great smoky mountain national park. it spread causing widespread damage. state officials are not releasing the juveniles' names. testimony is under way in the south carolina man accused of gunning down nine church goers. dylann roof is allowing his lawyers to handle the case. he briefly fired them last week then changed his mind monday. a huge day on wall street today. the dow surged 298 points. the s&p 500 was up 29. the nasdaq gained 61.

up next, we will go live to pearl harbor, hawaii, on the 75th anniversary of the day that still lives in infamy. here is what some of our affiliates around the country are covering. columbus, ohio's legislature sends a bill to the governor's desk that would ban abortions once a fetal heart beat is dete detected. the measure outlaws abortion to similar laws in other states are on hold after being overturned by a federal court. in detroit, the presidential vote recount is the subject of legal maneuvering. a federal judge wants to hold a hearing. a state judge ruled it must stop. and this is a live look at the san francisco. the big story there tonight, the end of the search for vehicle tich victims of friday's warehouse fire. it appears a refrigerator may have been the source of the

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75 years ago right now, america was preparing to go to war. a few hours passed since the sneak attack left 2400 people dead and a wounded nation vowing to avenge its losses. the survivors from that day were joined by thousands of others for ceremonies. >> reporter: this was a reminder for america to never let down its guard. we are fighter jets in the missing man formation.

then we had the uss halsey steaming by with sailors saluting the crowd estimated to be above 10,000 people. many of whom were world war ii veterans. the navy band also played taps. ♪ as the ceremony went on, many drew parallels to 9/11 tributes, the reading of the names of the dead and a freedom bell built in part from the metal from the twin towers. the top military commander in the pacific gave the keynote address. he used a bible verse to highlight american bravery. watch. >> lady liberty called out in her pain and anguish, whom shall i send, who should go for me? and everywhere soldiers, sailors, airmen, marines and coast guardsmen and civilians called out, here am i, america, send me.

here am i, america, send me. >> reporter: he speaks of those who volunteered and fought back, even when they could not fight back. like 103-year-old jim downing who was aboard the west virginia when the japanese attacked. >> they can't elevate far. we couldn't use them against aircraft. we had aircraft guns, but they hit us immediately. we lost all electrical power. we couldn't use our anti-aircraft guns. >> reporter: the world war ii veterans who came here to pearl harbor to pay their tribute are in their 90s and beyond. most of them know and acknowledge that they will never be back. >> thank you. a handful of men who were

aboard uss arizona that fateful day are alive to tell their story. for the first time, one of them has put that story in writing. >> december 7, 1941. a date which will live in infamy. >> for america, world war ii began effectively at pearl h harb harbor. as the ship sank in a fiery wreck, nearly 1200 men lost their lives. 334 sailors survived. today, only five of them are left. one who is now 94 has just published the first memoir by an arizona survivor. >> sunday morning was like every other sunday morning. stepped out on the deck. sailors were hollering and

pointing. one of the aircraft take a dip and turned around and see the big fireball. we knew it was the japanese, or i did. >> he ran to his battle station before the general quarters alarm sounded. during the attack, don suffered burns on over 60% of i had body. >> a horrible explosion. one gentlemen jumped out and i tried to close the hatch. got burned pretty bad. just pulled the skin off i had arms. >> his body scars and skin grafts, he spent almost a year recovering. some parts of his body never regaining feeling. then the most gallant of men returned to the fight. serving aboard the destroyer uss stag. with the greatest generation fading from the scene, today's service personnel can draw inspiration from his heroic example. >> a survivor has finally come forth with his story, which was

not as well-known as it should have been. this makes it a particularly important and significant event as we commemorate the 75th anniversary of pearl harbor. >> he will return the salute to uss halsey. >> reporter: >> he hopes his book will connect past and present. he harbors no animosity toward the japanese people. this evening, we continue our series on donald trump's first 100 days with a look at immigration. it was the issue that put trump's campaign on political map. now it will provide an early test of his willingness to stick to his promises. >> reporter: life doesn't get much better than this. a stroll on her south texas land

once brought great joy. that is until the neighbor arrived. >> the border wall is in my backyard. >> reporter: long before president-elect trump's promise of a wall along the southern border, barriers started going up a decade ago after george w. bush signed the secure fence act of 2006. >> see the big bump there? >> reporter: a towering 18-foot tall piece of the fence casts a shadow on her house. the land has been in her family for generations. >> it was a hopeless, hopeless feeling. very emotional. >> reporter: of the nearly 2,000 mile long u.s. mexico border, about 670 miles is now walled or fenced. congress never approved additional funding for more. the program essentially went away. that was then. this is now.

president-elect trump ran his campaign vowing to not only build along the entire border but also make mexico pay for it. however, some like this woman who voted for trump don't have great confidence in how effective that will be. >> more walls will not solve the problem. >> reporter: aside from keeping people out, there's also the issue of what to do with those already living or staying here illegally. that was partially addressed when the president-elect on youtube presented a plan for his first 100 days in office. >> i will direct the department of labor to investigate all abuses of visa programs that undercut the american womane wo. >> reporter: something celebrate and feared. >> it's difficult to get any kind of visa. >> reporter: this man owns one of the largest construction companies in texas. he is more than ready for

reform. he says right now, it's american businesses being punished for following the law. losing work to a growing number of outfits that skirt the rules by paying employees in cash and not coughing up taxes. >> companies like mine cannot invest in a labor force unless we level the playing field. >> reporter: his motto is the best border security is at a job site, meaning he believes president-elect trump could be on the right track withholding employers accountable. u.s. border patrol agents have their work cut out for them. according to customs and border protection, apprehension along the border jumped nearly 24% this year, compared to last. people are pouring in day and night. it's not uncommon for agents to nab more than 100 immigrants in a single day. with the system overburdened, many are wondering, can it handle more?

deportation has been another contentious topic from trump. calling for all illegal immigrants to be removed from america. now more focused open jun kicki criminals and repeat offenders. it's why the phones haven't stopped ringing at this immigration law firm in dallas. >> there's a fear. >> reporter: this attorney says he is spending time dispelling rumors and taking on new cases. he points to a larger concern. he says there's not enough staff to handle a surge in deportation proceedings, considering the current average wait time for a new case is approaching two years nationally. >> he will have to crunch the numbers, see if they will be able to add that kind of number of judges. >> reporter: a daunting task just like constructing a wall. but this woman just wants to feel safe. wants the crime to stop. at the texas mexico border, fox

news. tomorrow, we will look at some of the national security challenges awaiting president-elect trump when he takes office january 20th. s rrescue teams are searchi the rubble for survivors in indonesia following an earthquake that left nearly 100 dead. scientists measured it at 6.5. this is the same region in which 100,000 people died in a 9.1 quake 12 years ago. iraqi special forces captured a new neighborhood from isis terrorists today. a senior commander says the area was fully liberated and is now flying the iraqi flag. the announcement comes hours after an isis attack overnight against iraqi forces in southeastern mosul. an official says that strike inflicted heavy losses but provided no additional details. in his final major national security address, president obama said yesterday that his counterterrorism strategy has broken the back of isis.

monday, my colleague bret baier talked about isis with the chancellor of the kurdistan council. >> it would be a long battle. this is what we expected. mosul is the last battlefield for isis in iraq. it's the capital of the islamic state. we don't think that they are going to give it up easily. as they close in to the center of the city, we see that -- how fierce isis is fighting back. in fact, they have been using many different tactics to slow down the progress and the advancement of the iraqi troops. >> like what? >> digging tunnels, using snipers, using ieds, using drone ieds. >> isis is using drone improv e improvised explosives? >> they used it effectively. if you are familiar with the city of mosul, it's divided.

you have the eastern bank and west he were bank. the eastern bank, where the fighting is happening, was inhabited by the kurds and christians. and arabs, in fact. many of those people fled before the fighting. it's the western site of the city that is narrow streets and alleys and more difficult. many of the sympathizers came from the western side. right now, all this fighting is happening on the east side. we do expect once the fight goes to the west, it becomes more difficult. it's very hard to speculate exactly when this fight will end or mosul will be completely liberated. fighting on the ground that not only stopped isis but pushed them back and helped to defeat isis. now they are isolated in the city of mosul.

all of this happened when we were only using very light weapons and very poorly armed -- all of our arms were captured from the previous regime. obsolete. we expected international -- >> including the u.s.? >> including the united states. we appreciated the support. what we expected we never received. we believed they should have been armed with more heavy equipment, with more protective gear, which we could have minimized our casualties. let me tell you that we have lost 1,500 peshmerga in the fight. more than 10,000 peshmerga have been wounded. if we had better equipment, just imagine if you would send your own son and daughters to the battlefield. how would you like them to be equipped and protected? it's the same for us. >> if eisis is defeated there, the real question is governance

after that. >> you have people of different religious and ethnic backgrounds. with all this different components, there has to be some sort of an agreement or understanding about the future governing of the province or guarantees about the security and the stability of the province as a whole. unfortunately, that was postponed. there's no agreement reached. >> for the kurds, there has long been this desire it seems for independen independence. the obama administration has treated the situation very strictly as a one iraq policy going through everything through baghdad. are you hoping that somehow that changes in a trump administration? >> we think that this is a god given right to the kurdish people like every other nation. why should the kurds be deprived that the pride every other nation take for granted. we are realistic. we want do it in a way that's peaceful, sustainable and that

we can live in peace with our neighbors and also to make sure that what we do is going to last for our people. >> do you want to invite the u.s. to have a base there? >> well, we wouldn't mind. of course, we -- as an independent state, you would have more liberty to make those decisions. we have to have a mechanism in place that prevents abuse of power by someone who may like to take control of everything. >> "time" says donald trump is person of the year will preside over the divided states of america. we will talk about that with the panel when we come back.

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we're in the process of putting together all of the one time great cabinets that has ever been assembled in our nation's history.

>> president-elect trump and vice-president-elect pence have met with over 70 or 75 men and women, not all of whom will end up in the cabinet. but appreciative of the experience and vision for this nation. >> that was kellyanne conway, the senior trump adviser speaking on fox news earlier today preceded by her boss talking about putting together one of the all time great cabinets. let's look at how that is now shaping up. in the past 24 hours or so, we are getting word of new picks by mr. trump including terry br branstad, retired general john kelly as the setting of homeland security, according to him. oklahoma attorney general scott pruitt, a critic of the epa is in line to be nominated at the epa administrator. and linda mcmahon is now going to be nominated as theed aprin straig administrator for the small business administration.

"time" named donald trump as its person of the year. but also adding in its headline there on front of the magazine, you can see it, president of the divided states of america. let's talk about this with our panel. george will, a.b. stoddard and charles hurt. george, we begin with you. what do you make of this "time" cover in. >> it's an easy call. it's supposed to be the person who dominated the news. the first one in 1927 was charles lindbergh. a few hours over the atlantic but he did dominate the news. 1936, i give you 20 guesses. you won't guess who it was. wa wa wallace simpson. it's a good choice by them. "time" on some years has thrown up its hands.

it wasn't dominated by someone. in 1982, it was the computer. in 1966, it was americans under 26. in 2006, they put a mirror on the cover. the person of the year was you. it was a tribute to our nar is a s six, i guess. >> one has to imagine hillary clinton agrees. she might decide the people who were most decisive in the election was james comey and putin and assange. in 1972, nixon won, they put a paper ma chez of his head. it wasn't the most flattering image. what do you make of this headline, president of the divided states of america? >> well, donald trump loves being named person of the year. it's a big deal to him. he felt it was snarky.

>> was he right? >> is it in the copy in the story is about basically -- it's not flattering, per se. there's a lot of criticism woven into there. but it's donald trump in all of his dominating. george is right, he dominated the year. it was an obvious choice. they wouldn't have -- they couldn't have picked anybody else. donald trump does not hide his delight. >> mr. trump conducted a telephone interview with "today" on nbc this morning in which he discussed his continuing deliberations over the person who will serve as his secretary of state. let's listen to that. >> let me go back to mitt romney. is he still under consideration? >> yes, he is. >> does he have a chance to become secretary of state? >> yes, he does. i mean, i've spoken to him a lot. we have come a long way together. we had some tremendous difficulty together.

now i think we have come a long way. >> charlie hurt, what do you make of the continuing deliberations over the secretary of state job? we have ambassadors to the u.n. named. >> well, if he does pick mitt romney, mitt romney will have earned it for the times he has had to go to bedminister to kiss the ring. from the beginning, i thought it was a very distinct possibility that he could possibly pick him. for a host of reasons, donald trump does want to prove he can make good with people that he has had big fights with in the past. one of the things that i think is particularly interesting about the "time" man of the year thing is that at least "time" has not learned a lesson about donald trump. they also took -- not only did they have the phrase about the divided states of america, but

they -- nancy gives at the -- the managing editor wrote a forward. people may all agree these are accurate terms, but this is -- it's hardly a fair way to describe a guy that has just won the presidency. >> it's not reminiscent of the clean shave for president nixon. do we have the short list? can we bring up the short list of secretary of state candidates? look at the short list. this is the longest short list i have seen. the list of single malt scotches at the trump international hotel probably isn't this long. it seems to be expanding and growing. what does this say for both mr. trump's decision making in this moment and whether the person who eventually gets it might enter the office weakened? >> when they announced a few that it was expanding, there was indications they're having

trouble with dissent over giuliani, petraeus, much more romney, not sure which direction to go. they keep throwing out senator corker. i don't think trump is serious about picking him. i could be wrong. i think this need to expand the list was a sure sign that they weren't -- he wasn't comfortable with his choices. or the team wasn't or something. i think that there's also a part of this -- governing is going to be pretty boring for donald trump. it doesn't mean he is not going to it. but this deal a day thing he is doing with boeing and carrier is a sign life is a tv o show thin going on and they're exciting and he is making things happen. the secretary of state has become such an important position. the process is so agonizing. i think he is enjoying it. he has more time to pick someone. the list is long. he is considering the head of exxon mobile. he is making it much bigger than it has to be and louder than it

has to be. i do think he does sort of like all the attention to the process. >> george, 30 seconds left. i seem to remember in 1988 as soon as he won, george h.w. bush, the first thing he did was name james baker as his secretary of state. >> it's odd to allow staff -- a lot of the dissent is coming from staff. it's odd to allow staff to have an opinion. they should get on with it. this looks like a good administration in which to be secretary of state. it was agony for secretary of state rogers because the national security adviser dealt with the president and left him out. didn't tell him about the opening to china. because mr. trump may not be absolutely obsessed with details about this, this would be a great time to restore the office of secretary of state. >> next up, the president-elect settles on another general apparently for a key position in the trump administration.

the panel will weigh in on what this says about mr. trump's leadership style. stay with us. being detected was not an option. if i was recognized the whole operation was blown. the element of surprise was imperative. wow. he won't even recognize you. seriously. i don't even recognize myself. and thanks to my cashrewards credit card from navy federal with never-expiring rewards it's gonna be a killer honeymoon. woo! maui!!

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what a great guy. he is going to be incredible. he will get that waiver, right? if he didn't get that waiver, there would be a lot of angry people. >> i would support the waiver and support general mattis. he could be a check. i don't think we need to be in the position as democrats as just fighting every single thing that happens. >> we are back with our panel. if you have been paying attention, you have been seeing it as this name of general mattis has been circulating, the senate democrats made some noises to the effect that they might be of a mind to challenge

that waiver that he requires to serve as setting of defense. the latest is that the democrats might be backing down. the house minority leader, nancy pelosi, said the democrat on the house armed services committee, representative adam smith, democrat of washington, has essentially made a deal to allow that framework for this waiver that general mattis would require to go in to this funding measure and so that's good enough for her. however, there was some slight resistance still being mounted by the democrats. let's hear from congressman adam schiff of california. >> what may tip the balance for me is if the president-elect pop plates even more positions in the administration with even other military figures i will have heart burn about this. if he starts making these other nominations, it's going to place the mattis waiver in real jeopardy. >> well, we have quite a few generals shaping up in the

embryonic trump administration. charlie hurt, do you get the sense that the mattis fight has been disjoined? >> yeah. i think this is probably a pretty big loser for democrats. and, of course, what we just heard from adam schiff who from california he can say these sorts of things. it's bad for two reasons. one is, you know, donald trump won and it's presumed that he will get his picks here. but then it would also be sort of attacking a military guy. and that's not a terribly good thing for democrats to be doing right now. but, you know, general mattis, i think is, a brilliant pick for some reasons. but, you know, very much an outside the box kind of pick. and somebody who is laser focused on what the purpose of the u.s. military is. and i think that if the republicans can sort of make it a fight about that, that it will behoove them very much going forward. >> a.b., there are quite a few democratic senators who are up for re-election in

2018 in states that donald trump won this year in 2016. we can even see that on the screen. there is quite a few of them. some more vulnerable than others, perhaps do you think that the democrats are going to make a real move to obstruct any of these generals or perhaps the nominee for attorney general, jeff sessions? >> i think that they, general mattis is such a popular pick and i don't think he is outside the box. i think he is exactly inside the box. and what people, they're reassured by this pick. he knows exactly what needs to be donti kind of moment of realignment in the pentagon and our mission in the middle east and donald trump's world view. any increase in military spending. reorganizing the procurement system. whatever it is. he reassures people. and he is so popular the democrats have realized they have to hold their fire on this person. of course they're going to be under pressure from the left of their party to worry

in confirmation hearings about not only senator sessions at justice as attorney general but also any might end up picking on ben carson, the pick for housing and urban development and make a fight about you are within a policy and housing policy and that's what loads me to believe they just realized in seeing the array of picks they were going to have to save their fire and back off mattis as soon as possible. >> a.b., you mentioned in the previous panel that we just had this sort of deal a day approach of the president-elect where he is descending on different companies and seemingly making ultimatums but otherwise cutting deals with them and so forth. we have a quote we would like to show you. this is from a former bush administration economic advisor greg man cue quoted in the "the washington post" about this saying quote, when a chief exec is making individual calls to individual companies he is in some sense acting like a central planner. we have a lot of history

under communism to suggest it doesn't work well until practice. that's the direction you are heading in as the president starts to weigh in on individual business decisions. george will, do you agree? >> i entirely agree. so far donald trump style is personal, not to say visceral. and ad hoc. and what that adds up to is a kind of use of presidential power absolutely unconstrained by law and statute and all those other niceties. the problem is when you have in the carrier case, political power used to bring pressure upon a privately owned institution that has fiduciary to value and drive them off political pressure economic decisions about economic assets, you are, in effect, at the end of the day, getting the federal government involved in capital allocation there is a name for that it's call socialism. >> and so to the existing indictments of donald trump and the public imagination, at least where the democrats are concerned, we have fascist, right. we have uber call at that

pointist anat thatpoint -- capid socialist. >> correct. >> they can't all ideologically exist. >> this is not ideological time. >> that will do it for our friends. ted cruz made some very impassionate remarks today. more on those when we come back. ♪

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finally tonight, ted cruz won more states in this year's g.o.p. primaries than anyone except donald trump. to some folks there was also something well, a little cheesy about the texas senator and tonight he himself is confirming that. in a big way. >> good case of relaxes you. look, it's cheese dip can be served on a ritz cracker or with one of those tiny vienna saw sayings, queso is made to be scooped up with tortilla chips dribbling down on your chin on to your shirt. one is a visceral, emotional, powerful family bond as you and your kids pour into nachos covered in queso. the other is party favors at an afternoon tea. >> looked like john cornyn was getting hungry listening to all of that make plans

now to watch "fox news sunday" over this weekend. chris wallace will have an exclusive interview with president-elect donald trump. thanks for watching "special report." i'm james rosen. good night from washington, d.c. ♪ ♪ >> well, good evening and welcome to "tucker carlson tonight," the show that is the sworn enemy of lying pomposity, smugness and group think. "time" magazine just reminded it exists by naming president-elect donald trump as person of the year. fair enough. hard to think of anyone more news worthy this year than donald trump. but to many on the left "times'" cover is a reminder that trump is indeed going to be a president and was therefore a trigger. here is one person who feels that way a congressional democrat from california. thanks for joining us tonight. >> thanks for having me. >> a tweet you sent out after seeing the cover on "the today show" this morning and you wrote. this adolf hitler was