we're talking rex tillerson. his nomination this morning prompting bipartisan concerns about his close ties to russia and vladimir putin but who is this long time exxonmobil man who will represent the u.s. around the world? joining me now is msnbc's ali velshi and nbc foreign correspondent ayman mohyeldin. rex tillerson has only had one employer since leaving school, exxon, exxon, exxon. woven into who this man is and extraordinary experience dealing with foreign government. >> was also the ability that rex tillerson had to maintain relationships across the world in many places that aren't the easiest places to have relationships in during many different administrations, so obviously, he's very good at being a diplomat. >> very good at being a diplomat, but is he? what he was doing before is dealing with vladimir putin, you'd like to make money, we'd like to make money. let's go to the arctic, the gulf of mexico. >> ceo have great relationships in the world. that's nonsense what reince priebus is saying. it is fa

if rex tillerson is nominated or confirmed. the big oil ceo would be the ambassador on climate change. he is under investigation for misleading shareholders. tillerson is by no means a climate change denier. since taking the helm in 2006, he shifted the exxon stance admitting the climate change is real. in 2007, he said the risk of greenhouse gasses could be significant. in 2009, he endorsed a carbon tax on businesses over the proposed cap and trade policy. exxon mobile supported the paris agreement recently. speaking at a conference last month, tillerson said it helps world governments work together to solve the issue. tillerson's history could put him at odds with donald trump who ripped into the paris agreement on the campaign trail and said nobody really knows if climate change is real. >>> there is strong reaction to the tillerson nomination and it is all from moscow. let's get the latest from cnn's matthew chance live in moscow. >> reporter: george, the potential nomination of rex tillerson as secretary of state, has been

ceo of exxon mobile rex tillerson. there are already signs of trouble ahead for tillerson's nomination. there's uncertainty overviews of climate change and questions about his close relationship with vladimir putin. raising concerns on both sides of the alisle. we get more from cnn's phil mattingly at trump tower. >> reporter: george and christine. the pick is in. the president-elect will announce that rex tillerson, exxon ceo is his selection for secretary of state. he intends to nominate the ceo because the two just hit it off. they found a fit. they share similar world views and business backgrounds as deal makers. it comes down to three people. condeleeza rice and two others who recommended rex tillerson to the president-elect. now he will be the president-elect's top diplomat. that doesn't mean he will have clear sailing through the confirmation process. democrats raised concerns about the nomination. republicans have primarily because of tillerson's ties to russia. exxon as an oil company has done numerous deals

let's talk about the breadth of experience rex tillerson has. you talk about putting multicountry deals together in africa, for example. or getting a pipeline through multiple countries. we talk about being a leader of exxonmobil, someone who's worked on pipelines going into places like china, malaysia, thailand. he's worked all over the entire world. the other thing, too, is let's talk about how good of a person he is. not only is he figuratively a boy scout, the guy is literally a boy scout. he led the national boy scouts of america for ten years, won rave reviews for that. he's someone who we can count on and we can depend on to fight for us on the international stage. >> yet, the main focus is going to say let's see how that performance and background came to bear in russia. right now, to take a line that you guys love, you got to call the enemy what it is. radical islam. you don't seem to be talking that talk about russia. you have the president-elect, who's denying without any basis of proof, the intelligence community's assessment that ru

rex tillerson. yeah, there's a name that lights up a room, rex tillerson. did you know this, rex tillerson was once the president of the boy scouts of america. yeah. of course, as donald trump calls that government experience. >> former vice president kick cheney today praised donald trump's secretary of state pick rex tillerson calling him an inspired choice. so tillerson has the support of kick cheney, vladimir putin and donald trump. that only leaves one person. >> excellent. >> it's unanimous. >> tillerson is an interesting pick. for one thing, he's an oil man who believes in climate change. he believes in it, he's from exxon. he invented it. >> kanye west actually showed up to meet with donald trump at trump tower. people were shocked. they didn't expect the two to meet until the first presidential debate in 2020. >> that's right. kanye west met with donald trump at trump tower today. no word on what they interrupted each other about. >> they do have a lot in common. they're both fashion designers. they both go on twitter rants. they both use all caps.

now comes at not an opportune time for rex tillerson. donald trump doubling down here and he has the support of recent secretaries of state, condoleezza rice among them. look for a bruising confirmation hearing as we go forward here. once if he would happen to get confirmed an open question about what type of secretary of state he would be. >> well, let me put that to you because jeff mentioned condoleezza rice, supporting the pick of rex tillerson. she said rex tillerson is an excellent choice for secretary of state. he will bring to the post remarkable and broad experience, deep understanding of the global economy and belief in america's special role in the world. so are critics wrong about tillerson, elise? >> well, carol, it's not necessarily unprecedented. you know, you have had very successful secretaries of state like george schultz who ran a big corporation like pectel. certainly rex tillerson has a knowledge of the world, international experience in dealing with world leaders. diplomacy is very different to business deal making,

i'm talking about exxonmobil ceo rex tillerson. he is the man the president-elect would like to serve

rex tillerson is reportedly the pick. mitt romney also posted online, he went on facebook that he didn't get the job, he wrote this, it was an honor to have been considered as secretary of state. my discussions with both president-elect trump are enjoyable and enlightening. i have high hopes that the new administration will lead the nation to a greater strength, prosperity and peace. carly fiorina weighed in. >> the high-quality of people that he has named already says so much about executive abilities but people recognize the opportunity that our new president elect has to really make a huge impact on people's lives in this country and on events around the world. maria: press release is out. donald trump naming rex tillerson his next secretary of state. they have now issued a press release so we can tell you it is now official. erin, good to see you, your reaction to this? >> i think we want to hear more about why donald trump -- maria: sorry, go ahead. >> why donald trump appointed rex tillerson. he's been saying he's a

exxon's rex tillerson, he's the man of the moment. nominated by donald trump to become the next secretary of state. the president-elect calls him a, quote, world-class player. he told people around him, this guy is a level above anybody else i'm considering. does his business background automatically trance late into good diplomacy? next. there is no typical day. there is nothing typical about making movies. i'm victoria alonso and i'm an executive producer... ...at marvel studios. we are very much hands-on producers. if my office... ...becomes a plane or an airport the surface pro's perfect. fast and portable but also light. you don't do this 14 hours a day, 7 days a week for... ...decades if you don't feel it in your heart. listen, i know my super power is to not ever sleep. that's it. that's the only super power i have. even if you're trying your best. along with diet and exercise, once-daily toujeo® may help you control your blood sugar. get into a daily groove. ♪ let's groove tonight. ♪ share the spice of life. ♪ baby, fro

he's known rex tillerson for many, many years. he joins us on the phone to give us insight on who rex tillerson is. nice to have you on the show. >> good morning, folks. i've known rex tillerson for only about five years through the boy scouts of america. wonderful organization. he was the president of the boy scouts of america from 2010 to 2012. but i followed his illustrious career since he becamement of exxon-mobil since 2004. >> what kind of a guy is he? >> he's a man who, in my opinion, who is a great diplomat. very experienced. particularly on the international scene, perhaps more than any other executive. there's no question that the united states lost respect in a lot of areas in the world. we'll now have a seasoned, experienced executive as secretary of state rather than incompetent tent politicians in barack obama, john kerry and hillary clinton who have all mishandled our international affairs. he'll do a wonderful job in that role. the thing that i like about him best, he's a production man. he has always produced a pr

rex tillerson has been with exxonmobil for over 40 years. ceo since 006 but he does lack government experience. do you think he's qualified to be secretary of state? not -- it's convincing, let's put it that way. 86% say no, 14% say yes. you can still vote. you got another hour to do so. go to pulse.msnbc.com, share your thoughts. thank you for watching this hour of "msnbc live." more news with my colleague and the man who wears a suit better than anybody else, thomas roberts. >> good to have you with me. this hour on "msnbc live," the president-elect makes that long-awaited pick for secretary of state while setting the stage for a fight could define the early days of trump's presidency. >>> and donald trump's come to yeesuz moment? the controversial rapper looking for a role in the new administration? >>> breaking news out of california. this hour investigators planning to reveal the cause of the deadly inferno that claimed 36 lives. just weeks ago in oakland. >>> up first though, this hour, growing opposition to donald trump's long-awaited

neither is rex tillerson. they fit a similar profile of having a career outside -- >> they're not creatures of washington but they are not -- they're not outsiders. >> i've never heard someone's name mispronounced as much as mnuchin. >> did i get it right? >> mnuchin, mnuchin, whatever. >>> is free speech under fire in america? why some students are calling for safe spaces to protect them on campus and those students are on campus and those students are not liberals. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com family road trip! fun! check engine. not fun! but, you've got hum. that's like driving with this guy. all you do is press this, and in plain english, "coolant", you'll know what's wrong. if you do need a mechanic, just press this. "thank you for calling hum." and if you really need help, help can find you, automatically, 24/7. because you put this, in here. hum by verizon. the technology designed to make your car smarter, safer and more connected. put some smarts in your car.

rex tillerson. donald trump simply went through all processes, met with everybody, decided he liked this guy and decided it was worth it to take on this fight. good reason to think he's going to win. right? looking at maybe three, four, five republicans who might vote no. none of them actually said they'll vote no. what they'll do, wait and see if rex tillerson can reassure him as secretary of state he would defend american interests not exxon interests. if he can say and do the right things between now and then, probably get through even though most democrats will oppose him. >> matt, to be clear, this is someone, he has a lot of knowledge. he knows russia. he knows the middle east, but he's going to have to take off one hat that he's been wearing now for decades, working for exxon, and going to have to put on another one. basically use his knowledge, perhaps for a very different reason. right? >> those will be at the forefront of those questions that lindsay graham and john mccain and others are f

how did rex tillerson rise to the top? >> reporter: this was the biggest prize in donald trump's cabinet and that statement put out just moments ago describes rex tillerson as among the most influent business leaders in the world and deal makers and obviously for the man who wrote the deal, donald trump that was one of the most impressive things about tillerson. while he has no government or diplomatic experience he does have years of experience building relationships with world leaders, a point that donald trump has noted on multiple occasions. that includes the leaders of countries like saudi arabia and yemen and with vladimir putin in russia. that's why some members in congress think this could be a contentious confirmation battle going forward. marco rubio saying anyone that's a friend of vladimir is not what i'm looking for in a secretary of state. however, there have been some influential republicans voicing their support for rex tillerson in recent days to donald trump. they include former cabinet members like bob g

. >> he's the opposite of rex tillerson. tension is good, i guess, for a team of rivals, but this is alex jones territory to talk about a falsified operation. why would barack obama to have hillary clinton have her e-mails leaked? it hurt her terribly. he endorsed her. it's nonsense. >> still ahead on "morning joe," donald trump meets with another former rival. >> we talked about the opportunity that the president-elect has to literally reset things. to reset the trajectory of this economy, to reset the role of government, to reset america's role in the world and how we're perceived in the world. and i think it's why he's getting such fantastic people in his administration. >> is there a role for carly fiorina in the trump administration? the former presidential candidate joins us ahead for an exclusive interview. >>> plus, former u.s. ambassador to russia, mike mcfaul joins the conversation. you're watching "morning joe." we'll be right back. world ugly and messy. they are the natural born enemy of the way things are. yes,

coming up we'll dig more into the experience and record of rex tillerson. how did this oil giant become the likely pick to be the next top diplomat on behalf of the u.s.? >> our political panel is standing by to help us break it down. we'll speak with them in a moment. >>> plus, it's the most advanced fighter jet in the world and over $100 million, also one of the most expensive. now israel is getting their first shipment of 50 f-35s. later this hour what that means for the region. says it won't let up for a while. the cadillac xt5... what should we do? ...tailored to you. wait it out. equipped with apple carplay compatibility. ♪ now during season's best, get this low mileage lease on this cadillac xt5 from around $429 per month, or purchase with 0% apr financing. boost it's about moving forward not back. it's looking up not down. it's feeling up thinking up living up. it's being in motion... in body in spirit in the now. boost. it's not just nutrition, it's intelligent nutrition. with 26 vitamins and minerals and 10 grams of protein. all in 3 delicious f

what you know of rex tillerson, what do you know and what are your concerns? >> woman, he'sab impressive man my all accounts. he's rub our largest corporations. he has had international experience. he was endorsed today publicly, by former secretary of defense bob gates, forme society condi rice. i admire both of those people. but, judy, i think there will be a real challenge to his nomination, and that's his closeness to the russian regime and what he's been saying about russian policy. and i think the backdrop to his senate confirmation will be the extraordinary statements made by donald trump during the campaign. i don't think we've had in 70 years a presidential candidate, and now a president-elect, so accommodating to russia. no criticism by donald trump about russia's illegal annexation of crimea. no criticism about russia's division of the ukraine. no criticism of russia's harassment of our nato allies, poland and the baltic states. and no criticism of this barbaric russian bombing of the civilian population of aleppo. a lot of people feel we should be

that's not the case with rex tillerson. reese actually done more interviews with the boy scouts of america, to your point he's very passionate about, than in the general or media business. he has a very good reputation. if you think about can rex tillerson truly unwind himself from exxon, to ari's point he has to sell out of all his shares, that will happen. this is the only company he's ever worked at his entire adult life. he is thoroughly threaded into this organization. if he became secretary of state, if he was in a position to influence or lift sanctions against russia, and he has said before as the ceo of exxon he didn't feel good about those sanctions, guess what, exxon would then be able to drill in the arctic and that would be very good for that company. >> i think stephanie makes an interesting point. donald trump ran on saying the system is rigged and what's good for wall street isn't always good for rural tennessee or rural michigan or the forgotten jobs in pennsylvania. it is fascinating, just as a factual obs

exxonmobil ceo rex tillerson. there are questions about his relationship with russian president vladimir putin. how close is it? is it a personal friendship? or is this a relationship built around the needs of a mega corporation tillerson has worked for his entire career. i want to bring in senior correspondent matthew chance in washington. matthew, less than 24 hours ago, this order of friendship, this award bestowed on rex tillerson from vladimir putin, that's been given to a lot of people. don't read too much into that. this is a working business relationship. and this is a man who knows how to say no to the russian president. what do we know about their relationship? >> well, we know it's fundamentally based on rex tillerson's dealings as an executive of exxonmobil as a ceo. he's much closer, i understand, to the igor sechin, the right-hand side man of vladimir putin, the president of rosneft, which is the oil company. putin is a kgb man formerly. it's not clear that he actually has friend in that personal sen

it is certainly rex tillerson. exxon is like a country. it is one of the five or six largest operations in the world. energy is a very important business. exxon has its own intelligence department, which is very good, they do forecasting of the very same kind that the cia does, he's had a dry run for this job in a way that very few ceo's have had. two things i worry about, what is good for ex-season not always what's good for america. exxon did a deal with the kurds, in which they got the oil from northern iraq. the state department, the national security council, the defense department all said was a bad idea, because it would break iraq apart. exxon said, we don't care. it's good for our shareholders, perfectly fine, perfectly appropriate, we hope that as he transitions to be secretary of state, he will put the interest of the broader interests of the country. and it's quite possible he will, it's quite -- one should hope and expect he will. the puzzle here does remain the russia angle, it's not rex tillerson, he's a fine businessman, he

i don't know rex tillerson that well. i will tell you at least from my conversations with him, i'm pretty comfortable. i'm very comfortable actually in him being able to do the job. my biggest concerns have to do with russia, israel, and management of the state department. because as david sanger said, the state department will cut you into a million pieces. if you're a ceo that says i'm used to doing what i want to do and i say i'm going to do this, they will chop you up day in and day out with leaks. i will tell you this, if john bolton is rex tillerson's number two, i am very, very concerned because bolton doesn't have what it takes to nail the place down while tillerson is overseas. by the way, why would donald trump pick a guy who still thinks invading iraq was a good idea? this is madness by the way. i keep hearing john bolton's name. this guy still believes knowing everything that we know that we should have invaded iraq. how does that line up with anything donald trump -- >> with his world view. over the course of

rex tillerson is expected to be the pick for the secretary of state. it's possible that's part of it. >> interesting conversation for saturday afternoon. thank you for checking in with me. >> reporter: thanks. >>> more now on that russian hacking report. joining me now, greg miller, national security correspondent for the "washington post," thank you for talking to me this afternoon. >> sure. >> let's talk about russia's intervening in the election. first, your reaction to sean spicer pushing back on reporting lumped in with his criticism of the "new york times." >> i'm not sure he's pushing back on our reporting, i think he ae's aiming that specificallt the "new york times." we explored that issue that the rnc had also been hack and we got conflicting information on that. we were in contact with the rnc and the vigorously disputed that. we've also heard from a number of u.s. officials who said there was clearly some probing, some effort j some hacking increasing aimed at the rnc. what ae's less clear is whether they were able to extricate any material

rex tillerson does fly around the world and meet with world leaders all the time. i'm less worried about that, but he is a very, very strong believer that sanctions are not an important tool. >> that's an excellent point. i wonder if that was a draw. we'll have to talk about that in the days ahead. msnbc's ali velshi thank you for calling in. >>> joining me is the deputy national political editor at "the washington post," rick gaylen republican stratiest and basils michael, director of the new york state democratic party and former aide to senator hillary clinton. thank you for joining me this afternoon. we said it earlier, breaking news just thrown into our lap here. rebecca, about tillerson, he's done business in russia, you heard ali velshi on behalf of exxon. he has publicly spoken out on sanctions against russia. what is your take? could he conceivably get through a confirmation hearing? we're already hearing about pushback. >> you think about the timing looking ahead to the launch, the beginning of the trump presidency. you're going to have this report presid

tillerson as his secretary of state. >> rex tillerson was once the president of the boy scouts of america. yeah. or as donald trump calls that government kernt. >> on "cbs this morning." >> the president-elect met at trump tower with kanye west. you can tell it was a high-powered meeting because kanye is wearing his formal sweatsuit. >> what an amazing thing to see our next two presidents side by side like that. it's -- it's remarkable. >> this morning's "eye opener" is presented by toyota. let's go places. >>> welcome to "cbs this morning." gayle king is off, alex wagner co-host of "cbs this morning" saturday is with us. a new humanitarian crisis is unfolding in the syrian city of aleppo after a day-old cease-fire appeared to fall apart. rebels and pro-government troops on the verge of retaking the whole city are attacking each other with gunfire and shelling. the united nations warns of a complete meltdown of humanity. >> think about that the rebels are holed up among thousands of civilians in the deliver of territory in the east. syrian government buses waited this morning to transport

>> rex global leaders of all time. >> president-elect on his thank you tour praising rex tillerson, his pick for secretary of state. >> it is a very different thing to be negotiating deals for oil and gas company than it is to be standing up for american interests. >> the united nations says massacres have been carried out in eastern aleppo and that leaves a complete meltdown of humanity. ? >> alan thicke, one of the >> in later in life it's tougher without eight writers. >> president obama signs a sweeping billion that invests billions in cancer research. >> mail truck up in flames with holiday packages inside. the driver was able to save most of the packages >> all that. ? hallelujah ? >> you seem like you're in a great mood. >> what is not to love? >> if i was wearing that level of soap, i would be happy as well. >> and all that matters. >> donald trump nominated exxonmobil ceo rex tillerson as his secretary of state. >> rex tillerson was once the president of the boy scouts of america! yeah! of course, donald trump calls that government experience! >> on "cbs this morning." >> the p

start with rex tillerson, ron. big oil man. not the first time we've seen this in an administration. >> no. if you go back to the reagan administration, george shults was the head of bechtel corporation. james baker was an oil man and in banking and had prior experience in government. ultimate himself became secretary of state after being a white house chief of staff, after being a treasury secretary in a variety of different roles for different individuals. this is a little different, a little unusual ip so far as there's no governmental and no diplomat experience for rex tillerson. he has done deals on most continents around the world. he has interfaced ver closely with russia, received the order of friendship from vladimir putin. that could be one of the things that is most maybe concerning to the senate, which is confirming him. strict personal conflict of interest issues can be resolved right away. he has $151 million of exxon shares. those need to be sold before he could take office by law, tax free, of course, but he'd h

that's what rex tillerson did. but that doesn't mean that the positions of president-elect trump are not going to be extremely tough in putting america first. >> let me move to the reports in the washington post, "new york times," nbc news confirmed it the assessment from the cia is not only did russia interfere, make an attempt to interfere in the 2016 election to be disruptive but they actually were trying to be disruptive in order to help donald trump. the transition put out a statement that essentially he humiliated the cia in saying that donald trump didn't believe the assessment from the cia because these are the same people that said there were weapons -- that issaddam hussei had weapons of mass destruction. does donald trump have confidence in america's intelligence? >> of course he has confidence in america's intelligence. but we don't have confidence in "the new york times" releasing a report of unnamed sources of some kind of study that itself and "the washington post" said was inconclusive to claim that

trump will nominate exxon mobile rex tillerson. the announcement to come this week, probably mid-week. welcome, everybody. new hour of america's news room. i'm martha maccallum. >> hello, everyone, i'm eric sean for jon scott. he has described as aggressive deal maker. president-elect trump, though, praising mr. tillerson yesterday on his appearance on fox news sunday. >> well, in his case he's much more than a business executive. he's a world-class player. he's in charge, i guess, the largest company in the world and he's in charge of an oil company that's doubled the size of next nearest competitor. a company that's been unbelievably managed. the trump transition team in the lobby, we also now have a list of people of who mr. trump will be meeting with today and that list includes one of the former rival carly fiorina, former pennsylvania senator rick sanitorium, all possible candidates for various jobs. martha: senior writer for the weekly standard, good morning, to you. >> good morning, martha. martha: it started to bubble over

but is exxon ceo rex tillerson headed for a showdown before congress? we'll ask a member of the foreign relations committee who also chairs the homeland security committee, senator ron johnson. and just how deep is russia's reach into our country? the 11th hour begins now. the 11th hour begins now. >>> and good evening, once again, from our new york headquarters. tomorrow puts you just 37 days from inauguration. tonight, president-elect donald trump continued his ever-expanding thank you tour. this time the suburbs of milwaukee. his opening acts included wisconsin governor scott walker, vice president-elect mike pence and house speaker paul ryan greeted bay few boos from the crowd. boo. >> speaker paul ryan, i have really come -- [ crowd booing ]. >> oh, no, i've come to appreciate him. where is paul ryan? he's like a fine wine. everyday goes by i get to appreciate his genius more and more. >> at the end of the evening, accepting packers jerseys as gifts, this moment was really the first time ryan and trump have shared a stage during the entire election

thinned all, exxonmobil and its ceo rex tillerson. but that's no problem, say those who know him best. like john hamrey at the center for strategic and international studies, where tillerson is on the board. >> when he was the head of exxonmobil, he was -- his responsibility was to champion exxonmobil. others going to champion america now. >> reporter: all over d.c. supporters are lining up, including former secretaries of state james baker and condoleezza rice, who call him an excellent choice with broad international experience and former defense secretary robert gates, who cites his great integrity. in fact, those three power players actually suggested tillerson to trump. they also worked with tillerson and exxon as paid consultants. it's that sort of coziness and the oil giant's vast economic influence that concerns critics, especially the boss's deep ties to russia. >> anybody who's a friend of vladimir putin must disregard the fact that vladimir putin is a murderer, a thug, a kgb agent. >> reporter: tillerson has had close relat

what are rex tillerson's answers to that? >> rex tillerson is going to say i had to deal with russia, because my company has had a relationship with russia for 20 years. i think there's a much larger context here that hasn't been mentioned. and that is that there are increasing indications. in fact, according to the cia, that russia was involved in our democracy. mucking it up. and it seems to me that the person who appointed, who's appointing mr. tillerson wants to flip u.s. foreign policy on its head, if not aligning with russia, at least trying to find common ground with russia, to put pressure, leverage against china, to come up with solutions in the middle east, and he doesn't seem to be that concerned about the concerns of allies and nato about that. these are questions that are going to come up. and mr. tillerson is going to have to address them. >> does he support the positions of mr. trump on the campaign trail? or does he say, "i know how to be tough with mr. putin. i was tough on mr. putin when it came to sock lynn

will rex tillerson be confirmed? >> so, i'm going to bet at the end of the day, again i have had conversations with him through the year, bill. this guy is a guy that exudes confidence, calm, strength, leadership. i assume, unless he is going to totally attempt to reorder the world as relates to our relationships, that he will be but again, it is not going to be your normal pro-forma deal. the last two secretaries of state were widely known, relative to their views. rex tillerson highly respected comes to this as a clean slate where no one really understands what those views are. people are going to want to know. i mean, look, putin has not been a friend to the united states. putin has not been a friend to freedom and democracy and western values and cometics. i mean that is just not who he is, and people are going to want to know, and it's accelerated or amplified by the fact that president-elect trump has said some things relative to russia that, let's face it, very different than where we've been. that alone has s

donald trump is set on rex tillerson as secretary of state. the media has a total melt down now. >> some of your colleagues expressed concern about tillerson as secretary of state. he even got an award from russia. >> is that so far bad he got a friendship award? >> sarah palin isn't worried about russian hackers. wait physical until you hear about what shae just tweeted. want longer lasting heartburn relief? try...duo fusion duo fusion goes to work in seconds and lasts up to 12 hours. tums only lasts up to 3. for longer lasting relief...in one chewable tablet try duo fusion from the makers of zantac . . . >> welcome back. sarah palin helping with russia. she tweeted this rush hsia is getting out of hand so says the defeated. not to worry. remember i can keep an eye on them from here. echoing a remark she said during her run as vice presidential nominee back in 2008. >> they are our next-door neighbors. you can actually see russia from land here in alaska. >> days later tina fallin mocked palin saying i can see russia from my house. >>> secret

someone who's known rex tillerson for more than a decade. bill george, former board member at exxonmobil, a senior fellow at harvard business school and a cnbc contributor. thank you for joining us. >> thank you very much for having me on. >> steve call, the journalism school at columbia, written a lot about tillerson and exxonmobil. said tillerson defied state department policy and cut an independent deal with the kurdish regional government undermining the national iraqi government in baghdad. exxonmobil did not ask permission. the relevance of this is that at the time that the iraqi government, actually still to this day is largely supported by the u.s. government, so rex tillerson did something that was against u.s. intentions and according to steve sources, tillerson told the state department he had to do what was best for shareholders. the question for you is after more than 40 years with exxon, can he pivot? can he do what's in the best interest of his new boss? the american people? >> i think he'll pivot very quickly. rex tillerson i

let's start with, good to see you, let's start with rex tillerson. as a businessman, done a remarkably good job. exxonmobil for a long time for shareholders, done a very good job. i'm not clear how between two goldman sachs executives in this cabinet, rex tillerson, what do we need now, big pharma and tobacco ceo to round it out? >> look at all the past cabinet members and redefine what it means. donald trump picks someone, puzder or for labor or for epa does not mean that they're against the epa. it means they have a different vision. he has a different vision for secretary of state. tillerson has been there for 8 presidents. in senior leadership since reagan. >> it's a multination- nationan. generally. >> it's not mutually exclusive. i keep hearing that a business relationship say with putin is different than diplomatic, absolutely it is but doesn't exclude him from being able to do that job as well. >> except in the business relationship, you're looking for friends and partners to do business with. sometimes as a secretary of state, you have to ta

rex tillerson disagrees on paris and disagrees with the president-elect on tpp. what's would the incoming secretary of state's role be then in dealing with those issues and more? >> jeff, this is a very dynamic time. this particular transition su sun -- is unlike any i have seen in 30 years because we have a president-elect with strong opinions on issues but not a structured strategic world view and that has to be pulled together and people like jim matt is and others to be appointed the deputy secretaries to encourage the trump administration and the president-elect himself to take a measured view of american strategy. do we really want to have a crisis that many have been dedicated too. is that the right use of capital and time. do we need to focus on north korea instead. we have afghanistan and american troops there. do we keep the troops there. is the strategy a winning strategy. i think presidential decision making is a team effort. you have a national security advisor and principal secretaries, defense, commerce and the president-elect needs to listen to al

i'm also satisfied with the rex tillerson appointment as secretary of state. he has strong ties with russia and that can help the united states. we can cut a deal with to advance some of the united states interests. russia has leverage over the syrian president. so if we cut an oil deal with them and relieve the sanctions we c

. >> i want to talk a bit about rex tillerson. at this moment, it seems the exxonmobil ceo appears to be donald trump's pick for secretary of state. a lot of people are uncomfortable. how difficult will it be for rex tillerson to get confirmed given the close relationship he has, albeit a business relationship, with russia. the fact that exxonmobil cannot drill in the arctic, if those sanctions were lifted, that would be a big pay day for the company. >> i think you're right. the bottom line now, we have heard from lawmakers in the last 24 hours expressing reservations about this. we heard from senator mccain saying he had concerns. he would like to learn a little more about this relationship before he would be voting, which makes this likely confirmation hearing to be such a contentious one. marco rubio himself tweeted about it, basically said a, quote, friend of vladimir is not what i'm looking for in a secretary of state. nonetheless, donald trump at the end of the day, michael hayden, among others from the intelligence communi

. >> reporter: rex tillerson, ceo of oil giant exxonmobil, now tapped to be trump's secretary of state. a man with no government experience, but decades of deal-making and international business ties. those ties include extensive relations with russia. and most notably, vladimir putin, ties trump and his team see as a net positive. >> whether we'll see with tillerson is someone who is a abou business leader on the world stage. he has said no to vladimir putin. >> reporter: allegations from russia was involved in meddling in the election to trump's advantage. an allegation the trump team rejects. senators quickly firing out statements raising concerns and raising the possibility that tillerson's nomination could be an uphill climb. marco rubio saying, quote, i have serious concerns about the nomination. tillerson, however, getting an immediate boost from former cabinet secretaries and gop foreign policy standard-bearers, condoleezza rice and robert gates, both did work for tillerson's firm and, behind the scenes, sources tell cnn both recommended and endorsed tillerson to trump. rice ca

exxon mobile rex tillerson. here to discuss cnn political analyst kearsen powers. rick santorum, former u.s. senator and presidential candidate. good evening. thank you. kirsten, pay close attention to this, a lot of new cabinets appointments, rex tillerson, secretary of state, rick perry, secretary of energy, representative ryan zinke for interior. here's how donald trump described his cabinet earlier tonight. >> and i believe we're in the process of putting together one of the great cabinets. certainly a cabinet with the highest iq than anybody has ever -- i mean these, these are seriously great people. >> kirsten, do you think he's on the mark? >> tremendous. >> amazing. >> huge. >> yes. well look, this is how he talks. and so, you know, i think that he's putting together a cabinet that is one that would make conservative republicans very happy. probably in some ways their dream team. think about the type of people that they have wanted to have somebody who's going to take on the epa. somebody who's going to be possibly taking on the energy department. you know,

you know, he hasn't spoken about it at all. >> rex tillerson you're talking about. >> rex tillerson has not spoken about it at all. >> he said he would never accept a friendship award from putin. >> did he accept it? >> he's saying it isn't from putin award directly. i took it from the country. a lot of other americans had. there's not a half on heart and the other half on vladimir's hairy chest. >> people want to see something happen with russia. they don't want to see us form this friendly alliance but maybe part of obama's foreign relations. they felt there has been this unease and this inability to communicate and maybe this is something better because people look at it and say right now it's not really great. >> ron, let me read for you what senator marco rubio has said about this, which may portend a difficult confirmation. while rex tillerson is a respected businessman, i have serious concerns about the nomination. the next secretary of state be someone who views the world with moral clarity. how do you think this is going to go, ron? >> i think this is a very revealing and conse

then you add rex tillerson. and on climate change, what we're looking at is government of exxon by exxon and for exxon. but it is really important to recognize this is emblematic of a broader trend we are seeing in trump's nomination. where in one agency after another, he is put people in charge of agencies that are patently hostile to both the agency itself and to the people and places, though -- the agencies are designed to protect. the epa is looking to move us 100 years backward in time and undo 100 years of environmental and social progress. amy: and finally, bill mckibben, one of his transition team representatives said today on one of the talk shows that this is a man he was very a conflict and business, will be reviewing the budget of the state depapartment, who should be thee and who should not. we hear about the department of energy. donald trump just said he would be deciding very soon after becoming president what to do about the dakota access pipeline -- which the obama administration has said no to