Transcripts For CNNW Wolf 20161222

Us in berlin where the Christmas Market has actually reopened. Tell us about the manhunt and the police raids. Jud are German Police confident the suspect is still in the country . For the moment, theyre not saying. What we do know is theyre casting their net wide. Police across europe are on the lookout. In fact, there was a raid at a port in denmark today. Although that turned out to be a false lead. For the most part, though, authorities seem to be concentrating, the police raids here in germany, in berlin, as well as in the cologne area. According to the prosecutor, they received a tipoff to search a coach in the german city of hilden today, although that looking to be a false lead as well. Meanwhile, here in berlin, life seems to be getting back to normal. A sign of resilience just behind me. The Christmas Market, the scene of the attack, had been reopened this morning. Albeit to intense security presence. A lot of Police Officers here, theyve also installed concrete barricades to prevent this kind of attack from happening again. Theyve also set up a makeshift memorial just outside there. You might be able to see the candles and flowers to remember the victims of this attack. The kiosks, though, are open. Selling spiced wine as well as gifts. I spoke to one customer today and she told me shes here because she believes in hope, brianna. It is really something to see that market reopen. Thank you so much for sharing that with us, erin mclaughlin. And we are learning some new information about the suspect. What officials knew that he was capable of. Joining me from london is cnn terrorism analyst paul cruickshank. Hes also editor in chief for ctt sentinel. Paul, what have you learned about plans for this attack . Cnn has obtained a 345page investigative file about this isis recruiting network that the suspected attacker was part of. Ive been poring through it over the past few hours. Some extraordinary revelations. Thats that the German Security services had an informant inside this network feeding them information in the months leading up to this berlin attack. One of the pieces of information is that anis amri discussed launching an attack inside germany on several occasions. They already knew that before this berlin attack. The fact they knew that many months ago, it would appear. And also this Police Informant was party to conversations when other members of this network discussed launching truck ramming attacks into crowds in germany and actually with the idea of loading these trucks up with gasoline and explosion ims to try to create an even more spectacular attack. They were also aware of him trying the suspect, amri, to get hold of a weapon. So they had a very clear image of this guy as being extremely dangerous, as being somebody who had aspirations to launch an attack inside germany, and they also knew that this was being sanctioned at the leadership level of this radical network, this isis recruiting network in germany. And that this these leaders were offering him sanctuary, places to hide, if he wanted to launch one of these plots. So one of the concerns is going to be this network is actually now hiding him right now. So paul, why not act on that intelligence that he had plans or talked about attacks multiple times . Were German Authorities hamstrung by something . Well, theyre going to have to answer for that. One can only think that they needed to prioritize to a certain degree. Triage to a certain degree. Given the scale of the threat theyre facing, the number of people theyre having to monitor, to follow. They did roll up the leadership of this organization, this network. In november, they arrested the five key figures. The five key pros tallizers, the people influencing others to join isis. What they didnt do in november is roll up all the foot soldiers. So the worry is there are other foot soldiers out there. Youngsters radicalized by these prosta la tizers in and around dortmund in northern germany who will move forward now with attacks inspired by what theyve seen their friend do. Paul cruickshank, thank you. I want to talk more now about the Security Landscape in europe and also here in the United States. Here with me now is william cohen, the former secretary of defense, and a leading International Security expert. So you have German Authorities at this point admitting they had this suspect in custody and then he is he is released. He sort of drops out of the picture a little bit. Because they do release him. I mean, is that stunning to you . Its not stunning. You asked the question, were the german officials hamstrung. I would say yes. By history. They have had a history of the German Intelligence Services in east germany and along with the soviet union. So theres a strong sentiment on the part of the german people to put more emphasis on privacy rather than government surveillance. Thats going to change obviously. Theyve got to be even more intrusive if theyre going to prevent or at least reduce the likelihood of more of these taking place. This is a soft target. There are soft targets all over european, the United States, elsewhere. Theyre easy targets to hit, if, in fact, you can get through the perimeter of your security, which means your intelligence capability. So you find it hard to believe that Something Like this, the multiple contacts with authorities through deportation hearing and then a release and so on, there were others, you think it would be difficult for that to happen here in the u. S. . Well, weve had examples of it happening here. What is the difference between thought, talk and action. Can we, in fact, interrupt someone who is talking about it but not taking any action . We may get to the point in the future where we have something on the equivalent of the minority report where we have the kind of analytics that are predictive its almost sort of unamerican, isnt it . Its almost unamerican, to say were going to try to look at the information we have and predict whether or not this individual, based upon his or her conduct, religion, theology and sociology is likely to commit this act, having talked about it on the internet, having contact with radical groups. Do we take them now or do we have to wait until they take and act . And thats something that every liberal democracy has got to contend with in the coming years. Could you really do you really see that happening in the u. S. , especially considering there are some of these lone wolf suspects that weve seen who certainly their lawyers are claiming entrapment, that they have been talking to who they think may be someone facilitating their extremist act but in the end its Law Enforcement and they catch them right before theyre going to do something. I mean, that poses some legal problems. We have dylann roof. A neonazi white supremist the Church Shooting in charleston. Who killed nine people in charlest charleston. Did we know he had these proclivities . Did we follow him . Should we have . Should we follow all of the neonazi groups in the United States . Or wait until some of them take action . This is a problem and all of us who live in a free society and not a dictatorship. Secretary cohen, thank you. Really appreciate it. A virginia man has now been charged with attempting to help isis. Lionle Nelson Williams was arrested yesterday and Prosecutor Says he was trying to provide Material Support to isis. In this case, they believe he was collecting money to help the terror group buy weapons and ammunition and they also say that hes posted Online Support for isis, targeting Police Officers and the u. S. Military. Now, coming up, president obama is trying to end a program created after september 11th. His goal, to keep president obama trump from using it. And president george w. Bushs chief of staff andy card is going to join us live to talk about that and also what its like to be in the white house while the commander in chief is waging a war on terror. A high intensity tens device that uses technology once only in doctors offices. For deep penetrating relief at the source. New aleve direct therapy. Breaking news on what the u. S. Intelligence community knew about the suspect in the berlin Christmas Market attack. Cnn justice correspondent evan perez for this story. Evan, tell us what youve learned here. U. S. Authorities had put this suspect on a u. S. No fly list essentially after getting information indicating he was a member, he was associated with a Group Operating in Central Europe that was communicating with people in syria. Isis members in syria. Now, we dont know what the when exactly he was put on this no fly list but we do know this occurred before this attack. It appears while the germans had not did not feel they had enough information to arrest him before this attack happened in berlin, they did possession information which they shared with the u. S. Intelligence that indicated that he was somebody who they needed to be aware of. That he could not get on a plane, for instance, and travel to the United States. It appears accord to information that we reported here on cnn, he used various identities. So its not clear exactly which of these identities the u. S. Was aware of. We now know from talking to officials that the u. S. Community was aware of him, they put him on a no fly list before this attack occurred. All right, ev an perez, than you so much for that update. The Obama Administration said today it would end a program once used to track mostly arab and muslim men. It is a program that donald trump has suggested he is considering resurrecting. I want to discuss this now with andy card, he served as chief of staff to president george w. Bush. Andy, thanks so much for being with us today. Youre someone who can speak about this in a very informed manner. This program, for National Security reentry program, it involves whats called special registrations both for foreign nationals and also for immigrants from muslim nations as they come and go from the u. S. , mainly muslim nations i should say, and this was started under the Bush Administration in 2002. President obama is ending this now dormant program that registered a lot of muslim and arab men in the u. S. And this is something the president elect wanted to institute. In your opinion, is this something that is necessary today . Well, first of all, i want the president to be able to have all of the tool necessary to help protect america. This was a valuable tool. I cant imagine that its lost its usefulness. I susz suspect its a very valuable tool to have. I am disappointed theyll take that tool away from the next president. Maybe hed have to put it back in so he can use it. With a world as hypersensitive as it is today with the reality that terrorists want to attack soft targets, that they would be paying attention to every tool in the tool box. That was an important tool. I think it should be available for the president to use to help protect america. Do you think its different, though, in terms of looking at Donald Trumps rhetoric during the campaign, talking about really a muslim Registration Program and a muslim ban and there have been a lot more amped up rhetoric than there was around the time that this program was enstated, that that added to using someone like using this program, could be a recruitment tool essentially for isis or other groups . I suppose you could make that argument. Dont thing its quite the same as donald trump was talking about, registering all muslims and prohibiting muslims from coming into the country. I thought it was a very targeted program. One that was appropriate to better understand the nature of people applying to come to the United States. And i think its a valuable responsibility for the United States government to have that. Its a privilege to come to the United States. Its not a right, its a privilege. Before we grant that privilege, we should be able to ask important questions and exercise some judgment as to whether or not a person is coming here for the purpose they claim they are or theyre coming here for some other purpose where theyre trying to hide an attack and get into the country and do something. So i think they should use all the tools that are available to protect the country. Its a tricky job to be president. But this is one of those areas where the paramount concern for the president should be to protect america. The ultimate oath he takes. Youre someone who firsthand discuss ed wi discussed with and watched george w. Bush make decision about how he was going to communicate things to the country. We watched donald trump this week saying this was radical islamic extremism we were seeing in this attack in germany, also in turkey. He got out ahead of those folks. I want you to listen to something that kellyanne conway, who we now know is going to be one of his top aides in the white house, how she explained some of those comments. Donald trump is constantly criticized here and elsewhere as, oh, my god, look, he doesnt even have the evidence yet, and hes saying its isis. Hes been right every single time. Hes not saying it to be right. Hes saying it to remind us. Hes not saying it to be right, hes saying it to remind us. What do you think about that coming from a president . You know, hes the president elect. Hes not the president. But i dont have a problem with him offering opinions. He doesnt have to be as knowledgeable today as he will be the day he becomes president of the United States. So i dont have a problem with him conjecturing on something. Yes, its dangerous to do. Id like him to taste his words before he spits them out and get some counsel from his advisers. But i dont think it was malicious. Hes not the president yet. He is going to be the president. I hope hes doing everything to get ready. I know that president obamas team is working very hard to make sure that he will be ready, especially to understand the nature of the threats to america and the ones that are real and the ones that might be imagined. If he doesnt make a somewhat dramatic change in how he messages things, and i did say president , i misspoke, president elect. If he doesnt make a dramatic change once he gets into the white house, what are the dangers of that, of saying something before its confirmed by intelligence or Foreign Countries . I think the president elect trump will learn when he becomes president that the words he uses really do make a difference. Hell be very careful with what he said. That doesnt mean he has to prevent himself from opining about whats happening in the world. But he has to be very careful because the words spoken in america are heard all around the world. And some people in other places around the world dont hear the way we hear in the United States. So i do think its important for him to taste his words before he spits them out when he becomes president. Id like to have seen him doing that as a candidate for president. Hes putting good people around him. The white house staff is starting to get in place. Im impressed with the people hes put around him. Most of them have the current to speak truth to power and thats critically important. Ryan priebus i know is doing a good job. So im confident he will have the right information around him. I hope that he exercises some discipline to keep a secret a secret. He doesnt have to talk about everything the moment its brought up to him. But i would like to see him meet the responsibility protecting the United States without exacerbating the threat to the United States. And i think thats a fine line to walk. I witnessed george w. Bush do an outstanding job understanding the nature of the threat to the country and working very hard to protect us. Andy card, thank you so much. Advice we can all follow, taste your words before you spit them out. We do appreciate you as always being with us. Thank you very much. And cominge ing up, obamacar enrollment reaches a record high as the president elect promised to repeal it next month. What does this mean for the plan and for millions who use it, next. President elect donald trump promises to repeal obamacare when he takes office next month. Some now wonder if he could face growing opposition. Why . Well, enrollment in the program hit a record high. Nearly 6. 4 million americans have already selected obamacare policies through the federal exchange through the new year. That is about 400,000 more people than last year. My panel of cnn political commentators. Ryan lizza, washington correspondent for the new yorker. Patty solis doyle, former Campaign Manager for Hillary Clinton. And doug hye, a former Communications Director for the rnc. You have these concerns over enrollment a few months ago. Now weve seen that premiums were skyrocketing. Although fair to say a lot of people werent going to feel that. But now you have a lot of people saying, wow, donald trump might be leery, might need to be leery politically of getting rid of obamacare. Well, i think he, during the campaign, didnt quite understand, at least publicly, he never articulated what he would replace obamacare with. When you get into the details, its enormously complicated. Thats why a lot of republicans on the hill now are a little worried about how to proceed. Do they repeal and replace . Do they repeal and then have a waiting period where they wait and try and get some democratic buyin during that period. Its a big complicated thing to transition from one Health Care System to another. Especially one thats been intact now for eight years. And i think the surge of enrollment you saw was obviously people who realized the results of the election meant that obamacare wasnt going to be there. Theres a big push by the administration in the last Enrollment Period to get people to sign up. So this is going to be much more complicated i think then trump realized during the campaign. Patty, what are democrats really worried about losing when it comes to obamacare or are they pretty confident that donald trump just wont have the political ability to do away with this . Well, look, agree with ryan when he said that during the campaign, trump didnt realize how complicated it is. I find it ironic that it took his meeting with president obama to really sort of open his eyes and to how complicated its going to be to repeal obamacare. Without having anything to replace it with. Thats the real problem here, how do you tell 20 Million People that youre not going to have insurance anymore and give them no alternative. I think thats the political problem for donald trump and republicans on the hill. Is they have nothing, there is no alternative for all of these people who will be without health care. Donald trump has said, doug, theres not going to be a lapse even of days. He he said that in his 60 minutes interview right after he was elected. But Congressional Republicans arent so definitive about that. How can republicans really make any big changes to obamacare that would allow them to say, hey, we repealed it . I think the repeal vote will happen first, and then theyll be a long waiting period. Before anything takes effect . The repeal vote will be politically first and foremost of importance to republicans to fulfill that promise theyve made for six years. If they dont do it, theyll be politically a lot problems. Republicans have talked about repealing obamacare for a long time without replacements in place. I spent two year, 2 1 2 years in congress i was going to say, you know working on different replacements be s and people l wine would call me and said, wheres your replacement bill . This went on for a long time. This reinforces where republicans are on entitlements. These are tough complicated things. It took two years for obamacare to be enacted. When we enact big social program, its difficult to repeal them, difficult to change them. Once you create an entitlement, its usually there to stay. One possibility is fix obamacare, call it trump care and call it a day. I dont think that will satisfy republicans. Its not going to. If he decides its too much of a mess to go forward with the main conservative plans on the hill, he could do what hes done on Social Security and medicare, become defenders of those programs. Hes not on board with a lot of republicans in terms of changing to those programs. Thats one way out of this, call it trump care. Is the irony is thats exactly what the Hillary Campaign campaigned on, not repeal it, fix it. I think Trump Supporters would listen to him before they would listen to republicans on the hill. I agree. The bill that goes through will emphasize the primacy of congress. Congress care. Gop care. Mostly i dont think you want your name attached to the word care. Pretty much. Does it give you some solace that donald trump is more of a pragmatist than he is a ideologue about some of these things . And youre even seeing daylight between Congressional Republicans and donald trump on what they want to do here . Some, not a lot. I think i see this transition and many of its appointments or its nominees and i, you know, as someone who did not vote for him as a woman and as an immigrant and as an hispanic, i am still sort of very wary and very fearful of some of these appointments like jeff sessions, mnachuin, secretary, tillerman, after his ties to russia. After russia basically tried to, you know, negate our election. So yes, im a little fearful still. We will talk more about that. Last question to you in this block, because we have more time with you guys, is to you, doug, in places like florida or in your north carolina, pennsylvania, despite there being a lot of support for donald trump, people, a lot of people there like their obamacare. I mean, how do you deal with that where you have to satisfy as a republican the base and yet part of your base is liking this product and theyre going to be really mad if theres even a perceived repeal. Well, i think for a lot of them, theyre using the product. We dont know yet whether they like the product. Its certainly what theyre depending on now. In north carolina, you have pockets of the state that are doing very well. Charlotte, Research Triangle park for instance. You have a lot of pockets, former agricultural areas, that are still really hurting. Those are the people who are really i think surging the enrollment numbers. Doug, patti, ryan, stick around. Up next, were to talk about the Trump Transition Team because theyre floating the possibility of early executive action to impose tariffs on foreign imports. What are our trade partners saying about it, next. So, mr. Harris, we have your fingerprints on the safe. A photo of you opening the safe. A post using the hashtag justrobbedthesafe so, what are we supposed to think . Switching to geico could save you a bunch of money on Car Insurance. Excellent point. Case dismissed. Geico. 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What would this mean, a 5 tariff on foreign imports . The people hit immediately would be consumers in places like walmart, target, and the big box retailers who rely on massive amounts of imports, cheap imparts, from places like china and elsewhere. Cheap everyday items, clothes, socks. This was a bedrock view of conservative economists that you dont mess around with this, right, for years conservative economists have been defending the great prices that American Consumers get because we have these low tariffs and multiple free trade agreements. Trump is really challenging republican orthodoxy on this issue if hes going to go forward. Some strange bedfellows on this between trump and leaders of industrial states like Debby Dingell in michigan. Lets listen to her on new day this morning. The first thing i thought when i heard it is donald trump understands the working men and women of my state and hes delivering on what he talked about the entire election and why i was one of those democrats that said donald trump could win. For the working men and women of my state who are tired of seeing their jobs shipped overseas and dont feel like theyre playing on a level playing field, hes just saying that, theyre cheering, hes hearing us, our jobs, he understands, lets protect them. She supported Hillary Clinton but her concerns with whats going on with michigan was almost prophetic when Hillary Clinton was bested by Bernie Sanders in michigan and what we also saw, the final result of the general election. When you hear someone like Debby Dingell say that, what do you think . Look, think donald trump by quote unquote floating this idea is sending a Strong Political signal to his supports, absolutely. But as ryan said, when you dig deep into what this could mean, consumers pay a price. This could also lead into trade wars, you know, whats to stop china then from tariffing our goods, you know, taxing our goods that go there. Youve had economists. Youve had businesspeople sort of say this is the wrong thing to do. But politically, i mean, donald trump knows his politicals. This is good for people who voted for him. She echoed what speaker paul ryan, what Kevin Mccarthy have said, right . I would too. Politically, i would say from donald trump this is the textbook definition of a warning shot. We know theres a lot of talk about a 35 tariff. When hes sending signals to china and other companies, you know, theres more to come if you dont play ball. But politically, Debbie Dingells right this speaks to not just folks in michigan but people in ohio, where manufacturing jobs have been lost. And communities have been devastated. Where the rubber meets the road is where do Congressional Republicans go along on this, or do they try and block it or can you get to it 18 votes, 218 votes on the hill with some group of rust belt democrats . They run the risk obviously, is there any way around it to please both sides . Once people who are used to buying cheaper goods start seeing the receipt from their shopping trip and they go, oh, my goodness this is wow, i cant even get all the things i needed for my kid to start school or whatnot. I mean, that is thats splitting of the baby, right, the republicans are dealing with . Yeah, welcome to washington. Thats exactly. Because donald trump is not a traditional conservative predictable on some economic policies that typically are bedrock republican issues. We dont really know where hes going to go. So where capitol hill and pennsylvania avenue are always at odds regardless of parties, the next three, six months are going to be very telling for what the next four years will be. Well have to see more than just this one thing about a 5 tariff. Eye deally, eye deally, he would have to have a larger plan, and his argument would be this will lead to some kind of renaissance in american manufacturing, americanmade goods. Thats his goal, to combine a tariff with other economic policies that, you know, add up to a made in america or America First Economic Policy that hes talked about. Well have to see if it if that could transform soon enough. Lets say a reelection campaign. All right, guys, thank you so much. Ryan lizza, patti, i really appreciate it. Russia tied to the hack on the Democratic National committee, well have details next. When a cold calls. Achoo . Answer it. With zicam cold remedy. It shortens colds, so you get better, faster. Colds are gonna call. Answer them with zicam zicam. Get your better back. Now in great tasting crystals. And for fast acting nasal relief, for up to 12 hours, try zicam extreme Congestion Relief and zicam intense sinus relief. For colds and allergies, get your better back with zicam. A Cybersecurity Firm has issued a report that says it found proof that a russian unit was behind this years attack on the Democratic National committee. Cnns Barbara Starr joins us. Tell us what else this report found. This is a report by a Company Called crowd strike basically hired to look into the democratic hacks and found some details that maybe are just another marker on the road that all these hacks lead back to moscow. What the Company Found is a pattern of activity that theyd already seen the russians use at other times. It really squares with what we are hearing from the u. S. Intelligence community. The bottom line growing is that all of this hacking appears to go back to moscow, to the highest levels of the russian government, you know, not something that would happen unless Vladimir Putin knew about it and wanted it to happen. On the technical side, these are cyber hacking tools that are used by the Russian Military intelligence agencies and are so sophisticated, as weve already reported, theyre the equivalent of what the u. S. National Security Agency uses in its cyber activities. So another marker here that this was something that the u. S. Increasingly believes tied right back to moscow, tied to Vladimir Putin, brianna. Lets talk about another issue pertaining to russia. Starting with a tweet that president elect donald trump put out. He said the United States must greatly strengthen and expand its Nuclear Capability until such time as the world comes to its senses regarding nukes. Vladimir putin says that russia needs to strengthen its Strategic Nuclear forces. What do you make of this talk . And do you think that this was sort of a call and answer . Thats what we dont know. Did mr. Putin speak first, trump, president elect trump hear him and specifically answer mr. Putin . Is this moment the First Nuclear standoff between the sitting russian leader and the incoming United States president . We honestly dont know the answer to that question. But this is something that is grabbing a lot of attention. Putin talking about Nuclear Weapons. Hes talking about having a capability to go against missile defenses in europe. Those are missile defenses backed by the United States. Russia sees that as a threat. The u. S. Says it isnt. Mr. Trump had a briefing yesterday. Not about necessarily increasing the size of the Nuclear Force but about improving and modernizing what is there. The Nuclear Force aging, the infrastructure, the basis, all of that. The pentagon has long wanted to spend a lot of money to bring all of that up to modern standards. We know that mr. Trump has talked about that part of the Nuclear Force in the past. But the unanswered question is exactly what you said, brianna, are these two men talking at each other today across the ocean . Are they talking about the possibility of both of them really increasing their Nuclear Arsenals . Right now of course Nuclear Weapons heavily regulated, heavily limited by longstanding treaties that both countries have agreed to. Barbara starr at the pentagon, thank you so much. Today was the funeral for Russian Ambassador Andrey Karlov who was gunned down during an art gallery opening in ankara, turkey, on monday. Russian president Vladimir Putin was there. He made no comments at the funeral, but we do expect to hear a lot from him tomorrow during his annual news conference. And thats where he could talk further about wanting more Nuclear Missiles or the situation in syria. Perhaps his expectations for dealing with the Incoming Trump administration. Cnn International Diplomatic editor Nic Robertson has a little more on putins history of diplomacy. Reporter when the soviet union collapsed, the world thought russia would be a different place. And for a decade under president yelts yeltsin, it was. They had free press, democracy and civil society. The problem is they didnt have any laws and they didnt have any rules. Reporter bill browder, an investment banker, was there in russia making millions amidst the chaos. Then putin came to power. A few years later, he clashed have browder. I pointed out that putin and the people around him had stole and enormous amount of money from the russian people and have covered it up. Reporter his businesses were raided. One of his whistle blowing lawyers, sergei menitski was thrown in jail, brutalized and died there. Putin rejects every accusation browder makes and has barred him from russia for the past decade. At this point, many people consider me to be putins number one foreign enemy. And as such my life is at risk. Reporter he is right to be worried. Putins critics get silenced. Well, he has a proven record of murder. Either directly ordered or indirectly encouraged. Reporter sir andrew wood was britains ambassador to russia at the same time browder was making his millions. He dismisses putins denials of any influence in the deaths. When putin came to power, his main theme was russia should be a great power. He chose not economic reform and political progress but a lapse into what amounts to a form of narcissistic zenophobia. Reporter in foreign policy, thats intervention in ukraine and syria and annexing crimea, providing overnight popularity for putin at the price of ruinous longterm economic sanctions. Pretty soon, all this will be on president elect Donald Trumps plate. He wants to be seen as a great deal maker and as a winner. So putin has made his wish list very clear. He wants ukraine. He wants sanctions lifted. He wants to be left alone in syria. Reporter problem is, putins idea of dealmaking not much of a deal. What hes offering i dont think is anything at all. Some nice words perhaps. Reporter even his words, warns browder, arent worth much. Putin always betrayed deals. He takes whats offered and then tried to take some more in the future. And thats probably wont play that well with trump who will feel ripped off. Reporter what are his options going to be . To become probably much tougher than any other u. S. Head of state before him towards russia. I think at least for a period, it will be in putins interest to take things relatively calmly. Reporter the alternative could be deeply to take things relatively calmly. I can imagine well be in a position with where both guys will be thumping their chests and staring each other down. 25 years of postcold war diplomacy could be about to face their biggest test yet. Nic robertson, cnn, london. Coming up, president elect trump publicly teams up with israeli president netanyahu to denounce a u. N. Vote thats been delayed. Before the u. S. Decided how it was going to vote. Well talk more about that next. We have a transition of power alert. One of the final positions to be filled for donald trump in his white house. Hes chosen his commune stations team heading forward and sean spicer is going to be press secretary as well as a special assistant to the president i should say assistant to the president , is the proper title. He had been a chief strategist at the rnc, spokesman throughout the campaign. You certainly recognize him. He has been a key spokesman since Donald Trumps election victory and then jason miller and hope hicks had been mentioned as possible press secretaries. Miller is going to be the director of communications, hicks is going to be the director of strategic commune stations. We learned dan a vino is going to be the social media director. And a call for israel to stop building settlements on palestinian territory has been postponed after israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and president elect donald trump is both came out and denounced it. Trump put out a statement pu pushing if for a veto and said as the United States has long maintained, peace between the israelis and palestinians will only come through direct negotiations between the parties and not through the imposition of terms by the united nations. This puts israel in a very poor negotiating position and is unfair to all israelis. Cnn Global Affairs correspondent elise labott is joining me now from the state department. Elise, who was pushing for the vote and how did this fall apart . Briane brianna, its a high drama at the u. N. That doesnt usually happen. We understand the vote was supposed to take place this afternoon, it was calling israeli settlements illegal under International Law and the u. S. Was expected to let it pass. For the years the u. S. Has had this veto protection but we understand president obama was prepared to abstain or vote yes, that was supposed to be followed by a speech by secretary of state john kerry kind of laying out his vision for middle east peace. You know he led that failed bid for a peace deal between israelis and palestinians. That was put on hold we understand because of pressure by israel on egyptian president sisi whose country was the one that put forward the resolution in the beginning. We dont really know who the involvement of the trump transition, we know in the dead of night there were a lot of treats going on. Netanyahu was tweeting for a u. S. Veto. President elect trump followed suit then egyptians walked it back but the u. S. Says theyve been working on this, u. S. Officials working on this for a long time well before what happened in the last few days with president elect trump, brianna. With trump publicly backing netanyahu, is there a sense hes interfering with the current administrations options . Well, i mean, look, you remember in 2008 when president obama was running for one election, he said there can only be one commanderinchief at a time and he was very careful not to impede upon what president obama was doing at the time but there is a sense that president elect trump has been weighing in on u. S. Policy. That is the prerogative of any president elect but certainly on something as controversial as this president elect trump is trying to let the egyptians know that he feels very strongly about it. Hes trying to set up a Good Relationship with president al sisi in egypt. Hes letting israel know he backs israel and youve seen the controversial ambassador he appointed. You can see it will be a very different policy. Certainly is. Elise labott at the state department, thank you. In syria, the staterun news outlet is reporting the army has declared aleppo free of armed groups. Cnns Muhammad Lila is joining us from syria. Muhammad, tell us who brought the last groups out . Well, brianna, this is what could be a major turning point in this war, something people thought four years ago would not be possible, the announcement made a few moments ago on syrian state television. Theyre broadcasting images of people celebrate in the streets and firing into the air. What it means once its confirmed by opposition groups is that the city of aleppo, which was the opposition base for so many years, will no longer be divided. The government of Bashar Al Assad will control the entire city and this also means that Bashar Al Assad will likely outlast imagine that president obama. Something we thought wouldnt have been possible a few years ago but this has been possible because red cross teams on the ground have been supervising the last wave of these evacuations. Most civilians were evacuated and all that left were fighters and their families on the ground. Those evacuations taking place, the red cross gave us a statement where they described the process and they said during wednesday and thursday overnight in one of the last stages of evacuation, more than 4,000 fighters were evacuated from private cars, vans to eastern aleppo to western rural aleppo as per the agreement reached between the parties. Normally brianna the red cross didnt involve itself with trvring fighters, that i focus on civilians but it seems they were there to guarantee those fighters would be a taken to safety because if youve been fighting the regime of Bashar Al Assad for that long you need guarantees you can exit that place safely without suffering major retribution from the syrian army or one of the proiran proxy groups on the ground so that tipped the balance and thats what allowed the evacuations to take place was the fact that the red cross was on the ground monitoring this. It is very significant, as you point out, Muhammad Lila, thank you for that report. Thats it for me. Ill see you back at 5 00 east american the situation room. News room starts right now. Top of the hour, im brooke baldwin. Thank you for being with me. We begin with the hunt for a suspected terrorist as we get breaking news this hour that it wasnt just German Authorities who new about amri anis, the u. S. Did as well. Authorities now dogged by questions over how he was able to arm himself with a truck and carry out one of germanys worst terror attacks while on the radar. His rap sheet is a laundry list of red flags, ties to a terror recruiting network, suspicion of plotting an attack, arson, assault, fraud. And according to investigate i have files obtained by cnn, German Authorities not only knew he had contact with proisis operatives but that he had