It is 9 00 p. M. Here in new york and at the Trump National golf course in bedminster, new jersey, where donald trump will be meeting the tomorrow with the man who he called a con artist, 2012 republican nominee, mitt romney. Well look at that and at the three men trump has tapped to run the cia, the Justice Department, and be his National Security adviser. We begin, though, with breaking news. A settlement in the cases against socalled trump university, which wasnt really a university at all. 6,000 people who forked over tens of thousands of dollars, some even taking out new credit lines to pay the tuition, and all claim that the real estate seminars were nothing short of a fraud. Donald trump during the campaign vowed again and again never to settle. Today, his lawyers settled. And while they did not admit any wrongdoing and he still does not admit any wrongdoing, they did pay and pay big league. Cnns Phil Mattingly has the late details and joins us now. Phil, what are you learn tonight . Reporter big league to the tune of 25 million. Thats the tune of the settlement, as you noted, that will go out to about 6,000 students of the forprofit education institution, i guess we can with call it. Look, an interesting element here is this. Donald trump in the trial that was in this case was facing the very real probability that as president elect, he would have to take the stand. What this does, what this settlement does is take that off the table. It puts to bed an issue that not only had been plaguing his campaign for much of the last 18 months, but plaguing his personal Business Operation for the last couple of years. That is now gone. As you noted, the trump organization, very keen to point out that they admitted no wrongdoing. Actually saying that they felt like they could have won this case. But when it comes to what was important going forward, clearing the decks, getting this off the table and off their plate was a very important component of things. And when you look at whats on Donald Trumps plate from here on out, you can see why. So what more can you tell us about the newest choices from donald trump to fill some of the highprofile National Security positions in his cabinet . You know, one of the most interesting elements, actually, one of the more interesting emails i got as i was reporting on this throughout the day was from republican official, who had been in the trump orbit, who said, look, if youre surprised by any of these picks, you havent been paying attention the last 18 months. All three of these picks track very closely with the National Security message donald trump campaigned on. This was donald trump the candidate. Now trying to turn his candidacy and his campaign into donald trump, the president of the United States. When you look at all three of these picks, two of which can absolutely be called controversial, senator jeff sessions, Lieutenant General mike flynn, those were two of Donald Trumps closest advisers throughout the campaign and remain two of the most powerful advisers inside trumps inner circle. The third, mike pompeo, the congressman, the pick to be the new director of the cia. John, this is an important pick for a couple of reasons. Most notably, republicans are very happy with this pick, but also, democrats on capitol hill, while they might not have been thrilled about congressman pompeos targeting of Hillary Clinton during the benghazi investigation, they have been very complimentary of his work on the intelligence committee, of his work as a member of congress. A bit of an olive branch, if you will, but no question about this, mike pompeos credentials are very conservative and track very closely with what donald trump has been touting is his National Security policy throughout the course of his campaign. All right, phil, donald trump not where you are at trump tower, hes at his golf resort in bedminster, new jersey, where hes got some brig meetings this weekend. Whats in store . Reporter he left and shut down new york traffic a few hours ago as he motorcaded the hour and a half away out to bedminster. Were all focused on one meeting in particular, mitt romney, the 2012 nominee called donald trump a fraud, called him a con artist, now sitting down with him. Andening its important to note, while a lot of people who were against donald trump over the course of the campaign eventually came around and said they would support him, mitt romney was not one of those. So is this a head fake or is this real . Theres a very real possibility that mitt romney is being considered for a cabinet position. But something thats even more interesting tomorrow are some of the other names that are meeting with donald trump. Probably more real prospects for cabinet positions. Retired marine a general, james madison, hearing repeatedly from people in and out of the trump orbit that hes being considered strongly for secretary of defense. Two potential education picks to keep a close eye on. Michelle rhee, also, betsey devoss, a bigtime republican donor, but also runs in education circles, very in line with some of the education themes that donald trump was pushing during his campaign. Keep an eye on both of those names, as well. Also both meeting with donald trump tomorrow in bedminster. Phil mattingly, a lot of information there. Thanks so much. More now on retired general mike flynn, how he sees the world and how it could shape the world that the Trump Administration operates. Cnns jim sciutto has background. The next president of the United States, right here. Reporter retired will not general Michael Flynnflynn, onc registered democrat, will be the president s closest advisers on the threats to u. S. National security, but with views that are a marked departure from longheld u. S. Policies. He has called islam itself, not radical versions of it, a threat. In tweets such as this one during a campaign, fear of muslims is rational, he wrote. And in public speeches, calling islam a cancer. Islam is a political ideology. It is a political ideology. It definitely hides behind this notion of it being a religion. Reporter more broadly, he supports a significant reversal of which states the u. S. Views is as threats. He has identified longtime ally saudi arabia as a danger, while growing u. S. Adversary russia, who the u. S. Blames for invading ukraine, atrocities in syria and meddling in the u. S. Election. As, at worst, an exaggerated threat, at best, a potential friend. This is a view that contradicts the u. S. Intelligence community and Senior Defense officials from both parties. He has also unsettled u. S. Allies, by arguing that military commitments to nato and other treaty allies should be conditional. Ive been called an angry general. Ill tell you what, im you know what . Im not angry. What i am, what i am is im very determined to make sure that this country is ready for my children and my grandchildren. Reporter flynns military record is impressive. As an intelligence officer, he is credited with helping turn the tide against al qaeda in afghanistan. And isis predecessor in iraq. And yet, when he served as chief of the Defense Intelligence agency, his management style antagonized many in the intel community, leading to his being forced out. Since then, he was Vladimir Putin cea putins dinner guest in december last year, accepting an undisclosed speaking fee. And flynns forprofit consultsy was still working for a foreign client while he was also attending classified security briefings with donald trump during the campaign. The ranking democrat on the House Committee on government oversight is now questioning flynns ties to lobbyists, requesting more information on his foreign connections, as well. He has a reputation as an iconoclast and an independent thinker, and some of that is good and necessary. I think the deeper problem, potentially, is that he has publicly said that, you know, he thinks this war can go on for several generations. Hes probably called for expanding the war to basically any islamist militant around the world. And that comes with some potential downsides. Reporter jim sciutto, cnn, washington. Our thanks to jim for that report. Back now with our panel, joined this hour by former cia officer, bob baer, and rezas aland, host of cnns believer with reza asland. I want to get your thoughts on the appointment of mike flynn to be the National Security adviser, given the fact that mike flynn has called islam, quote, cancer, and that fear of muslims is rational. I think its a dangerous appointment. I think that this is a man who is about to be in charge of what is a very important, very complex fight against an international cabal, a militant organization that does see the world in very cosmic terms. That does believe this is a battle between good and evil, between islam and christianity, between america and the very religion of islam. And having someone in the nsa, running the nsa, who is very much engaged in the same kind of rhetoric only bolsters the propaganda of our enemies, only makes us, i think, more threatened by the possibility of these kind of jihadist attacks. Taylor, you are a trump supporter, a supporter of mike flynn, when you hear criticisms like this, your response . My response is that mike flynn is the exact person who needs to be in this role. Back in 2012, 2013, 2014, when the Obama Administration was coming out and saying that al qaeda was on the run, we know centcom was tasked with painting a rosier picture of isis back in 2013 2014 than what was happening on the ground, mike flynn was the one in the administration sounding the alarms saying, we need to be worried, al qaeda is not waning, they are in fact, growing, we need to be worried. There is a new movement of radical islam taking over the middle east and he was right. He was right, he was let go of his job because of it. And he is the person i want having the ear of the president. Reza, you heard ckayleigh. Is that different in your mind from his overall criticisms, his overall statements, mike flynns statements, about islam in general . Hes a very good military general, and thats where, i think, his strength comes, is, i think, even his biggest supporters would say that the issue here, of course, is that we are in a place, no matter what kayleigh or anyone else thinks, in which isis is on the run. We are in a place where this organization has taken severe hits, in which its very capitol, the capitol of its caliphate, raqqah, is on the verge of collapse. And there is a reason why isis is celebrating Donald Trumps victory, why they are calling it a gift from god. Its precisely because of people like Michael Flynn, who will just simply bolster the propaganda that isis uses, in order to draw muslims to its cause in this imaginary battle between islam and america. Bob baer, if i can, i want to bring you into this conversation. Because you worked out there in the field. And you know what role a National Security adviser can have in an administration. So when youre out there on the front lines, whether it be, as a cia operative, or as a soldier, or as a marine, what can views like that, what impact can that have . Well, Michael Flynn, ive watched him for years, especially his assessments on afghanistan. And they were brilliant. Hes said things no one else would say. His taking on saudi arabia, as well, is going to be a big change. His position in the white house is not going to be welcome in the intelligence community, where theres consensus. I think hes, i think hes experienced, at the same time, i worry about conflict of interest, especially russia. Hes too close to the russians, the russians are not our friends. And in that, we have to come to terms with that country, in particular. And all these conflicts of interest. And now there are certain elements that are accusing him of taking money from turkey on the debgulan extradition. So its a conflict of interest that bothers me, but im 50 for flynn. 50 , so matt lewis, you were sitting there nodding . I was a nevertrumper during the primary. I did not support donald trump. I did not vote for donald trump in the general election, but now he is our president elect. I think we should be rooting for his success. And part of that is allowing him to surround himself with the advisers hopefully he has a team of rivals, different people whispering in his ear, offering different advice but you havent seen any evidence of that . Ive seen mike pence, a mainstream republican, reince priebus, an establishment republican, but not with these picks. Three picks today that are pretty consistent. So i would like to see more diversity, not just in terms of ethnicity and gender, but also in terms of world view. We could see that. We could see michelle rhee, for example, with education reform. We could see a mitt romney possibly. I dont predict that, but its within the realm of possibility. Its very early to say this, but, look, mike flynn served in the military for 30 years, headed the dia, threestar general, i do worry about his political judgment and some of the things that he has said, but if you put that in the context of this whole career and the knowledge he has about, you know, about military issues, i think youve got this is a respectable, decent pick. But islam is a political ideology hiding as a religion . Thats a problematic thing to say. He needs to say problematic . Its problematic. Its more than problem atic. You can talk about islamism and radical islamism, but to attack an entire religion like that its not a decent appointment. And that is, donald trump and one of the best things he said, he was going to be the president who drained the swamp. Its not draining the swamp when your National Security adviser has been paid by the russians to come to dinner. When the turkish government has had him in their employ and influence. Also, when your daughter, your soninlaw, and your family does not have a blind trust for your holdings and is going to run these things. So instead, you know, kayleigh was talking about unity, that the president talked about, that Hillary Clinton talked about, and then she said something about the left, the left doesnt want to give him a chance. I think people do want to give him a chance. But i think what hes done here is, by a series of signals, he has undercut any ability from the start to get off on the right foot and say, were going to pull together here. We are going to be a reform administration, and instead, we are kneedeep in a news swamp of his making and he isnt even to january 20th yet. Jonathan, you were waiting patiently . I just wanted to add, the point is, when you have somebody, the National Security adviser, it sort of goes to what corrine said about banning being the whisperer to the ear of the president. Youve got the National Security adviser, who will filter everything that comes in to the oval office about National Security. Youve got a guy who says that the fear of muslims is rational, who talked about the spread of sharia law, and thats quite dangerous for our country. I think back, actually, going back to the nixon administration, when henry kissinger, one of the great war criminals of our time, whispered into the ear of president nixon, and they conduct an illegal war, bombing war in cambodia and vietnam that killed hundreds of thousands of people and destroyed southeast asia. You have a guy like flynn, who thinks of all muslims in this way, the way that matt talked about, thats quite dangerous for our country and our position in the world. Reza, you were waiting from afar here. Youve been listening to this conversation. Do you want a last word on Michael Flynn . I want to say one thing. Over and over again, we have talked about on this panel and earlier on cnn that Michael Flynn has said repeatedly that islam is not just a cancer, but that its not a religion, its an ideology. And weve been tossing this around, but i want you to understand very quickly what Michael Flynn means when he says this absurd, ignorant canard that islam is not a religion. He means, that therefore, muslims should not have religious protections in the United States. Thats what that means. That means that the 3 1 2 to 4 1 2 million muslims in the United States should not be protected by the constitution. And i know that a lot of viewers right now are looking at this and saying, well, this has to do with islam, it doesnt have to do with me. But if you think that this kind of autocratic tendency, this sort of abuse of power is going to stop only at muslims, then you dont know your history. All right. Kayleigh, i know youll want to respond to this. Let me give you a chance right after the break. Well take a quick break, pick up with, and have a closer look at not just this issue, but also the congressman now chose ton run the cia, mike pompeo. What he stands for and what makes him tick. And later, the real news about fake news. How fake news ended up bamboozling donald trump and there were many, many others who retweeted these stories. Stay with us. Your Insurance Company wont replace the full value of your totaled new car. The guy says you picked the wrong insurance plan. No, i picked the wrong Insurance Company. With Liberty Mutual new car replacement™, you wont have to worry about replacing your car because youll get the full value back including depreciation. And if you have more than one Liberty Mutual policy, you qualify for a multipolicy discount, saving you money on your car and home coverage. Call for a free quote today. Liberty stands with you™. Liberty mutual insurance. For patients lik