In atlanta, welcome to our viewers here in the United States and around the world. Im george howell. And im rosemary church. This is cnn newsroom. 2016 has seen yet another big name star leave us way too soon. Carrie fisher, the actress best known as Princess Leia in the star wars movies, has died. Fisher suffered a heart attack on a flight from london to los angeles last week. Her daughter, billy lord, issued a statement through her publicist saying this it is with a very deep sadness that billy lord confirms that her beloved mother, Carrie Fisher, passed away at 8 55 this morning. Fishers star wars costar Harrison Ford issued the statement you see here. Carrie was one of a kind. Brilliant, original, funny and emotionally fearless. She lived her life bravely. We will all miss her. Longtime friend and star wars creator george lucas also remembered fisher. He says this in star wars she was our great and powerful princess. Feisty, wise, and full of hope in a role that was more difficult than most people might think. Carrie fisher as Princess Leia did not wait to be rescued by her male counterparts, Luke Skywalker and han solo. She bam a hero in her own right. And that is very important context. When you think back to it. In 2016 a female lead that doesnt need a man to save her might seem unusual, but in 1977 it was downright revolutionary. Now what . Do you have a plan for getting out . Me . What the hell are you doing . Somebody has to save our skins. Fans and celebrities around the world are rec Carrie Fisher. They are. And cnns Paul Vercammen visited the hollywood walk of fame where fans are paying ribt to the beloved actress. Rosemary george, they were sad, they were somber and then they perked up when they started remembering about Carrie Fisher. Carrie fisher the actress, Carrie Fisher the writer of postcards from the edge. Carrie fisher somebody who blazed a trail here in hollywood and one aspiring actress remembered her fondly. Its devastating. She was an amazing woman, an amazing actress, and she was an advocate for so many with mental disabilities, addiction, and for actresses in hollywood who are always, you know, with the ageism and the weight gain. Its just been great that shes been able to speak out about that and how it means so much to her. Just now as im walking down this wall of fame here and you know, people remember her as Princess Leia and shell always live on for that. But i remember her great role she played with the late bruno kirby in harry met sally. Great flick. She was also great in that. But you know, Carrie Fisher will always live in. I know for my generation i grew up with star wars. I saw the first one. Every little boy back then was in love with her. You know, she was like the hottest thing going. Farrah fawcett was out. Charlies angels were out. But once that movie broke she was like the hottest princess in the world. Or in the galaxy. Billy dee williams starred with Carrie Fisher in the star wars films and perhaps he characterize the mood here best. He basically said, today the force is dark. Back to you now, george, rosemary. Thanks so much, paul. And cnn media critic brian lowry joins us live now from los angeles. Thanks so much for being with us. Sometimes of course it takes the passing of a star to really grass whap weve lost, doesnt it . Carrie fisher was not only a great actress, also a successful author. Her legacy goes beyond star wars. But were all her other talents fully appreciated at the time . Well, i mean, her career was shaped obviously in most peoples perceptions by star wars, but she was really a multifaceted talent and a tremendous writer. Wrote books and made a very good living as a script doctor working on movies like hook and the Wedding Singer and punching up dialogue on those. In terms of her acting career, star wars came so early in her career that it probably closed some doors for her, and she played comic roles and supporting roles. But the career that she had was really shaped and in many ways defined as anthony res by star wars. Yeah, that seems to be the case, doesnt it . And Carrie Fisher recently revealed that she and actor Harrison Ford had an intense affair while they were filming star wars. But he hasnt commented on that so far. Do you expect that he will now . Well, hes basically sort of said carrie is carrie and has kind of acknowledged it without really getting into it. But look, shes been very open about her life. She took great joy really in writing about her upbringing. She was born into hollywood, the daughter of Debbie Reynolds and eddie fisher. Her father famously left her mother for elizabeth taylor. And she spoke of herself as being born to simple folk in her onewoman show. So she took great pleasure in sort of documenting even though she was very much a part of hollywood and had grown up in hollywood, she took great pleasure in documenting the eccentricities and foibles of the town. She certainly did, didnt she . And she was also a hero for many people and fans across the globe who suffered from Mental Health issues. She had so many of her own demons to overcome. Did she successfully overcome them in the end . She seemed to. She was an eccentric character. She was on Stephen Colberts show recently and brought her dog with her, who sat with her through the whole segment. But she was very open about having wrestled with addiction and bipolar condition and really was someone who was very comfortable talking about her life and turning it into not just something that she talked about but something she could share in a very relatable and entertaining way and that basically came through in her writing. All right. Brian lowry, thank you so much for joining us and shedding more light on the life of Carrie Fisher. We will talk to you again, next hour in fact. Thanks. She was tough and fearless both on screen and off and an icon for so many. She was indeed. Moving on now to pearl harbor and a day of reflection and reconciliation. The u. S. President barack obama and the Prime Minister of japan shinzo abe stood together tuesday in hawaii at a place that was once the site of war. The leaders paid tribute to those who died in the japanese attack 75 years ago and asserted their nations alliance. Cnns athena jones reports. Reporter hi there. A historic day here at pearl harbor. A moment 75 years in the making. And pictures and videos the likes of which weve never seen before. These two leaders, a u. S. President and a japanese Prime Minister, going together to the uss arizona memory toll pay their respects to the fallen. Both leaders later delivering emotional, moving remarks. Both leaders evoking the sights and sounds of that day in 1941 when more than 2400 people never made it home. President obama saying that abes presence here shows what is possible between nations and how two former foes can become the closest of allies. As nations and as people we cannot choose the history that we inherit. But we can choose what lessons to draw from. And use those lessons to chart our own futures. Wars can end. The most bitter of adversaries can become the strongest of allies. The fruits of peace always outweigh the plunder of war. This is the enduring truth of this hallowed harbor. Prime minister abe saying that his visit to the uss arizona left him speechless. Heres more of what he had to say. Translator as the Prime Minister of japan i offer my sincere and everlasting condolences to the souls of those who lost their lives here as well as to the spirits of all the brave men and women whose lives were taken by a war that commenced in this very place and also to the souls of the countless innocent people who became victims of the war. And so there you heard japanese Prime Minister offering his sincere and everlasting condolences to the souls of those who lost their lives here, but not offering an apology for the actions his nation took here 75 years ago. But its important to note that president obama speaking at hiroima in may also declined to offer an apology for the u. S. Action there, the dropping of the atomic bomb. Both leaders choosing instead to deliver forwardlooking mijessas focusing on the future of the u. S. Japan alliance. Athena jones, cnn, pearl harbor. The trump transition, the president elect not officially president of the United States yet. January 20th will be the date. But donald trump has been busy on twitter again. Congratulating himself. He posted this late tuesday. The u. S. Consumer Confidence Index for december surged nearly four points to 113. 7. The highest level in more than 15 years. Thanks donald earlier in the day the president elect took a swing at his predecessor writing this, president obama campaigned hard and personally in the very important swing states and lost. The voters wanted to make America Great again. So lets use that as the starting point of our chat. Our trump transition discussion with our guests democratic strategist matthew lipman. Live from los angeles and also from l. A. , republican consultant john thomas. Gentlemen, good to have you with us this hour. So look, last month we saw president obama and the president elect sit down together in the oval office after a very bruising campaign. They appeared to bury the hatchet. Things seem to have changed. Though the president said monday that he could have won a third term and donald trump responded on twitter saying, no way. And then tuesday in hawaii the president of the United States had this to say. Lets talk about it on the other side. Lets listen. It is here that we remember that even when hatred burns hottest, even when the tug of tribalism is at its most primal we must resist the urge to turn inward. We must resist the urge to demonize those who are different. So john, the question to you, the president at a site that was once the site of war taking a swipe at donald trump . Absolutely. I mean, he just cant contain himself. And i think its largely because what president barack obama said on the campaign trail when he vigorously campaigned for Hillary Clinton is this is a reflection on my legacy and my reputation as president , you must my policies are on the ballot, you must vote for Hillary Clinton. So it was a big smackdown to the president. And i think hes still hurting from it. Matthew so, the president suggested that his message would have resonated with the electorate, that he would have beaten trump if he were able to run for a third term. The question is is he misreading the electorate . Voters who gave donald trump the win in 2016. So i dont think theres any question that the president would have beaten donald trump. And the reason why i say that is because hillary beat donald trump by 3 million votes. Barack obamas popularity rating is a record high, close to 60 . Donald trump, this is in his honeymoon phase, almost 2 3 of the American Public doesnt approve of donald trump. I dont think theres any question if president obama were rung against donald trump president obama would trounce donald trump. And we all know if obama says Something Like that donald trump with his very thin skin is going to respond immediately. Heres the question. This matchup is never going to happen. The election is done. Donald trump will be the president. Its just interesting to see these two men its sour grapes, george. Its a woulda, shoulda, coulda. Lets move on from sour grapes to a big announcement that came tuesday. Trump naming Thomas Bossert as his Homeland Security adviser. Heres a little background on boss yertd. He served in the george w. Bush administration. So far his selection has gotten positive reaction, especially from establishment republicans, and trump has actually elevated that position, saying he will be on equal footing with National Security adviser Lieutenant General michael flynn. The reaction from some democrats and former white house officials, they say it could be a power struggle in the making. Congressman Chris Collins of new york denies that, though. Heres what he had to say. The decisions are going to be made by president elect trump. He thrives on bringing in a group of experts, 8, 10, or 12, letting them debate the issues while he sits fairly quietly. He takes notes. He certainly probes where appropriate. And when hes done listening to different opinions, different nuances, donald up from then makes the decision. So we have heard before, gentlemen, of a team of rivals. Is that what were seeing play out here, john . Is it one balancing out the other . Yeah, i do. I think president elect trump is trying to put together disse dissenting voices. And thats a smart thing to do you when you dont have a lot of experience in government or Foreign Affairs or a lot of other you need to bring in different opinions. Donald trump is being a smart ceo here saying i dont want to surround myself with a bunch of yes men. Matthew, your thoughts there. Well, i dont think that thats whats going on here. The fact is donald trump just doesnt have a lot of fully formed opinions and i dont agree with Chris Collins analysis of how trump sees his cabinet meetings and meeting with these folks and listening to all his opinions and thats his history. Hes been doing this for about a month. And the reason right now you have people with such divergent point of view is because donald trump has no core philosophy. I think this is a recipe for draft. You have people who have very divergent points of view on russia, on israel, on the economy, on taxes, all of whom are going to be fighting with each other. And the other bad part of it is most of them dont have any experience in government. So how theyre going to govern is a real mystery to me. But the point they always make is there is a lot of business experience thats coming with many of the people that will be rounding out the cabinet. Again, well all just have to wait and as many people say give that Administration Time to come together. Lets also talk about russia. Donald trump has made it very clear he hopes to improve ties with moscow, specifically to improve ties with vladimir putin. Not all see it that way, though. There are three u. S. Senators on a trip right now to the baltic states. Two of them leading republicans, john mccain and lindsay graham. They had some critical words for the president rekt on some have i important topics. First lets listen to what republican senator john mccain had to say. I believe that vladimir put zinn a thug and a bully and thats become apparent. And one of the reasons qulinds graham and i are here is to reassure our allies of strong support from the United States senate and the Armed Services committee. Mccain predicts that trump will eventually change his tune on putin. Matthew, is that likely . I think the republicans have been changing hoping that trump changes his tune on many issues since he started running. Weve been hearing things like this all along. Theres no reason to believe trump is going to change his mind now. But listen, whats happened here is while all of our National Security agencies, the fbi, the cia, have been telling the government that russia got involved in the election on behalf of trump, trump says that really didnt happen or we have no evidence of that. And the reason he says that is because he doesnt want anybody questioning his very small victory, right . Because he lost by 3 million votes to Hillary Clinton in the popular vote he doesnt want any questioning of that. Well, the problem is hes catering to putin and not to the facts here and that is going to be an issue for the remember party. I know you want to get in on there. I have to stop it right here just for time. Im so sorry, gentlemen. We appreciate you being with us. Thats okay. Im sure its okay for you. Matthew littman and john thomas, thanks so much for being with us. Wish we had a little more time. Lets take a quick break here. Up next, u. S. President barack obama is getting ready to hand off a list of foreign crises to donald trump. Plus israel remains defiant about its plans to expand settlements despite the u. N. Resolution. More ahead on the claims that its making about the u. S. Involvement in the Security Councils vote, something the u. S. Denies. Next. Known for its perfect storm of tiny bubbles, it has long been called the champagne of beers. If youve got the time welcome to the high life. Weve got the beer miller beer this is your tax return. Ok. Now, there are many right ways to fill out this tax return. And the irs will accept them all. One of them gets you the most money back. Isnt that the one you want . Thats the one i want. Thats the one you want. Mmm. You touched all these. Dont just get your taxes done, amy. Get your taxes won. If you have moderate to Severe Ulcerative Colitis or crohns, and your symptoms have left you with the same view, it may be time for a different perspective. If other treatments havent worked well enough, ask your doctor about entyvio, the only biologic developed and approved just for uc and crohns. Entyvio works by focusing right in the gitract to help control damaging inflammation and is clinically proven to begin helping many patients achieve both symptom relief as well as remission. Infusion and serious allergic reactions can happen during or after treatment. Entyvio may increase risk of infection, which c