Transcripts For CNNW Wolf 20161125 : vimarsana.com

Some key trump allies warn against picking romney, who once called trump a fraud, and a phony. Predictions of giuliani points to his business ties as potential source of trouble. Live to palm beach, florida, where trump will be staying through the weekend. Cnn National Correspondent joining us from the maralago resort with the latest on this transition. Ryan, what are you hearing . Reporter well, brianna, we dont yet know who the two staff appoints will be, but trump aides said this morning they will likely not be the type of picks that require some sort of senate approval. We dont expect any major cabinet announcements today. Of course, the trump team never afraid to surprise us. We have to wait and see. Those announcements could come at any time. Trump aides said these announcements will likely be the last for the weekend. Of course, trump and his family came here wednesday. Spent the thanksgiving holiday at the maralago resort, and they are expected to leave here on sunday. What will be at least next weekend, earliest, before we hear about any of these major cabinet posts, and you mentioned the debate over secretary of state. That continues to be one of the fiercest debates inside trumps inner circle, as you said, trump met with mitt romney. Romney is seriously considering that secretary of state role but many of trumps key allies, most vocal, expressing concern including trumps own Campaign Manager Kellyanne Conway, sending out a series of tweets about romney and that potential post. And also reporters were told today, a lot of palace intrigue and reporters shouldnt look that sfwhubl much into it. Trump will continue to meet with a Diverse Group of candidates, someone that has the type of qualifications that also fall in line with trumps Foreign Policy vision and that trump may open up the field and look at other potential candidates including former cia director david petraeus. We shouldnt look much into it. Its hard to do that when you have Kellyanne Conway one of Donald Trumps top aides tweeting about the palace intrigue. I know that donald trump is working the phones. Who has he been talking to . Reporter he spent the day on the phone today with several leaders from europe, including the Prime Minister of sweden shand the Prime Minister of hungary and spoke with leaders from south america including heads of state in panama. Trump still very busy. Even though we havent seen much of him, spending most of his time behind the walls of maralago. You see the coast guard going back and forth in front of his estate. A new reality for those who live in this part of the world. And a split about republicans in the secretary of state job. A member of the president ial Transition Team is with us. Thank you for being with us a day after the holiday here. Happy day after thanksgiving, brianna. Yes. Happy day after thanksgiving. Were all recovering from the food coma. I wonder if you can shed light for us on these two staff announcements that are going to be made today . Well, you know, i think its super important not to steal the thunder here on the staff announcements. Its really not my role to do that, but what i would like to tell viewers about is the process and the discipline were taking in terms of going through agency by agency and making sure that weve got a blend of business people, governmental people and academics. So i think the American People will be very happy with the eventual staff positions. Not just the top 20 or 30 staff positions, but the 4,700 staff positions were working on right now. What we have found is that if you can bring in some business people, some academics and people that have really good governmental experience, that blend will probably be the one that will intersect appropriately, that make the trump agenda flourish in the First Six Months of the administration. Thats what were working on. Unfortunately we have to wait for the, the assignments, appointments, because the president elect likes doing that himself. With a few of the people at the top of the food chain. Sure. Got to let him do that. You said academics. Interesting. Tell us a little more about that, because what weve seen so far in terms of the people announced and the people who seem to be in the lead for some of these positions is they have been in government or are in business. Youre talking academics. What specifically are you looking for . Yes. So basically one of the things that Jared Kushner has done, brought in a couple former professors from harvard that us on the Transition Team, the executive Community Level are interacting with to just make sure weve got the right organizational structure around the president elect in terms of the way he manages, what his management style is like, and then additionally, we want to make sure that if you look at the blends of past president ial administrations, you typically have a blend, if you want to talk about Ronald Reagan as an example, sort of 55 business, 30ish percent governmental people and the rest academics. If you look at the current administration, theyve been more tilted towards the academic community, the legal community, and less so the business community. So again, i just want to make this, one of the resonating messages that were not only looking at business people. Were looking at people from all walks of life. Mr. Trump made it very clear. The president elect, excuse me, made it very clear that were going to pick the aplusplus players irrespective what their prior roles were. As long as theyre with us. One of the big things the president elect said to us, we want people that are energetic can do more with less. Think about the way we ran the campaign, probably outspent 551. One sixth of staff, still won the general election. A message from mr. Trump we can do more with less, if we find the right people. Thats the goal of our executive Transition Team. Overall, outspent 21. I will say that approximately. Maybe talking about bringing in some of the pacs as well. You did have less staff for sure. Give you that. Talk to you about what were seeing between Rudy Giuliani and mitt romney. And i know that maybe this isnt exactly your wheelhouse, but it kind of is spilling out into the public. I think you may have an opinion about this. Kellyanne conway, one of the president elect top aides, actually tweeted out an article what has really become alice intrigue. Infighting between supporters of Donald Trumps and people who think romney would be good, because some of his criticism of the president elect during the election was so scathing. Receiving deluge of social media and private comes re romney. Some warn against romney add secretary of state is the article she links to, and then also tweeted kissinger and schultz as secretaries of state flew around the world less. Counseled potus close to home more and loyal good checklist and were loyal. Can you talk about that and how important that is in selection . I did just hear you say that one of the qualifications, as you try to cast a wide net is that youre looking for aplusplus people who are with you. Now, with you now . Or that have been with you all along . Look, when i say with us, i really mean the agenda. The president elects agenda, what he wraunants to do governm. The agenda as i understand it and the people on our team wants it the president elect wants us to be a problemsolving administration for the American People, and i think hes a very magnanimous guy and casting a wide giving people why is this becoming so public . Were talking about mitt romney here. Theres a lot of ive heard republicans in the establishment who say, look, we know that this may be something that loyaltyists to donald trump doan adore, but mitt romney comes with a whole because he was the nominee, he comes with this attachment to a lot of resources, to a lot of advisors, to a lot of input. That Rudy Giuliani doesnt come with. Why is this spilling out into the public . Well, you know, i cant tell you why its spilling out into the public. I love Kellyanne Conway and sure she had a reason for put out that tweet. What i can tell you is, im good friends with both of these people. I was on governor romneys National Finance committee four years ago. Mayor giuliani and i know each other, for 25 years, throughs process of living in new york and the italianamerican community. I have enormous respect for both of those people. They are obviously different people and, sure you know, i do admire the mayor for being in the trench with us throughout the entire fight, but i think what i was really just trying to say to your viewers is that the president elect is a very magnanimous guy, sort of feels we should be giving amnesty because of the fight prior 0 the election and look at the people clinically, are these the best people to be in that job . One of the qualifications for the job is going to be loyalty. Whether or not the president elect can trust that person when times get tough. I think governor romney fits that bill. I also think the mayor fits that bill, and brianna, one of best things you said about this segment, this is not really my bailey wig. Im in the regulatory wheelhouse. Its outside of my bounds to opine on wholl should be the secretary of state. When that announcement comes, i will tell you, that person will be somebody that will be the voice, at least diplomatically, for the president elect, and you Better Believe its a person he has a lot of faith and confidence in and i think the American People will be very happy as they should be about the decisionmaking thats going on right now. Think of this process. He is building a bridge to everybody, and bringing the best people into his auspices to listen to about the future of country. So anthony, i want to interrupt you because we have breaking news, pardon me. We now know that the president elect is going to name k. T. Mcfarland as deputy Security National adviser and like mr. Trumps other picks, mcfarland has pretty hardline swlus it comes to the fight against terrorism. Perhaps not unexpected she would fit into this area. Very critical of president obamas approach, anthony, as you know. Retired general Michael Flynn, trumps pick for National Security adviser, who will be obviously her superior, just tweeted, so proud and honored to have k. T. Mcfarland as part of our National Security team. She will help us make America Great again, and anthony, as you know, k. T. Mcfarland is no stranger in washington. Served as a white house aide under president s nixon, fornd a ford and reagan, a spokeswoman at the pentagon under president reagan. Again, we talked about, youre more the domestic side of things, but tell us about what you can about this appointment, and how this fits into, i guess the Foreign Policy world view of donald trump, as he considers his secretary of state . Well, listen, im personally thrilled. I know k. T. Very well. Full disclosure, we worked together at fox news and fox business over the last several years. Shes a brilliant person. And she is going to work super closely with general flynn, and my guess that they overlap in a lot of way, but have a little different expertise in certain ways as well. So shes going to be a very big complement. How do you see the differ expertise . Where do you see that . Well, i think that the general has an unbelievable understanding of our military intelligence, and is an unbelievable in understanding of the troops on the ground and the various areas around the world. And i think k. T. Probably has more of that diplomatic background in terms of just, you know, being able to work well inside the context of the state department and the nsa. I think where administrations get in trouble in years past is where weve had stovetypes brianna and there hasnt been enough interaction between the two communities. One thing k. T. Will bring to us, because of her experience and all of her relationships, not only around the world but inside of washington, i think shes going to be the type of person that knits this thing together. Remember, another big resonating thing from the president elect is that hes really pushing the team and togetherness as epooppd to the rivalry of the words team of rivals. His focus is on the word team and were really trying to find people that lp do that. K. T. Certainly fits that bill. Shes a remarkable person, a personal friend of mine and i wish her congratulations and her new endeavor and am here to help out out in 234i any way i possibly can. Anthony, appreciate you being with us. Fascinating. Brings background from the pentagon, general flynn and in recent years, in the obama administration, a little breakdown between the pentagon and so much really siloing of National Security at the white house. Well see if that is a different path now. This is a signal of that. Well see that. Anthony scarimucci, appreciate your time. Have a Great Holiday weekend. Thank you. And much more right after this. Quickbooks introduces jeanette. And her new business i do, to go. Jeanette was excellent at marrying people. But had trouble getting paid. Not a good time, jeanette. Even worse. Now im uncomfortable. But heres the good news, jeanette got quickbooks. Send that invoice, jeanette. Looks like they viewed it. And, tada paid twice as fast. Oh, shes an efficient officiant. Way to grow, jeanette. Get paid twice as fast. Visit quickbooksdotcom. Im done. Done with figuring it out for myself. Im done with surprises. Im done with complicated. If youre on medicare and. Ready to be done with complicated. Turn to unitedhealthcare and our Medicare Advantage plans. Like aarp medicarecomplete. These plans can combine your hospital and doctor coverage, with Prescription Drug coverage and more, all in one plan for a low, or even no, monthly premium. So call now. 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Mcfarland, both obviously very hawkish. Flynn very militaryminded. We know former marine corps general mattis is being at the top contender for secretary of state. So what does this tell you, eugene, when youre looking at their world view, versus donald trump being a little more isolationist during the campaign . I think its giving us an idea how trump may end up pivoting and who hell listen to developing his world view in terms of National Security issues. We just heard surfacelevel ideas from donald trump. No details. I think what we will hear within the next 100 days what he wants to do more intensely in terms of responding to a lot of these crises weve been talking about throughout the election. I think some people here, k. T. Mcfarland, hear her name, something a lot of people are familiar with, with a lot of experience. A record. Also a really important position. Yeah. Somebody who definitely sees the, a very mainstream republican Foreign Policy view, which donald trump does not. A lot of things said during the election were things Bernie Sanders could have said. Very far to the left in templte his attitude about the iraq war, for example. The Republican Party came around and learning lessons from the iraq war. The question, are these people who are theyre going to have to follow Donald Trumps lead. Jit how much willing to follow that versus argue with him convincing him to move in a different direction . Its a dbig development for the trump campaign, during the campaign, National Security advisors deeply concerned about him. 50 of them pen aned a letter saying donald trump is not our candidate. A number of then went for Hillary Clinton. Exactly. A big, distinguishing point in terms of how he moves his team and how he builds them moving forward. I am wowed by what were hearing leak out about this romney versus Rudy Giuliani contest for secretary of state. Because if youre talking about the characteristic republican view, thats mitt romney. Right. Right . So jason miller is saying, dont focus too much on the palace intrigue. How do we not when Donald Trumps top advises fwetweet b about it . And on thanksgiving day. Whats interesting is the response that were seeing from nu newt gingrich, and mike huckabee, taking heat. Not excited to see someone so critical of trump considered for such a highly influencing position. Talking about romney, people view him, a lot of people, a unifying character with republicans and democrats so far apart after this election and i know so Many Democrats thinking, give me a lot of sort of comfort, if someone like mitt romney were secretary of state. Thats pretty incredible at this point. Sure. But it really does sort of speak to where we are and sort of that division maybe within trump tower. And a lot of democrats and republicans would be really worried if it were Rudy Giuliani. Yeah. And i wonder how much of the kellyanne tweeted shes getting a lot of pushback from a lot of grass roots kind of people, i wonder how much is grass roots versus the Newt Gingrichs and Rudy Giulianis, the people who were the core of the campaign. There was Grass Roots Campaign folks. They were really with him from the beginning. Exactly. Versus those who voted for him. Not what they were voting about. They were voting about immigration, about jobs. This is not probably their primary concern but very upsetting laying it on the line for him, watching those who denigrated him and were putting him down. What do you make of that, when you see her tweeting that out . What is your read what her message is . She says she was not sending a private message, would say it in public. The first thing i thought, is she not having contact . Why doing this publicly . She said she had been in contact with him. Says to me, trying to do an allout Public Campaign afraid hell choose wrong. Thank you all so much. Next, an American Service member killed in syria marks the first combat death for u. S. Special forces in the wartorn country, not in that theater, though. Details, after the break. A u. S. Service member has been killed in northern syria. This happened yesterday on thanksgiving day after an ied blast. Still trying to work out details, but defense Officials Say the Service Member was part of the Multinational Force fighting isis in syria. The Service Members name has not been released but this is theers u. S. Service member to be killed in syria, though not in the iraqsyria theater. One of the many conflicts facing the new trump administration. To talk about it, joined by Global Affairs analyst Kimberly Dozier along with cnn intelligence and security analyst and former cia analyst bob bair. To you first, kimberly. A lot we dont know about this casualty weve seen in syria and you know, i think we feel it, too, because it happened on thanksgiving. This theyre going through that process right now i think. We think about that. This is not the first death in iraq and syria, and this may not be the last. I think we can say that, because this is certainly an ongoing situation, but what do we know and what dont we know . We know that there are roughly 300 u. S. Special operators and also the people who support them. Eod, pbomb technicians. Just in syria . Just inside syria who go in and out fromatic, mostly based in that area. Doing a couple missions. Helping the defense, including Kurdish Forces really taking the brunt of the fight to isis in the outskirts of raqqah and embedded with turkish forces. The idea is, since the turks and the kurd dont get along so well, you want to have americans with each unit so there isnt a friendly fire situation. The americans tell each other where they are. So that the two allies dont fire at each other. So could it be someone from any one of those units . We dont know. These blended coalition units. The blended coalition units and sort of a 24hour blackout that gives the Defense Department time to reach the family and make sure they have gotten notification from a Government Official with a chaplin before hearing it on the news. Bob, you heard about this, obviously. What was your reaction to what happened and what the signals were for the conflict . Well, its still very messy. Mosul has not fallen, of course. The Islamic State is putting up resistance. Putting a lot of car bombs out there. A couple days ago they killed some turkish forces, and these guys are crucial. Especially for close air support, because what we dont want to be doing is bombing civilian targets. You have to lace up these trgets on the battlefield. It keeps down, as i said, civilian casualties. Theyre doing a great job. A lot of it is logistics and the index of the white house no casualties at all. As weve seen, its not possible. One of the challenges the Incoming Trump administration will face and we learned minutes ago k. T. Mcfarland will be the National Security adviser. You have familiar with mcfarland and hearing from sources this is someone who has somewhat of a Public Affairs background. How steeped in policy is she . She, i think shes a brilliant choice. Ive had dealings with her over the years. Shes experienced. In the kissinger white house, well tied into the Republican Party, of course. The traditionalists, shes brilliant on china, iran and the rest of it. Im very encouraged by this appointment, and id like to see her have a direct hand in conducting Foreign Policy and spending a lot of time with president trump. Okay. So kimberly, this is just one of the conflicts. Were talking about syria, talking about iraq. You have the white house saying, keep an eye on north korea. With that in mind and this team around president elect trump taking shape what do you think about their experience level . You just heard bob saying that k. T. Mcfarland is someone who certainly understands more than just the middle east. You know from the intelligence community, u. S. Intelligence community, already predicted pretty much what we all expect. Its that right after a new Administration Takes office, they frequently get tested by bad actors on the world stage. Be that iran, china, north korea. People will start to press the envelope and see how far they can press a new administration and its a tough time in that while each of these individuals might have some experience in the field, you have someone like, say, the new u. N. Ambassador, nikki haley now, shes proven to be grace under fire with some tough situations in her state, but she doesnt have a personal relationship yet with some of the ambassadors that shell need to negotiate with in the middle of a crisis. Yeah. That will need to grow. Kimberly dozier, bob bair, thank you so much. Coming up, House Democrats are gearing up for a very big week when they need to vote on their future. Will nancy pelosi retain her role . Well discuss after the break. Whoa, this is awful, try it. Oh no, that looks gross what is that . You gotta try it, its terrible. I dont wanna try it if its terrible. Its like mango chutney and burnt hair. No thank you, i have a very sensitive palate. Just try it guys, i think we should hurry up. If you taste something bad, you want someone else to try it. Its what you do. I cant get the taste out of my mouth if you want to save fifteen percent or more on car insurance, you switch to geico. Its what you do. Shhh dog, dog, dog. House democrats will hold leadership elections on wednesday and this year the party will have two choices. Continue with nancy pelosi and her 14 years as her leader or try some new. Go with ohio congressman tim ryan. Talking about that with michael blake, a former white house aide under president obama. Michael, also considering a vice chairmanship with the Democratic National committee, which well get to in a moment. First i want to talk to you about this election in house leadership, because i think its pretty clear that tim ryan has an uphill climb against nancy pelosi, but this is also about the direction of the party. What are your concerns about the direction . Well, its clear that we are focused on where do we go as a party after the president ial and local elections that happened just about two weeks ago and we recognize that we have to double down on whats working in terms of organizing to make sure were empowering local candidacies. Whether em pow iring local, county, state parties. Focusing on this. Thinking about the election happening in congress, obviously Congress Members make that decision where to go on the democratic side, in terms of nancy pelosi and tim ryan. Known and respect both of them many years. This is about us saying we have to are clearer where were going. Communicate to americans we have a workingclass message, bringing communities together and not shy away from things that are working. Its very clear more people voted for the democrats rather than republicans across the country and have to make sure our direction and leadership across the board reflects that localized strategy people are hearing us and were hearing them to make sure we reflect that in the democratic party. People in key places, the rust belt, clearly did not feel democrats were speaking to them. The democrats understood them. I hear you talking about doubling down on what works, but in terms of having a working class message. Go beyond that. Talk specifics and how you, not just communicate to people but make people in the rust belt say, you know what . This is something where i feel better understood by democrats, because clearly thats not how they felt. This is an opportunity for us to communicate across the country the progressive wins that happened across the country happened because of the democratic leadership. Look at the fight for raising money mum wage, able to do here in new york, raising to 15 happened under democratic leadership and move in that way. Talking about gay narg. Obviously, happened under democratic leadership. Components of a k aca staying their parents plans, free conne conne colonoscopies. This happened under our responsibility. Its our sfobt make sure whats happening on the ground. You see that 20 of africanamerican american men deciding not to vote, we have to make sure were communicating. Heres whats as stake, nationally and locally. I want to ask you about the dnc quick. You are considering a vice chairmanship. What direction do they need to go and is ellison far left . Saying he shouldnt do it or should be a fulltime job . Hes also a member of congress. Give us your reasoning there and what you want to see. First, i want to be clear. 23409 not at all saying the congressman shouldnt run. S his decision, if he wants to pursue. Many believe a fulltime chairmanship should be considered. As it relates to myself and others that are considering leadership, its for us to underscore we have to heal whats hatching ppening on the. For ten years its been my vision, having a chance under president obama and both campaigns, trained by him to then run for office and be reelected myself and underscore we have to recruit candidates. We should never have a scenario theres not a democratic candidate for a position. We have to be clear about our messaging and successful wins and therefore the direction of the party, not shy away from the Progress Making but very direct, consistent and clear that there is a choice that happens in these elections. So our approach as were making this decision and considering this decision is to say now we need a collective new direction where we go and to be able to very clear, that the county party, state and national party, all the work from buckley on the state level, county parties across the country, we have to be very clear about building organization, having a grass roots approach and making sure people are excited about voting for democrats up and down the ballot. This is our moment. When think about 2004, 2006 when we built, mobilized, in 2006, regained the senate. This is an opportunity to demonstrate we have many successful wins we can amplify and its our responsibility to do so as democrats. Seaabassembly maker blake, wg one hat. We hear that. Hear your message on that. Thank you so much for being with us. Thank you. Happy holiday, everyone. Happy holidays to you as well. Up next, the isis effect, even after some neighborhoods in mosul become liberated, the pain and loss is still right outside civilians doors. A report from on the ground, when we come back. A nutritious formula with no artificial flavors. Made specifically for indoor cats. Purina cat chow. Nutrition to build better lives. The medicare enrollment deadline is just a few days away. Changes to medicare plans could impact your healthcare costs. Are you getting all the benefits available to you . Call healthmarkets and well help you find the medicare plan thats right for you. Hi, im doctor [martin gizzi. ] its a new medicare year. That means more changes. And more confusion. The key question is what can you do now, to ensure you get the care you need in the coming year . Call healthmarkets today. We have access to thousands of Medicare Options from leading Insurance Companies nationwide. Plans that may. Cost less. Cover more. With more choices. Like dental and vision care. And freedom to choose your own doctors all at a price you can afford. We help find the right plan for you. And we do it at no cost. Make sure you have what you need to get the care thats right for you. If you miss the deadline, you may have to wait another year before enrolling. Call [healthmarkets] now we have another transition alert to report. Cnn confirmed that don mcgann will be named white house counsel. Mcgann served as president elect Trumps Campaign lawyer. He is currently advising the Transition Team. He is the counsel on the Transition Team and hes going to face the complex task of keeping Donald Trumps business dealings separate from his presidency. In a statement the president elect said mcgann has a brilliant legal mind and will play a Critical Role in the administration. More on that as we learn more. The last six weeks, this is story weve followed. Iraqi forces fighting to drive isis oust mosul. While the offensive made significant gains its come with a heavy price. Cnn correspondent phil black visiting one neighborhood liberated from isis but residents are reminded daily militants are never far away. We have to warn you, some of the scenes in this story are graphic. Reporter these people have just lived through the horror of urban warfare. They cowered in their homes for days, prayers and white flags, their own protection. Their own protection as iraqi forces fought their way through the neighborhoods of eastern mosul against fierce isis resistance. Now there is little food, water or medicine. No electricity. But theres much relief. Isis is like a dark mark on your chest . Yes, yes. Dark. Reporter you can hear the fighting in the near distance. Its still dangerously close. Isis has gone from these streets, but its ability to harm these people hasnt passed. Just 24 hours ago were told a family was sitting here outside their home when a mortar struck just a short distance away, and an 18monthold girl was killed. Her name was emira ali. Her father omar is overwhelmed by grief. He cries, what did she do wrong . She was just playing. Shes gone from me and shes my own one. Every day this makeshift clinic inside mosul sees the terrible consequences of mortars fired into civilian areas. Its a bloody production line. The wounded are delivered, patched up quickly and loaded into ambulances to transport to at times it seems endless as one ambulance pulls away, another military vehicle speeds in, carrying more wounded civilians. Theyre unloaded with great care as the medics work to help the victims of yet another isis mortar attack. But they cant save everyone. This mans 21yearold son was killed. He says a mortar just fell in front of the door, we came and he was just a piece of meat. Four or five of my neighbors were standing with him and theyre all dead. Here another parent falls to the dusty ground before the body of her son. These people endured two years of living under isis only to be killed by the groups desperate military tactics and its total indifference to the lives of the innocent. Phil black, cnn, mosul, iraq. Right now, u. S. Backed iraqi forces have completely surrounded the city meaning isis fighters are trapped inside. They can not escape, they can not call for backup and they can not get new supplies. Lets discuss with colonel john dorian, spokesman for Operation Inherent resolve. Thanks for being with us, as we hear Iraqi Forces Say they dont expect an imminent victory, what is your assessment on the battle for mosul . Weve reached the toughest part of the battle. Isil is desperate, theyre using brutal tactics, theyre taking it out on the civilians around them. These are the tactics that just make these people the worst in the world. The Iraqi Security forces have conducted themselves in a manner that all iraqis should be proud of. They fought very bravely and are working hard to protect civilian life. As you can see, though, very, very hard wrenching situation, very difficult in mosul right now. As we see, for instance, isis back on its feet in places like mosul, we also saw this explosion, this bombing south of baghdad that killed dozens of people yesterday so even as you see isis back on their feet, i think people wonder, t baback their feet doesnt mean they arent spurring on sectarian divides. How do you govern against that . Talk about that challenge. Well, one of the most difficult things about this enemy is they dont care anything about human life at all so what we expect to happen after their terrain that theyve controlled for so long is taken away, theyll devolve back into a terrorist organization and conduct these types of spoiler attacks. Its an effort to maintain relevance. The Iraqi Security forces are working very hard to prevent these types of attacks but its going to be a very difficult situation and what weve done is weve prepared the iraqis and trained them and we continue to train them so that they will be able to create Wide Area Security forces. The Police Forces that control these areas and try to reduce the amount of damage that isil can do. What can you tell us about the American Service member killed in syria . First American Service member killed in syria. Important to note its not the first u. S. Service member killed in the theater. Weve seen some special forces members killed in iraq as well. We know there are about 300 special forces in syria, a number of these are operators, a number of them are support staff. Can you shed any light on the identity of the Service Member. Well, were not going to do that yet because we need to make sure that this heros family has been notified and given the proper amount of time to deal with the enormity of the loss. Our hearts and minds are with this members family. His friends and his teammates because its very, very tough fighting, this person volunteered for our defense of our nation and for all of us around the world and he made the ultimate sacrifice so were definitely going to honor that. Its very tough fighting. This happened in syria and when the members vehicle struck a improvised explosive device. We do appreciate that. As we were looking to confirm that as well, we knew this had something to do with an ied, we werent sure if it was a vehicle and as you said, and we believe this, too, our hearts are certainly with the family as theyve lost their loved one on thanksgiving. Colonel dorrian, thank you so much for an update, well check back with you in the days to come. Well be right back. 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The author joining us now to talk about this. This was the story, thomas, of the election in the end. We think sometimes, you know, what its going to be, we had no idea, right . We got to the end, completely surprise result, donald trump defied all odds and we didnt see the victory coming. He didnt necessarily see the victory coming, people close to him didnt see the victory coming. How did everyone get it wrong . I think a few things. He sort of scrambled the math and did this from the beginning when he decided to run a campaign not taking large corporate donations. He basically set this idea that he was with the voter and everyone else was against them. And once he managed to persuade a large swath of that it was very hard to change their minds of that. Hillary Clintons Campaign slogan was im with her. He said im with you, the voter so scandal after scandal didnt seem to matter because he brought across this idea that he was going to drain the swamp, it was him against the crooked establishment, the crooked media, and people believe him. I think back to a moment we shared on the campaign trail, the bus tour we were on that Hillary Clinton did after the convention through pennsylvania through ohio and i look back and i think those stops through ohio in this area, the rust belt, thats where we saw so many protesters and she rolled into some of these stops. It was so pivotal. Youre right. We came through on a rainy saturday afternoon, johns town, pennsylvania, and what did we see rolling a town . A sign that said killery killed coal. Trump went on there to win huge in Cambria County that helped to provide the margin of victory in pennsylvania. Its stunning and those impeachments that are in unpresident ed which has a lot of surprises that has been your baby, thomas, thank you so much, thomas lake, for sharing these things with us and, of course, you can check out that book as well. That is it for me. Thank you for being on. Ill be back at 5 00 eastern. Join us then on situation room. The news continues right now. Brianna, thank you so much, my friend. Im brooke baldwin, you are watching cnn on this friday afternoon. Heres what we have for you. Moments ago we learned of two more people who will be helping donald trump when he is sworn in as our nations 45th president here in just about over nearly two months. His National Security advisor, retired general Michael Flynn tweeted so proud and honored to ha ha have kt mcfar land as part of our National Security team. She will become