Transcripts For FOXNEWSW Special Report With Bret Baier 2016

But first, today was decision day for president elect donald trump. And he made official what we told you last night. Exxonmobil Ceo Rex Tillerson is his pick to be americas top diplomat. Like trump, tillerson has never served in government but has business ties all over the world. But its the exxon ceos ties to one particular country that are raising eyebrows in washington. Russia. Trumps chief of staff calls tillerson a diplomat who happens to be able to drill oil. Reaction today from democrats and some republicans is signaling what could be a big fight on capitol hill come confirmation time. Senior National Correspondent john roberts is live tonight in wisconsin where president elect trumps thankyou tour resumes in about two hours and more breaking news from the transition, new picks. Good evening, john. Reporter bret, good evening to you. We learned in just the last hour that donald trump has made another decision. He intends to name montana congressman ryan zinke as secretary of the interior. One of the things that donald trump really likes about zinke is his military record. He was a member of s. E. A. L. Team 6 holding the rank of commander. All in all, it was another busy day at trump tower. Another surprise appearance by donald trump in the lobby of trump tower today, after a meeting with his old friend, kanye west. Hes a good man. Reporter later a visit from microsoft founder bill gates ahead of tomorrows big tech summit but the headline today was trumps outside the box pick for secretary of state, exxonmobil Ceo Rex Tillerson. We just couldnt be more grateful that someone of Rex Tillersons proven leadership and accomplishments is willing to step forward and serve our nation as our next secretary of state. Reporter while some members of congress including Republican Marco Rubio have concerns about tillersons deep ties to russia, Senate Majority leader mitch mcconne mcconnell today offered his full support. Robert gates who served as secretary of defense under president bush and obama said a tillerson, he would bring to the position vast knowledge, experience and success in dealing with doesens of governments and leaders in every corner of the world. Condoleezza rice added that tillerson, will represent the interests and the values of the United States with resolve and commitment. And former Vice President dick cheney said tillerson has, the ability and judgment to deal with the very dangerous world we find confronting us. Trumps chief of staff Reince Priebus today defended tillersons relationship with Vladimir Putin. The truth is that having relationships with people is not a bad thing. I mean, we have a lot of problems in this world and were not going solve those problems by making believe that people dont exist. Reporter with only four cabinet positions left, fox news learned that trump decided on former Texas Governor rick perry to be his energy secretary. In the height of irony, energy is one of three departments perry pledged to eliminate when he ran for president last cycle. The one he wouldnt remember in a debate that torpedoed his candidacy. And lets see, i cant. The third one, i cant. Sorry. Oops. Reporter the nation will have to wait a while longer to find out how donald trump will separate himself from his vast business empire. A press conference set for thursday has now been pushed back to early january. Transition sources say trumps team bit off more than it could chew filling all the cabinet positions and just couldnt get the Business Plan in place in time. What president elect trump is doing with a lot of lawyers and a lot of people involved is just making sure that all government ethics are followed, that the is are dotted and the ts are crossed and make sure nothing is compromised. Reporter on twitter last night, trump did give some hints of his plans. Pledging to leave his businesses by january 20th and turn them over to sons eric and don jr. To manage with the condition that they make no new deals during his presidency. The plan would appear to have trump stay as an owner and free up daughter, ivanka, to possibly take a position in his administration. By postponing that press conference until january, trump derives two benefits, first of all gives him more time to get his plan in place and second it avoids answering any difficult questions about his finances, his businesses or the cia claim that Russian Hackers are trying to help him become president before the electors vote, and that will happen on december 19th next tuesday. Bret . John roberts live in wisconsin. John, thank you. We told you at the top of the Program House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi wants an independent probe of alleged russian involvement in last months election. But not everybody in the spy buzz sees russias digital fingerprints on the outcome. Chief intelligence correspondent Catherine Herridge sorts it all out for us tonight. Reporter a u. S. Government source says the director of National Intelligence James Clapper who oversees the 17 intelligence agencies is not on the same page as cia director john brennan. The issue comes down to the hackers intent, and whether there is strong evidence that Vladimir Putins government meddled to ensure a trump victory. The white house spokesman said today mr. Obama warrant obama w assessment public. Something well try to do, the president does believe that we should particularly when it relates to something as central to our democracy, as the conduct of a national election. Reporter the timing and targets of the Cyber Attacks varied widely. The hacks exposed via wikileaks, emails belonging to the Clinton Campaign team and the dnc. Another wave of attacks hit Voter Registration data from safeboards of elections. We gave considerable thought to timing out russia with that statement. Reporter clapper told lawmakers last month that after the u. S. Government publicly blamed russia, attacks against the state boards dropped off. I was referring to the cyber reconnaissance that we had observed. Reporter clapper said the russian link to wikileaks and the Clinton Campaign emails was more tenuous, when pressed by the committees senior democrat. I want to drill down a little further into your comment that the russian activity curtailed after they issued the statement. The dumping of documents didnt end. As far as the wikileaks connection, the evidence there is not strong and we dont have good insight into the sequencing of the releases or when the data may have been provided. Reporter in letter monday, the republican chairman of the house committee, devin nunes, asked clapper to reconcile by friday media reports of the cia and fbi have developed conflicting intelligence assessments. A former Intelligence Officer said discerning russias motivation would be challenging. For email traffic and signals intelligence, you see patterns. What you need to define and find out intent is someone on the inside. Late today the House Minority leader nancy pelosi called for the creation of an independent probe along the lines of the 1 9 11 that investigated the terrorist attacks. Pelosi supports a separate congressional investigation and insisted to reporters tonight that her position would be exactly the same if clinton had won in november, bret. More on this with the fanl. Ca panel. The alleged interference by russia prompting some of the people who actually elect the president to ask for more information. Chief washington correspondent james rosen has that part of the story tonight. George w. Bush of the state of texas has received for president of the United States 271 votes. Reporter and with that, Vice President al gore, democratic nominee and winner of the popular vote in 2000, serving as president of the senate, certified that the Electoral College had awarded the presidency to republican nominee, george w. Bush. Now the nevertrumpers, remember them . The Electoral College which donald trump also won without capturing the popular vote as the final arena for blocking the president elect from taking the oath. 30 members of the Electoral College including one republican citing the conclusion of the Central Intelligence agency that russia actively interfered to sway the outcome of the election have written to director of National Intelligence general James Clapper seeking a briefing on the underlying intelligence before the electors cast their votes december 19th and leading the charge is a california elector who is the daughter of House Minority leader nancy pelosi. Our independent elections ought to be what define us as a country. So if there is evidence that not only was the election tainted but that one of the candidates knew about that and profited from it, then that certainly is something that the electors should know in advance. Reporter supporting the request is the chairman of Hillary Clintons campaign, john podesta. The very person whose email account posted online by wikileaks is said by cia to have been hacked with russian complici complicity. The white house, however, stopped short of endorsing the request, indeed, pointed out a big hurdle to granting it. Look, i know some of the requests was for classified information and its not clear that all of the electors, and im sure most of them dont, dont have security clearances. Reporter the president elect told Fox News Sunday that democrats are pedalling the account of russian meddling, because, quote, they suffered one of the greatest defeats in the history of american politics. Its ridiculous. We ought to get back to making America Great again which is what were going to do and weve already started the process. Reporter as the Electoral College vote approach, some trump electors have reported being on the receiving end of hate mail and worse. Unfortunately, i received a couple of death threats, some death wishes and just some angry messages from people who are disappointed in the election results. Reporter a source at the Republican National Committee Told me that what concern exists over this play for the Electoral College is tied not to defections but to resignations. Not all states have replacement mechanisms in place. Bret . All right, james. Thank you. Now that the president elect has selected three more cabinet members, there is one unofficial position to talk about tonight. Maybe it can be called ambassador to the left. National security car spoorresp Jennifer Griffin reports it appears one of the first daughters to be may already have the job. Reporter shes the executive Vice President of the trump organization, a former model, and mother of three, and she may just be her fathers secret weapon, serving as a bridge to the left. A lifestyle guru whos built a business in her own right, ivanka trump has pushed her father on the environment and Womens Health issues. Equality, childcare, these are things that are very important for me. Reporter she helped soften her fathers image in the wake of the access hollywood audiotape starring in this campaign ad called motherhood. He will provide tax credits for childcare. Reporter helped insert language into her fathers platform that would appeal to your average democrat. In fact, she and her brothers couldnt vote for their father in the New York Primary because they were still registered democrats. Politicians talk about wage equality, but my father has made it a practice at his company throughout his entire career. Reporter in recent weeks, ivanka has arranged for her father to meet with former Vice President al gore, to hear his views on global warming, a move that took environmentalists by surprise. Shes met twice with Leonardo Dicaprio to talk about the environment. It looks a little bit like a head fake when you have her meet with al gore one day and then the next day donald trump turns around and picks for epa someone who has always said that he believes Climate Change is real. Reporter ivanka and husband, jared kushner, traveled to washington, d. C. , on sunday and dined at their family hotel with Mitch Mcconnell and his wife, elaine chao, trumps pick for transportation secretary. They also may have been house hunting. Longtime political producer and washington host, tammy haddad, said democrats would be wise to embrace ivanka. I dont know if ivanka trump can change anyones mind. I dont know if the democrats will listen to him. I dont know if people in washington who were against him will now come into the tent. What i do know is that ivanka trump has the biggest opportunity to bring the most people in. Reporter once friends with chelsea clinton, ivanka reportedly was the one her father handed the phone to when House Minority leader nancy pelosi called him after the election to talk about Womens Health care. As first daughter, she may be one of her fathers most important ambassadors. Bret . Jennifer, thank you. Stocks were up today. The dow gained 115 for another record close. Closing just shy of 20,000. The s p 500 finished ahead 15. The nasdaq surged 51. Lets get analysis of the markets tonight, Fox Business Networks trish reagan is in new york. Good evening, trish. 89 points until 20k. We think it happens this week. What is behind all this momentum . I think it very well could. I mean, there was a good shot of it happening today. At one point we were within that 50point range of hitting 20,000. But i think it could happen as soon as tomorrow. Certainly sometime this week. Certainly before the end of the year. Traders are banking on this. Theres a lot of momentum right now. And its hard to stop. Theres an expectation that there will be lower taxes, that there will be less regulation and neethose are things that ar just music to businesses ears and its one of the reasons youre seeing all this upside right now, bret. We often talk, trish, about the fed and the Federal Reserve announces its decision on Interest Rates tomorrow. Most are expecting a bump in Interest Rates by a quarter of a point. What else are they watching out for with the fed . Well, they want to see what exactly the fed says in terms of its tone for the future because the question is, all right, you may get that quarter point hike, but are you going to get another one at the next fed meeting . Does the fed actually think the economy is gaining enough strength that it can move forward with this Interest Rate rising policy . You know, one after another. Are they going to sort of space these out . Theyll be looking to find out what the pace of the increase for these Interest Rate hikes actually will be. Theres also some questions about whether or not the market can sustain these kind of levels once Interest Rates move higher. So that will be very critical to watch the market tomorrow, to see how traders react to this expectation of the quarter point hike, and well also be watching very carefully to see if janet yellen, head of the Federal Reserve, says anything about donald trump and how she thinks the economy might fare under him. She obviously doesnt want to get too political, the fed never does, but these are the things that traders will be looking to hear. Trish, as always, thank you. Well be watching you tomorrow for all that breaking news. Proimmigration forces have come up with a new way to fight donald trump over his stated plans to deport Illegal Immigrants with criminal records. Correspondent Claudia Callan reports tonight from San Francisco. It involves making you pay to fight the feds. Claudia . Reporter bret, San Francisco is doubling down on its socalled sanctuary city status by considering a 5 million plan to hire more lawyers to defend Illegal Immigrants facing deportation including those whove been arrested for committing other crimes if thn country. Former detainees said their lack of access to an immigration lawyer turned their lives upsidedown and theyre worried about president elect Donald Trumps idea to deport millions of Illegal Immigrants, a plan trump has since tempered. David campos introduced the legislation arguing everyone deserves the same access to Public Resources and he defends his use of tax doll