Sreenivasan all that and more, on tonights pbs newshour. Major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by love me tender love me true we can like many, but we can love only a precious few. Because it is for those precious few that you have to be willing to do so very much. But you dont have to do it alone. Lincoln financial helps you provide for and protect your financial future, because this is what you do for people you love. Lincoln financial youre in charge. Bnsf railway. Xq institute. Supporting social entrepreneurs and their solutions to the worlds most pressing problems skollfoundation. Org. The lemelson foundation. Committed to improving lives through invention. In the u. S. And developing countries. On the web at lemelson. Org. Supported by the john d. And catherine t. Macarthur foundation. Committed to building a more just, verdant and peaceful world. More information at macfound. Org and with the ongoing support of these institutions this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. And by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. Thank you. Sreenivasan a new flurry of highlevel announcements today from the trump transition. They include a new ambassador and a new leader for Small Business interests, and, the incoming president himself has picked up another honor. Lisa desjardins has our report. Reporter he didnt appear in new yorks trump tower lobby today, but president elect donald trump still made headlines, as Time Magazine named him its 2016 person of the year, billing him president of the divided states of america. Meanwhile, the president elect made more picks of his own, announcing hell nominate Iowa GovernorTerry Branstad as his ambassador to china. Branstad is a republican and the longestserving governor of iowa, ever. He was one of the most prominent Establishment Republicans to support mr. Trump in the election, and he has a longstanding friendship with the chinese president , xi jinping. Also today, the Associated Press and other outlets reported retired marine general john kelly is the choice for secretary of Homeland Security great, great general. Reporter and multiple outlets also reported Oklahoma Attorney general scott pruitt as mr. Trumps pick to lead the Environmental Protection agency. Pruitt is known for opposing e. P. A. Climate change regulations. All this, after the incoming commander in chief officially introduced retired marine general james mattis as his selection for secretary of defense at a rally last night in fayetteville, North Carolina. Mattis would need a waiver from congress to accept the position because hes been out of the service less than seven years. What a great guy, hes going to be incredible. Hell get that waiver, right . Hes going to get that. Ohh, if he didnt get that waiver, thered be a lot of angry people. Reporter the stop in North Carolina is part of a clear rampup of travel for mr. Trump. Tomorrow hell be in columbus, ohio, to meet with responders to the ohio state campus attack last week, then a thank you rally in des moines, iowa. Friday, the stops are baton rouge, louisiana to support the Republican Senate candidate in a runoff, and another thank you rally in grand rapids, michigan. President elect trump has said his biggest remaing pick, secretary of state, will be announced next week. This morning, he told the today show hes getting advice from his predecessor. I will say this, ive now gotten to know president obama. I really like him. We, obviously, very much disagree on certain policy and certain things, but i really like him as a person. Reporter and today mr. Trump met with the president s first chief of staff, chicago mayor rahm emanuel, who said he argued for socalled dreamers, undocumented americans brought here as children. For the pbs newshour, im lisa desjardins. Woodruff in the days other news, a charleston, South Carolina jury heard Opening Statements in the trial of dylann roof, the white supremacist charged with murdering nine black churchgoers. It happened in june, 2015. Today, a federal prosecutor declared roof had a cold and hateful heart. The defense conceded roofs guilt, and focused on preventing a death sentence. Later, a survivor broke down as she testified about seeing her son die in the gunfire. Sreenivasan authorities in tennessee have charged two juveniles in the fatal wildfires that blazed through the Great Smoky Mountains two weeks ago. Fourteen people died and more than 1,700 buildings were damaged or destroyed as high winds blew the flames into the gatlinburg area. Prosecutors left open the possibility that others could be charged as well. Woodruff Recovery Efforts came to an end at the scene of the deadly warehouse fire in oakland, california. The death toll from the weekend tragedy stands at 36. Investigators have turned their attention to a refrigerator as a possible cause for the blaze. The fastmoving fire ripped through the warehouse, where a dance party was underway. Sreenivasan in indonesia, the earth shook before dawn today, knocking down buildings, and sending terrified people into the streets. At least 97 were killed, with hundreds more injured. It was a picture of desperation rescue crews using bare hands to dig through twisted wreckage while excavators removed heavier debris. translated we estimate the number of casualties will continue to rise as some of the residents are still likely under the rubble of the buildings. The search and rescue operation is still underway. Sreenivasan the quake hit shortly after 5 00 a. M. , registered 6. 5, and was centered around the northern tip of aceh province on sumatra island, but it was too shallow to trigger a tsunami. Still, it was all too reminiscent of the far more powerful quake and tsunami that devastated the same region in 2004, killing more than 100,000 people in aceh alone. That disaster prompted efforts to improve warnings and readiness, but kanupriya kapoor, with reuters, said the quake prone country still has a long way to go. She spoke via skype from jakarta. If i were to speak to the readiness of these communities, the preparedness to deal with the quake, i wouldnt be surprised if they arent as prepared. If, you know, structures in this area, you know were clearly not built to withstand even a 6. 5 magnitude earthquake. Sreenivasan indonesias Disaster Agency estimates some 245 buildings, including 14 mosques, were either seriously damaged or destroyed in todays quake, leaving thousands of people homeless, and local the indonesian government has officially declared a twoweek state of emergency in aceh. Woodruff no one survived an airplane crash in the mountains of northern pakistan today. The head of Pakistan InternationalAirlines Says 48 people were onboard. Witnesses said the plane burst into flames and went down about 50 miles outside islamabad. Junaid jamshed, a wellknown pakistani singerturned evangelical muslim cleric, was among those killed. The cause of the crash is under investigation. Sreenivasan the u. S. And five other western nations are calling for a new ceasefire in aleppo, syria in a bid to get civilians out. They also accused russia today of blocking efforts to end the bloodshed. Meanwhile, Syrian Government troops and their allies pushed deeper into eastern aleppo. They now control about 75 of what was the rebelheld area of the city. Woodruff back in this country, a bipartisan bill to speed federal drug approvals and bolster research, overwhelmingly passed the senate today. President obama promised to sign the 6 billion measure. It includes funding for Vice President bidens moonshot effort to find a cure for cancer, and for a steppedup campaign to fight opioid abuse. Sreenivasan senators also paid tribute today to Vice President biden. He served there for 36 years, representing delaware. He was back today, in his official role as president of the senate, listening as lawmakers praised him for compassion, strength and humor. And, maryland senator Barbara Mikulski gave her Farewell Speech after serving 30 years. That makes her the longest serving female senator ever. Though i was the first democratic woman, i wanted to be the first of many. I wanted to help women get elected to the senate and do what i could to help them to do that. It has been just wonderful to see that now, there are over there are currently 20 women serving in the United States senate. Woodruff mikulski also served ten years in the house, before coming to the senate. Woodruff wall street soared today on mounting expectations of faster growth. The Dow Jones Industrial average reached another record, gaining nearly 300 points to close at 19,549. The nasdaq rose 60 points, and the s p 500 added 29, for its own record close. Sreenivasan and, thousands of people converged on pearl harbor today, marking 75 years since the japanese attack that brought the United States into world war ii. Elderly survivors highlighted the crowd that gathered across the harbor from where the battleship arizona sank. They observed a moment of silence, and then listened to tributes to all those killed on december 7, 1941. Still to come on the newshour the g. O. P. S Sean Spicer talks about Donald Trumps latest appointments; the president elects unconventional methods of communicating directly with the american people; the first woman to win baseballs prestigious sportswriting award, and much more. Woodruff we get the view from trump tower now on the president elects transition from sean spicer, spokesman for the Republican National committee. Sean spicer, welcome back to the newshour. Let me start with some of the announcements already made today, just in the last hour or so. Lynda mcmahon with the professional wrestling organization. She and her husband made a huge success of that, appointed to run the Small Business administration. This now makes, i think, the fourth or fifth billionaire appointed to the trump cabinet. What are we to make of this . What are ordinary americans to make of this . I think you look at the people, like Lynda Mcmahon. She started a company with 13 people. She ended up with 800. What i think donald trump has shown is he wants to surround himself with people who are successful, who understand how to make change and make things happen. Americans want more jobs. They want to put america first. They want american businesses. They want American Families to be put first and foremost. And i think what donald trump is showing im going to get the best, most qualified, successful people to be part of a trumppence administration because the one thing that has ended, judy, is business as usual in washington, d. C. You look at someone like Lynda Mcmahon who not only built an unbelievably successful business but then went on to mentor young women and others to help them grow and flourish. I think thats what we want. We want people with a track record of success to come into washington, to shake things up, and to get the country back on track, to get jobs moving, to fix a Health Care System that is not working. But all of those things that people want, he is surrounding to get the job done. Woodruff there is another pick, and that is to run the Environmental Protection aition, the e. P. A. , scott pruitt, the attorney general of the state of oklahoma. The Environmental Community is already up in arms, reacting very negatively to this, saying he is not only a Climate Change denier, that hes very, very close to the fossil fuel industry. Okay, well, look, heres what i would argue. First of all, no announcement has been made on that position. Second of all, everybody that comes into a trumppence administration from the lowest to the highest person in the administration is here to carry out Donald Trumps vision and agenda and to get the things that he wants done accomplished. So, you know, regardless of what somebodys personal positions are, what theyre signing on to is Donald Trumps vision, his agenda, his philosophy, and the things that he wants to succeed at. Woodruff so the Environmental Community shouldnt read this as somebody who is doesnt believe in anything, essentially, in their agenda being put in charge of the agency thats supposed to look after the environment . Well, look, i think that theres a big difference between environmentalists on the left and people who care about the environment. And i know that sounds like a distinction, but the reality is, you know, two of Donald Trumps kids, eric and don junior, are very avid hunters. They understand and appreciate the wilderness and outdoors. They love to be out there. But i think theres a big difference between appreciating and wanting to preserve and protect the environment, whether its clean water or clean air, something we all cherish, or the agenda pushed by the far left. And there is a big difference. And so i think that theres a theres it is a very big difference to care about whether or not were toting to the agenda of the far extreme left that is a jobkilling regulationtype agenda that wants to put businesses out of business, or people who actually care about the environment and whose goal is clean air, clean water, making sure we preserve our Natural Resources and things like that. Woodruff two other appointments i want to ask you about, one was announced, the ambassador to china, the governor of iowa, Terry Brandstad. We know mr. Trump has stressed i think what you have to say is a get tough with china approach is one way he described it. And today he is emphasizing someone who has a close personal relationship with the leader of china. Is he undermining the get tough message somehow with this . No, i think what mr. Trump understands is hes been successful at business through negotiation and relationship. He understands how to get what he wants, how to advance a goal. And what Terry Brandstad brings to it this, hes the longest serving governor in the United States. He has a huge, extensive relationship with the president of china, snag he can leverage to make sure it is not it starts that relationship off on a good foot, to make sure china understands we have an agenda of putting American Workers first. Thats going to be the agenda here. But it allows that relationship to start from the beginning as opposed to having a get to know you phase. They have a long, extensive relationship and thats going to benefit the United States to advance the donald trump agenda and make sure america gets back some of that some of those jobs and some of that manufacturing that has gone to china. Woodruff just quickly, another appointment, or potential appointment i want to ask about again, news organizations have this and that is retired general johnicle tow run the department of Homeland Security. If hes named he would be the third general to play a major role in this administration heading the Third Largest department in the federal government. What does mr. Trump saying by naming all these top military people with top military roles . Well, first of all, no announcements been made. Second, general kelly is an outstanting public servant, somebody who understands the threats we face and knows how to tackle them and keep america, you know, our homeland safe. He would be an excellent choice if mr. Trump eventually chooses him. Again, youre talking about 4,000, 5,000 jobs. Hes focused on these two and potentially third topranking military officials but hes also looked to successful businessmen, Lynda Mcmahon, a successful businesswoman. This is a very, very broad group, diverse griewrntion of highquality, highcaliber people, in their own respective fields, whether academia, business, or government, have shown they know how to get the job done, and thats what donald trump wants, is people who understand how to be successful, how to move this country in the right direction, how to lift you want American Worker and put america first. Woodruff i want to ask you about something that first lady Mechelle Obama is saying today. She said in an interview she stands by what the criticism she made of mr. Trump on the campaign trail, but she said like her husband, shes prepared to help him as he transitions. She said, we want him to be successful. My question to you is after the conversations mr. Trump has had with president obama, is he prepared, in any way, to apologize or pull back the many, many tough criticismshe made of president obama, in effect saying hes harmed this country by his leadership . Well, i think theres a lot of things said on the campaign trail in the heat of a political campaign. President obama said very legislature things about mr. Trump. But i think since Election Night, mr. Trump extended that olive branch, talked about uniting this country, bringing us all together and moving forward as americans to move the country