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Texas Police Officer Shot And Killed; Trump Meets With Potential Cabinet Picks, Appointments; Trump Facing Conflicts of Interest Questions; Obama Met with Russian President Vladimir Putin; Three National Security Members Already Chosen, Millions of Americans Struggle with Real Versus Unreal Reporting; CNN's Top Ten Heroes of 2016. Aired 4-5p ET

Aired November 20, 2016 - 16:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:00:28] FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Hello again. And thank you so much for joining me. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.

So we begin with this breaking news out of San Antonio, Texas where a police officer was shot and killed. A manhunt is still underway for the suspect. The mayor of San Antonio releasing a statement saying this. Quote "I want to extend my deepest condolences to the family of the officer killed outside police headquarters today, as well as to our entire police force. This type of crime cannot and will not be tolerated. I ask for the community's thoughtfulness and patience as the investigation continues and SAPD searches for the suspect," end quote.

CNN's Polo Sandoval is joining me right now to talk more about all of this happening and where the investigation goes from here.

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: There is a massive search happening right now, Fred, there in downtown San Antonio for the suspect or suspects who could have been involved here. At this point, we understand that this police officer was in the middle of a traffic stop outside of the police department. Was actually issuing a citation when another vehicle, a third vehicle, pulls up to the scene. The gunman gets out of the car, approaches the patrolman's passenger side and then shoots that officer while still sitting in his vehicle. And the police chief there in San Antonio saying that he then leaned into the vehicle and shot a second time. The officer, we were told, a 20-year veteran of the force, later pronounced dead there at the scene.

And now a massive manhunt is underway. The description, while brief, at least is something that investigators can go on. They believe that the suspect here is 5'7" to 6 foot black male, gray shirt, black pants. Was apparently clean shaven, according to police chief there. And then I believed to have been in the area in a vehicle that was captured on surveillance footage.

Now, as is the case in many of the fluid situations, investigators are careful to say this was an actual suspect vehicle but they do believe that the person or persons aboard this car may have either had something to do with it or at least have information about what took place. So this is what investigators are putting out as we speak as this crime scene continues to -- as they continue to work this crime scene out.

I want you to hear directly from the police chief, William McManus who was describing really what his whole department is going through as they are caught between a manhunt and grieving.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WILLIAM MCMANUS, SAN ANTONIO POLICE: This is everyone's worst nightmare. You never want to see anything like this happen. Unfortunately, like Dallas, like Baton Rouge, it's happened here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: And just a few moments ago, Texas governor Gregg Abbott also releasing a statement of his own, extending his condolences to the family of the fallen officer, Fred, saying violence against police officers just will not be tolerated. This is an elected official who has actually tried to propose legislation to make targeting Texas officers a hate crime. So as a result, you can imagine, this is really sending shock waves throughout the entire state of Texas and throughout the rest of the country as well.

WHITFIELD: And so, again, the belief is, according to police, is that the suspect rolled in, in a vehicle, separate vehicle, while this police officer, 20-year veteran, was inside his squad car, you know, addressing this traffic stop. And that suspect got out of his vehicle, you know, shot the officer and got back into the vehicle and fled?

SANDOVAL: And then fled in broad daylight, to make things worse here. So that could be something that could be a positive for law enforcement in their investigation here is that it is a heavily trafficked area. You see there, it is in the downtown area there in south Texas, San Antonio. They are hoping that someone saw something this Sunday afternoon, as the shots were fired. Again, at this point, no arrests have been made. All they have is that someone vague suspect description and also a picture of the car that they want people there in that Texas City to be on the lookout for.

WHITFIELD: All right, Polo, thanks for that detail.

I also want to bring in law enforcement -- senior law enforcement analyst and former FBI assistant director Tom Fuentes.

So Tom, based on the kind of information that Polo is giving us, what does this tell you about this crime? We know the city mayor is saying this appears to be a targeted crime with the suspect driving up on this citation, traffic stop underway, and then shooting and killing this 20-year vet, and then fleeing the scene.

TOM FUENTES, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Fredricka, you know, being a police officer, putting on that uniform is probably the only job I can think of where somebody might kill you or want to kill you just because of that. Just because you are wearing that uniform and for no other reason.

Here, you have an officer that was not dealing, apparently, with the person who shot and killed him. And having made, you know, hundreds, maybe thousands of traffic stops when I was a police officer, it's not uncommon to be stopped like that and have somebody come up to your passenger side, you roll your window down, can I help you? Yes, how do you get to such and such address? And so, you know, that possibly is what happened. The officer may have rolled down that window only to have the individual shoot him twice and kill him.

So it's a very tragic circumstance. It's something that police officers face. They can't lock themselves in a bullet proof container and not deal with the public, even if they are just asking for directions or whatever it might seem like in the beginning.

[16:05:38] WHITFIELD: And then Tom, we understand there will be a press conference momentarily. And of course, we are hoping to get more detail on that. But then, you know, analyze what we do know at this point. Broad daylight. This taking place right outside the San Antonio police headquarters. And this during this traffic stop. We see, you know, the shot of a very busy intersection, a very busy location there. It appears as though the vehicle that was stopped is still, you know, there on the scene. How do you assess all we know thus far about this?

FUENTES: Well, unfortunately, there's not a lot of assessment we can make because there's so many possibilities. If it was just someone that was out to try to kill a police officer and saw this officer stopped behind the vehicle that he stopped and chose that moment to go up and kill him, you know, that's few number of leads to go on, let's say.

Now, they do have the lead of the surveillance camera at the intersection. That may be beneficial in identifying the car or having somebody call in that may know that person or may know of a person who talked about on social media or to friends or neighbors about wanting to kill a police officer for some reason.

So, you know, the investigation does have a little bit to go on at this point. There may be other witnesses that were not aware of that are in contact with the police in San Antonio.

WHITFIELD: All right. We will leave it there.

Tom Fuentes, Polo Sandoval, thank you so much, gentlemen. Appreciate that.

All right. Meantime, you have been looking also at the bottom of your screen right there. You see the front door of the meeting place for Donald Trump and perspective cabinet members. There is New Jersey governor Chris Christie. He just arrived not long ago. Unclear which position he might be considered for. But Donald Trump has been meeting. And there he is right there, greeting him as they enter there. This is a golf course that Donald Trump owns there in Bedminster, New Jersey. Unclear what position he is under consideration for. But nonetheless, meetings have been taking place all weekend long and his meetings are been roughly 15 to 20 minutes.

All right. So let's bring in our Phil Mattingly, who is also there outside that meeting place there in Bedminster, New Jersey. So Phil, do we know about what jobs either Chris Christie might be

considered for, Rudy Giuliani, who we saw arriving earlier, what do you know?

PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, the big question is, are these any jobs that Chris Christie is being considered for? And Donald Trump was, the president-elect, was asked as he met Governor Christie at the front door, if there was a place for Chris Christie in his administration. He replied only, he is a very talented guy. So read into that whatever you would like with that.

Though I will say, before the meeting with Governor Christie, the president-elect did meet with Rudy Giuliani. He was asked if there was a potential spot as secretary of state for Giuliani in a Trump administration. He nodded and said, as well as other things, too. So very clear that Rudy Giuliani is certainly in consideration for a position inside a Trump administration. Whether or not it is secretary of state still seems to be an open question.

But to your point, Chris Christie, doesn't seem like there is a lot there. And there is a lot of back story. We have been talking about a little bit all day today, about some of the tension that's been going on between Chris Christie and some of his advisers. Donald Trump, the transition team. Donald Trump's closest advisers. But there is no question, Chris Christie has been on the outs with the transition operation over the course of the last seven or eight days. Whether or not he is in line for anything at all I think is an open question. If you talk to Trump transition officials, they would say very likely, no.

WHITFIELD: But if he is out, why would he be there? I mean it was reported days ago, right, especially with Jared Kushner, the son-in- law of Donald Trump, not so happy that Chris Christie was so pivotal in the transition team. That reportedly, he was no longer in consideration. But then he would be meeting today. I mean, if not under consideration for a job, then why show up today at all?

MATTINGLY: Yes, I think there is a couple ways to look at what's going on. First and foremost, not everybody that is coming through this, both Saturday and Sunday, is in line for a cabinet position. A number of the officials are coming in just to provide advice or to present some ideas for governing going forward.

Now, there are plenty of potential cabinet picks and likely cabinet picks that have come through here, as well. But I do think you need to kind of backtrack into the relationship of Chris Christie and the president-elect. It is long. It is more than a decade long. They have been long friends. Chris Christie was, by far, the biggest early endorsement that the president-elect got during the campaign. So the relationship between the two men has always been warm and it has been a crucial one that have to add relevance to the Trump campaign throughout the primary process and into the general election. Now, what's happened the last couple weeks, there is no question at

all. There is some bad blood going on. But I have been told that it's not necessarily between the two principals. It is more between staff. And so, I do think what they are doing right now, whether or not there is a job in line or anything like that, this is a meeting between two men that have been friends for a long period of time. Clearly, there are issues there that they need to talk about and that probably what they are doing today, Fredricka.

[16:10:38] WHITFIELD: All right. Phil Mattingly, keep us posted. Thanks so much.

So as Donald Trump meets with potential cabinet picks, appointments, the president-elect is still weighing in on the hit Broadway show "Hamilton" and what was said during a performance when asked about t controversy by a reporter this morning. This is what Trump had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are you still upset about "Hamilton"?

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: They were very inappropriate. Thank you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: So this is what is at issue. This is the controversy. Friday night, the vice president elect attended this Broadway show, "Hamilton." And actor Brandon Victor Dixon who plays Aaron Burr, delivered this message from the stage,

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRANDON VICTOR DIXON, ACTOR, HAMILTON: We, sir, we are the diverse America whom are alarmed and anxious that your new administration will not protect us. Our children, our parents or defend us and uphold our inalienable rights, sir. But we truly hope that this show has inspired to uphold our American values and to work on behalf of all of us. All of us.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: OK. So that was Friday night. And then Mike Pence was asked about that this morning. And this is what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MIKE PENCE, VICE PRESIDENT-ELECT OF THE UNITED STATES: I heard the remarks that were made at the end. And you know, what I can tell you is I wasn't offended by what was said. I'll leave to others whether it was the appropriate venue to say it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: CNN's Rachel Crane is live for us now in New York outside the theater where this show has been going on.

The show goes on today. What have people been saying? What more is being said about what happened Friday night?

RACHEL CRANE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Fred, as you just heard, Mike Pence, not offended by the message that was delivered to him Friday night. But there was someone that was certainly offended. That person being president-elect Donald Trump. Despite being very busy, setting his political agenda, selecting his cabinet, he found time to tweet not once, not twice but four times about this controversy going as far as to call it harassment.

Now, Mike Pence said that he actually enjoyed the play. There's been a lot of chatter about this, Fred, on social media. I mean, more than 14 million people viewed the message that was delivered on Friday night on Facebook. And there's actually a hashtag that has been trending called boycott Hamilton.

Now, of course, this is ironic because this play has been sold out since its genesis and it sold out through August of 2017. And today, there was a long line of people waiting to get into the matinee. There was no evidence that people were really boycotting the play at all. We had a chance to speak to some of those patrons. And take a listen to what one young lady had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So I think it is a tossup between an office. It is another Donald Trump distraction? You know, less focus on boycott Hamilton, so we are not looking at the bigger picture? Just another event and things being blown out of proportion that are really -- don't need to be such a large scale thing. You know, boycott Hamilton. There are so other things we should be spending our time boycotting than a musical that has touched a lot of people's lives and really revolutionized a lot of history for people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CRANE: But Fred, she did go on to say that she supported anybody who wanted to boycott Hamilton and that she would be happy to take their tickets.

Fred, back to you.

WHITFIELD: All right. Thank you so much, Rachel Crane. Very windy in New York City today.

All right. Up next --

CRANE: Very windy.

WHITFIELD: You're handling it. No problem.

All right. Up next, Donald Trump's business interests. Just his past week, he met with his business partners from India. How is he going to separate his presidency from his companies? His chief of staff answers that question next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:17:41] WHITFIELD: All right. Welcome back.

Donald Trump facing questions now to how he will separate his duties as president from his obligations to the more than 500 businesses that he controls. A new round of questions raised when Trump was photographed with three of his Indian business partners at the same time he was working to set up his transition team.,

CNN's Jake Tapper asked incoming White House chief of staff Reince Priebus about how the Trump team will navigate these potential conflicts of interest.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JAKE TAPPER, CNN CHIEF WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Let's talk about that, leading this country without distraction. Last week, I had a lot of questions for Rudy Giuliani, top Trump adviser, about potential conflicts of interest that he president will face if he does not put all his assets into a blind trust. And I was told by Mr. Giuliani not to worry because the adult Trump children will run the business and will stay out of government. But since then, Mr. Trump met with the prime minister of Japan and his daughter Ivanka, one of the people running his businesses was there. In addition, the "Washington Post" reported that the Trump hotel in D.C. is pushing itself on to foreign diplomats. And we also learned that the president-elect met with three Indian business partners who are building a Trump branded luxury apartment complex south of Mumbai. All of this in the last week.

As White House chief-of-staff, you are supposed to look out for any political or ethical mine fields. Is it seriously the position of the Trump transition team that this is not a huge cauldron of potential conflicts of interest?

REINCE PRIEBUS, INCOMING CHIEF OF STAFF: No. I think, look. Donald Trump has been the very clear from the beginning that his family is very important to him. And I think that while it is unique, it's certainly compliant with the law. And obviously, we will comply with all of those laws and we will have our White House counsel review all of these things. And we will have every I dotted and every T crossed. And I can assure the American people that there wouldn't be any wrongdoing or any sort of undo-influence over any decision making.

The truth of the matter is, and I can just tell you this, even from the four days or five days or so I have been in a different role, Donald Trump makes decisions in this operation. And while there are meetings that take place, it is Donald Trump that makes these decisions. And nothing should be further from the truth. And so, I can assure you and everyone out there that all of these things will be followed and they will be done properly. [16:20:07] TAPPER: During the campaign, you put out a statement

saying that the Clinton foundation represents a quote "pay to play culture that would be on full display should Hillary Clinton be elected president." Are you at all concerned that Mr. Trump now could be depicted as somebody engaged in pay to play politics?

PRIEBUS: No, not at all, Jake. I mean, we have been at this for a few days. I mean, this is ridiculous. Let's just kind of take a deep breath. Let's look at what's going on. He made the call to bring all Americans together. He then met with many, many people from all walks of life. (INAUDIBLE), General Mattis, Ted Cruz, Mitt Romney, and the list goes on and on.

The point is, what Americans should see from president-elect Trump is someone who, by deed and action, from the moment he was declared the winner, he was on a mission to bring everyone together. That to me is what we should be celebrating. I think people should be encouraged by what they see. And I think it is a really positive sign for the future of our country.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: All right. So I'm joined now by CNN political commentators Mike Shields, Bill Press and Ryan Lizza.

All right. Good to see all of you, gentlemen.

All right. So Ryan, you first. You know, Priebus says, you know, The Trump White House, you know, will set up its own legal system to avoid any kind of conflicts of interest. So the Trump White House sets it up, and the Trump White House enforces it? Is that enough assurance that there will be no conflicts of interest and that it can police itself?

RYAN LIZZA, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yes. You know, I listened very closely to what the incoming chief of staff said there. And they don't have a plan. Not only do they not have a plan but it seems like they have not even thought through the basics of what to do with what the last two White House ethics councils, one from the Bush era and one from the Obama era, have called potentially the most conflicted White House in modern history.

The only way to deal with this, Fred, is Trump has to liquidate all of his businesses, appoint an independent trustee, take the cash from the liquidation and have the trustee invest it in a true blind trust. That's the only way to deal with this. Otherwise, his entire tenure as president is going to be overwhelmed with accusations of pay to play and constant conflicts of interest questions coming up every time a Trump hotel brand is put on a -- Trump name is put on a hotel abroad. It'll raise these questions. And from what Reince said there, they just have not even begun to think this through and understand how serious it is.

WHITFIELD: So Bill, you heard Reince Priebus on the question of pay to play. Is that applicable with a Trump White House? And you know, Reince Priebus says, you know, this is ridiculous to even think this is a possible or plausible. Do you agree with that?

BILL PRESS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: First of all, I listened very careful to Reince Priebus, too. And I was kind of stunned. This is a chief of staff, if anybody, should be really -- should recognize how sensitive this is and how tone deaf they seem to be. It should be Reince Priebus. And we heard him say that Donald Trump makes all the decisions.

I don't think you can trust Donald Trump to make the right decisions here. This is his business. This looks like pay to play on steroids. You had the meeting with his Indian partners during the transition at Trump tower. You had a meeting here in Washington, a tour of the new Trump hotel in Washington for foreign diplomats basically saying, bring your people here. We will give you good deals on meeting rooms and on rooms. And that they were quoted as saying, yes, they are going to stay there because that will gain them some favor maybe with the new administration. Then you have Ivanka on television hawking her 10,000 bracelet. Look, I think Ryan is absolutely right there.

LIZZA: It was 10,800, Bill.

PRESS: Sorry. I couldn't afford it even at 10,000. But you had -- I think the "Wall Street Journal" even said that he has to liquidate his business and put it in a blind trust. Otherwise, this is going to continue to haunt them.

WHITFIELD: So Mike --

LIZZA: This is a bi -- I mean, this is a bipartisan call. You have the right wing, "Wall Street Journal." The conservative "Wall Street Journal. You have the Bush era ethics council and the Obama era ethics council. Anyway, sorry to interrupt, but that point is important to make.

WHITFIELD: So Mike, do you see this as a pay to steroids, as Bill just said?

MIKE SHIELDS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: No. I mean, look, with all due respect to my colleagues, I think it is absurd to say Reince clearly doesn't have a plan for this. You guys have no idea what they are talking about. They are eight days --

PRESS: Where is it?

SHIELDS: Well, they are eight days into the administration. We don't have a system of government where the president takes office the day after the election.

WHITFIELD: Except that this is a conversation, this potential conflict that has been happening a long time.

SHIELDS: Sure.

WHITFIELD: And certainly within the Trump camp, they have been talking about trying to get things in line so that there are no perceived conflicts if he were to win.

[16:25:08] SHIELDS: Absolutely. That's why we have something called -- excuse me -- that's why we have something called a transition period, which we are eight, nine or ten days into, for goodness sakes. He has not sworn in as president of the United States still January 20th. And So, I think it is a little absurd, Frankly, to go this far into calling these questions, when you haven't, you know, given them a chance to start to put these things --

WHITFIELD: So even the optics though of those meetings in the transition phase?

SHIELDS: You hear the White House chief of staff --

WHITFIELD: It doesn't seem --

SHIELDS: You're hearing the white chief of staff say we are going to address this issue. They have acknowledged that there is an issue here that they need to address. You know, the founders actually envisioned that we would have citizens who run for office and return to the citizenry afterwards. Only when you elect politicians who have no business acumen and no business background would this not be a question.

And so, the fact is the American people - the American people know they were electing a businessman. That's why they elected him. They want him to have that experience. He is now got a transition period in which he can come up with a plan as to the proper, ethical way to handle his business.

WHITFIELD: OK. So --

SHIELDS: I think they need to be given at least a chance to come up with that.

PRESS: No, no. Let me just say, though. Look. This is crazy. And it is absurd to suggest that they don't know from day one that they at least cannot give the pimping the presidency which is what it looks like he is making money off the presidency. And our founding fathers certainly did not envision --

SHIELDS: There is no evidence of that, Bill. There is no evidence that they are making -- you're jumping to conclusions.

People have been asking for his tax returns over a year. They knew this was a potential conflict and should have had a plan. And I think from the actions so far, it shows that they are totally tone deaf on this. And I'm really stunned by it.

WHITFIELD: All right. We will leave it right there, gentlemen.

Ryan, Bill, Mike, thanks so all of you. Appreciate it.

LIZZA: Thanks, Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right, up next, a thaw on U.S.-Russian relations? Could it be? President Barack Obama meeting privately with Russian president Vladimir Putin. What the White House is saying about that next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [16:30:50] WHITFIELD: Welcome back. This morning, President Barack Obama met with Russian President Vladimir Putin on the side lines of the first apex meeting. They appeared to have a casual conversation just before going into the summit.

CNN's Athena Jones is live for us now in Lima, Peru, so what more do we know about the conversation between these two presidents?

ATHENA JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Fred, well I spoke with the White House aide about this who told me it was a brief conversation, a casual conversation. It lasted only about four minutes. The two leaders talked about Ukraine and they also talked about Syria. The White House put out a read out about the chat and said that President Obama noted the need for Secretary of State John Kerry and Russia's foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov continue to pursuing initiatives together with the international community to try to diminish the violence taking place in Syria right now and to alleviate the suffering of the Syrian people. But it was certainly a very short conversation. It is not uncommon to see these two leaders meet in this informal way on the sidelines of summits. Very different than the much longer, more extensive bilateral meetings the president has with other leader, about perhaps not surprising to see them at least grab a second to chat here, Fred.

WHITFIELD: And then Athena, you know just last night, President Obama predicting tensions, would be rising on trade. What more did he say to underscore that point and prediction?

JONES: Well, this was interesting, because he spoke about these potential rising tensions on trade in the same breath as he was saying that he didn't expect to see major changes in the relationship between the U.S. and Latin America. This was during a town hall with about 1,000 young leaders from Latin America and the Caribbean. He said he don't see big changes in policy, but acknowledged that there could be some tensions over trade policy.

And that is simply because we know that President-Elect Trump ran on promises to rip up some trade deals. He has express a great deal of skepticism about not only about existing trade deals like NAFTA, but also trade deals that are being finalized and is now are dead, for instance the transpacific partnership. One thing the president also has sought to do on both sides of the Atlantic during this trip, is to calm or soothe the fears and concerns of many people around the world about just what a Trump presidency could look like. He urged folks to give the President-Elect a chance. Take a listen to what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I think it will be important for everybody around the world to not make immediate judgments, but give this new President-Elect a chance to put their team together, to examine the issues, to determine what their policies will be. Because, as I've always said, how you campaign isn't always the same as how you govern.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JONES: And that is a message the president has been stressing all throughout this trip. The need for folks around the world, world leaders and citizens of the world, not assume the worst about his successor, but to give Trump -- to give a Trump presidency a chance. Fred?

WHITFIELD: All right, Athena Jones in Lima, Peru. Thank you so much.

All right, hard liners, it is a word some have used to describe the men chosen to lead Donald Trump's foreign policy team. Well, we would soon be hearing a name added to the list. Our expert panel discusses next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:37:17] WHITFIELD: All right, welcome back. We continue to give you pictures of people coming and going there in New Jersey at Donald Trump's golf course there. This is the latest person to arrive, Bob Johnson, who is the founder of BET also the first African-American billionaire. He is arriving there. At any moment, usually, Donald Trump comes out, greets the person who has just arrived, and then they go in and meet and chat. Although this time, we're seeing it happen a little differently. There we go, ok, the two meeting right there.

Unclear whether Bob Johnson is under consideration for a particular position or if Donald Trump continues to surrounds himself by people that he likes to get advice from, but at some point we will learn about really the genesis of all this meetings taking place throughout the weekend and a photo opportunity right there, before the two go behind closed doors and meet.

So, President-Elect Donald Trump, his National Security Team has been shaping up after a series of meetings this weekend with potential cabinet members. Three National Security members have already been chosen with only two more picks to go. Retired army Lieutenant General Michael Flynn has been tapped to be Trump's National Security Adviser. Alabama Senator Jeff Sessions is the pick for Attorney General. And Kansas represented Mike Pompeo is Trump's choice for CIA Director.

Still no designees for U.S. Secretary of State and Secretary of Defense, but we understand Mitt Romney, who you saw meeting with Donald Trump yesterday, his name has been floated for U.S. Secretary of State and retired General James Mattis who is being eyed for possibly Secretary of Defense. So, let's talk more about this, back with me, CNN's Senior Law Enforcement Analyst and former FBI Assistant Director Tom Fuentes. Good to see you again, Tom.

TOM FUENTES, CNN SENIOR LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Hi, Fredrick.

WHITFIELD: When you hear names like Jeff Sessions, James Mattis, Mike Pompeo, some are describing them as real hard liners. How do you see or classify these names of positions?

FUENTES: Well, I don't know if I would classify them specifically as hard liners. I think that Mr. Trump won the election as the President-Elect advocating a hard line on what he'd do with ISIS and wanting to have law and order. You know being strong on issues like that. So I would have assumed that he was going to pick people who would be strong on those issues to match what he promised in the campaign.

WHITFIELD: I want to play a portion of an interview Fareed Zakaria did back in April 2015 with General Michael Flynn on the threat of ISIS. This is what had said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[16:40:00] FAREED ZAKARIA, CNN HOST: Is ISIS a threat to the core national interests of the United States?

MICHAEL FLYNN, RETIRED ARMY LIEUTENANT GENERAL: Yes, yes. I do believe that. Is it existential today, probably not today? Could it become an existential threat in the future? Yes. I do, I believe that. I absolutely believe that. I think that we are not winning. We are participating. And we need to do more to defeat this problem, than just go kill a couple more Radical Islamists.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: In your view, what would be the message sent with Michael Flynn on board?

FUENTES: Well, I think that what he said was true. That back in 2015, even going back to 2014, when ISIS was forming and starting its takeover of half of Iraq and Syria. That their threat was underestimated by the administration and I think that General Flynn had conflict with the Obama administration as to what the threat of ISIS was going to become. And when he said it wasn't existential threat at that time, could ISIS topple the United States of America? No. But could they do serious damage where they're at, where the caliphate has been in Iraq and Syria, and export that terrorism throughout, right now, 32 countries, but actually worldwide, and recruit individuals to come join? Tens of thousands of individuals from North America, South America, Asia, Australia, Africa, Europe, to go and join and become terrorists with ISIS. So I think that when he was saying that it was a possibility that, that threat could grow, and he is making that statement over a year ago, well it proved to be exactly right.

WHITFIELD: Tom Fuentes, thanks so much.

FUENTES: You're welcome.

WHITFIELD: All right we'll have more after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:45:30] All right, welcome back. So the 2016 campaign race for the White House, it involved a real convergence of credible news reporting and outright fake reporting, fake news. And it remains a big problem. Thanks to a number of websites that are available. What's worse? Millions of Americans are having a hard time believing,

you know, truth versus unreal reporting.

For more on this, I'm joined now by CNN's Senior Media Correspondent and host of "RELIABLE SOURCES," Brian Stelter, and Jim Anderson, he is the CEO of Social Flow, a company that analyzes how consumers engage with content and social media. And so, gentlemen, it is really hard for a lot of people to put their finger on it, because some people look at news and information as really just anything that is out there. Whether it is on the internet, whether it's, you know, on some publication. Then there are people, you know, who say there is reporting that involves real checks and balances.

BRIAN STELTER, CNN SENIOR MEDIA CORRESPONDENT: Right.

WHITFIELD: And now, we've got a real complicated web of information, Brian, because there are people who turn to their social media and, you know, they believe everything they read and see. And we saw that bleed into the campaigning. So, now, we have this big, mammoth, you know, of a thing. How do we help people navigate and try to discern what is real news, what is truth telling and what is, you know, fabrication?

STELTER: Yeah, one of the best things about t internet, it is the great flattener. It is the great leveler. Anybody can be anything online and could achieve a lot online. But that is also one of the worst things about the internet, it is the great flattener. The real CNN.com looks just like a fake rip off of CNN.com. So, what I recommend to our audience, you got to be more skeptical, you got to double and triple check before you share something, before you believe it. It makes the internet more difficult and more stressful sometimes. But we're really seeing this problem illustrated on Facebook and Twitter and Google these days, as fake news stories continue to trend from time to time. And so it does require more media literacy on the part of all of us.

WHITFIELD: And so, here is an example, Jim. Business insider compiled a list of the top fake news stories of this election cycle. And among them are stories about President Obama banning the pledge of allegiance, cutting support from veterans, a story about the Pope endorsing Donald Trump. You know, some of these, you know, shared amongst one another millions of times. So, you know, how do you convey to people that just because they read it doesn't necessarily mean it is true? How do you undo some of the damage that comes with fake headlines, fake stories?

JIM ANDERSON, CEO OF SOCIALFLOW: Yeah, I think you're hitting a really important point here. And it is a very hard problem. That is what Mark Zuckerberg said when Facebook started being criticizing for the fake news. I think Facebook is realizing that they've got a problem with fake news, just like McDonald's has a problem with obesity. They get a lot of blame for it.

They are probably not quite as responsible as people say they are. But people expect big, successful companies to tackle hard problems. And people expect Facebook to help us with this and they definitely have a challenge on their hands, because it does require some skepticism and some discernment from the audience, who is consuming the content.

WHITFIELD: Brian, how do people discern who is at the root of some of these stories being spread? Particularly the ones that is not true, because it doesn't come from one entity. It's rather complicated, isn't it?

STELTER: Buzzfeed has reported some of the pro-Trump websites in particular, actually come from kids, from teenagers, living in Macedonia. The reason why they set up the sites is not because they're rooting for Trump or trying to voting for anybody. It is because they make money off of it. Every time the sites on online, people click and share them and click and they make a little bit money from advertising.

Now, Facebook and Google try to turn off, those connections, you can't make money off the Facebook and Google's ad networks anymore from a fake news site, but this a thorny tricky problem for these giant social networking websites. Every time we click and share, these creators make more money and we are worst off. You know the reality here is that these sites spread confusion. They're trying to trick people. So the goal is to refuse to be confused. Refuse to be hoaxed.

WHITFIELD: Up to the consumer, you're, saying.

[16:50:00] STELTER: Yeah, exactly. The onus is on us, as users of the World Wide Web to protest skeptically and do the due diligence necessary.

WHITFIELD: So, it will be up to in the large part is the consumer, but hen, Jim, how much responsibility does an outwit such as, you know social media outwit such as a Twitter or Facebook have, you know to help be a gate keeper of real information versus fake?

ANDERSON: I don't think they want to be on the position of a gate keeper, and I don't think we as a society want them to be the gate keeper as well. Facebook, it can be argued, has a tremendous amount of power right now. Having them to be the arbitrator of what is true and false, what is right and wrong, is definitely not the right direction. But I do think there is a real risk here, of overstating the problem. It is a significant problem that needs to be dealt with, but you hear people saying, that is what causes the election to swing toward Trump. And I don't think that is supported by the data at all. We saw a massive amount of real news content coming through. Getting more than half a trillion views over the course of the election that was real content. Right, left, sinner type contents. This fake news is a real problem, but let's not overstates it.

WHITFIELD: All right, Jim Anderson, and Brian Stelter, thank you so much, gentlemen. It is very complicated. Of course you can hear more of these conversations right here in the NEWSROOM and, of course, on Brian's show, "Reliable Sources," which airs on Sundays at 11:00 a.m. Eastern right here on CNN. And we will be right back.

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[16:55:05] WHITFIELD: All right, before we go, a look at one of CNN's top ten heroes of 2016, a woman helping children in need.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Pick it up. Let's go.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: To me, America is like a nation of refugees, a nation of immigrants. That is the history of this country. That is what makes it different. That is what makes it great. That is what makes it unique.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All right, let's play some football.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I started a soccer team for refugees, and it grew into so much more.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: One, two, three.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Our name is a Fugee's family. The reason we are is Fugee's is because we play on refugees.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Ready. We are going headers. When you have a kid that fled their country, had horrible experience, comes to this strange country, the one thing that they understand, they get, is soccer.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Good morning.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Good morning.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A lot of the kids have had little or no formal education. So I started a school that would take care of their academic needs and would give them the opportunities that we all deserve.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You got them both right.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: When you see them, you can see how much they long this country and how appreciative they are to be here. Because they feel like they belong. They feel like they have a home here. When people have that, they integrate a lot better.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Wow. Fantastic, to vote for one of the top ten heroes, head to CNN.com/heroes.

I'm Fredricka Whitfield, thank you so much for spending part of your day with me this Sunday. The next hour of CNN NEWSROOM starts after this short break.

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