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CNN Live Event/Special

CNN Special Report, First Daughter: Ivanka Trump; Sasha and Malia Obama's White House Childhood; Trump Administration Picks Under Fire; HHS Nominee Introduced Bill To Help Company He Invested In; Complaint; Wife Of Orlando Shooter Under Arrest; Gene Cernan, Last Astronaut On The Moon. Aired 9-10p ET

Aired January 16, 2017 - 21:00   ET

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

[21:00:08] ANNOUNCER: The following is a CNN Special Report.

GLORIA BORGER, CNN HOST: She is one of Donald Trump's closest confidants.

DONALD TRUMP JR., DONALD TRUMP'S SON: She has a great way of being able to talk to him. He trusts her.

IVANKA TRUMP, DONALD TRUMP'S DAUGHTER: My father --

BORGER: His most powerful protector.

I. TRUMP: There's no way I could be the person I am today if my father was a sexist.

BORGER: And an influential adviser.

TOM BARRACK, FAMILY FRIEND: The moments that she speaks he really listens.

BORGER: What do you think your father values the most about Ivanka?

ERIC TRUMP, DONALD TRUMP'S SON: Well, I think --

BORGER: She's an ambitious entrepreneur, a mother and master of her brand. Poised, polish and prepared.

BARRACK: She is hell on wheels. Totally focused and a great poker player.

BORGER: And now, she could become the most influential first daughter in American history.

KELLYANNE CONWAY, FORMER DONALD TRUMP'S CAMPAIGN MANAGER: I don't sense from Ivanka it's about power. It's about impact.

BORGER: Tonight, first daughter, Ivanka Trump.

When Donald Trump began his campaign for the presidency --

I. TRUMP: Ladies and gentlemen, a man who I have loved and respected my entire life, my father, Donald J. Trump. BORGER: -- it was his daughter, Ivanka, who introduced him. From the campaign trail --

I. TRUMP: He is not politically correct.

BORGER: -- to the Republican National Convention --

I. TRUMP: This is the moment and Donald Trump is the person to make America great again.

BORGER: -- to his transition to the White House. She's been at the center of his inner circle.

BORGER: I've heard that Ivanka's phone call is the phone call Donald Trump always takes.

CONWAY: Indeed. I've witnessed that.

BORGER: Kellyanne Conway was Trump's campaign manager and will be counselor to the president.

CONWAY: It's very clear they have a very special relationship that on its own is impenetrable.

BARRACK: You find that the moments that she speaks he really listens.

BORGER: Tom Barrack has been a close friend of the Trump family for years and is running the inauguration.

BARRACK: She's a special voice, because of course, she has no agenda, she has no skin in the game other than, "I'm giving you my point of view because I love you, dad, and I want you to be successful, and you need it. Listen to me."

I. TRUMP: Part of the reason that he respects me, and we have a great professional relationship in addition to a personal relationship is because I'm incredibly candid with my opinions, and I share them, solicited or otherwise.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT-ELECT OF THE UNITED STATES: Like to punch him in the face, I'll tell you.

BORGER: Even during some of his most controversial moments on the campaign trail, as she told me last July.

Your father has said that you and Melania had wanted him to be more presidential is the word that he uses. Do you believe that the nicknames he used for some people or the name-calling was a mistake? Is that what you're talking about when you say more presidential?

I. TRUMP: Well, once in a while he'll say things, and I'll tell him, he could probably do with ratcheting it back.

BORGER: And he listens?

I. TRUMP: Sometimes, and sometimes he doesn't, or sometimes he listens for limited periods of time.

BORGER: Ivanka has had an office just one floor below her father's in Trump Tower, where she's spent a lot of time as a little girl.

I. TRUMP: I'd go to his office and I'd hang out and I play at his knee while he was on the phone or conducting meetings, and I'd walk construction jobs with him on the weekends.

BORGER: That sounds like fun.

I. TRUMP: Yeah, I was definitely the only kindergartner who had been on a tractor. So it was, you know, it was just part of how he raised us.

BORGER: Being raised the daughter of Donald Trump looked a little different.

I. TRUMP: He wasn't always physically present, but he was always available. There was a pay phone at school. And on recess I'd go there, and I'd call collect to his office. I was probably, you know, 10 years old.

BORGER: You'd say, "Hi, this is Ivanka?"

I. TRUMP: Calling collect from the Chapin School and he'd put me on speakerphone that it didn't matter who was there. It was colleagues, it was titans of industry, it was heads of countries, he'd always take my call.

BORGER: High above the office, the penthouse was home.

I. TRUMP: This was my bed. A little small for me now.

[21:05:02] BORGER: Ivanka gave a tour of her childhood bedroom in the documentary, "Born Rich".

I. TRUMP: -- it's a little time capsule, if you notice by the Madonna clock, the Homage to Poison and Motley Crue.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And what floor are we on?

I. TRUMP: We are on the 68th floor, not a bad view to wake up to.

BORGER: And not a bad place to play as a kid, unless.

D. TRUMP JR.: She managed to kick a beach ball into a chandelier and it just blew up and got destroyed. And so, you know, my mother was, you know, pretty tough, Eastern European, disciplinary type. And so when she got home and saw the chandelier shattered on the floor, she went up to Ivanka, "What happened here?" And rather than fessing up, she was, "It was done. It was all done."

BORGER: When Ivanka was young, her parents divorced and their personal drama headlined the New York tabloids.

I. TRUMP: The divorce has been so public. Really added another element for me as a young child just because my friends knew about it. Then you're reading things, and you don't know what's true and what's not true.

BORGER: I read this story about you that when you heard about it, you asked your mom whether you were still going to be Ivanka Trump. Is that a true story?

I. TRUMP: Yeah. You know, I think I was digesting things and trying to understand as, you know, a 10 or 11-year-old would the implications to me and my life and my relationship with my parents individually and collectively.

BORGER: When her father married Marla Maples, Ivanka and her brothers chose to vacation in Aspen with their mother.

You and your brothers decided not to go to the wedding and you stayed in Aspen?

I. TRUMP: Well, going to Aspen was a tradition and was something that we had done our whole lives. And it was something that was very important to my mother, and it was a memory that we wanted to have again, and we wanted to have with her, especially at that time.

After the divorce, the children lived with their mother, but their father remained a strong influence.

D. TRUMP JR: When it came to work, that was something he always pushed at a very young age. If we wanted something, we had to earn it. It wasn't just, you know, go clean your room and you get whatever it was you wanted.

I. TRUMP: We don't really have the option not to work hard. It wouldn't be OK with him. He is not -- he's not very sort of laissez faire in the ideas of, well, sort of let them run free and, you know, spoil them and hopefully that will turn out right.

BORGER: Their mother, Ivana was just as tough as their father.

E. TRUMP: He'd travel overseas with her and, you know, she'd be maybe in first class and we'd be in coach. And, you know, it was kind of her way to trying to avoid spoiling children like otherwise by any other standard and spoil.

BARRACK: I see a lot of Ivana in Ivanka. Ivana was an athlete. She was determined. She was committed. She was focused. She had integrity. She had unbelievable perseverance. She was always prepared.

BORGER: They were not only taught to work hard, they had to win.

EMILY JANE FOX, WRITER, VANITY FAIR: Donald would hit their ski poles out from his own children in order to beat them down the mountain.

BORGER: Emily Jane Fox is a writer for Vanity Fair and a CNN contributor. FOX: It was, "I'm going to beat my own children, because winning matters that much. Is that the model that you grow up with? You're growing up with a win at all cost attitude for sure."

BORGER: Coming up, Ivanka meets her match.

Did she fall for him?

MAGGIE CORDISH, IVANKA TRUMP'S FRIEND: I think she knew right away.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[21:12:13] BORGER: It was 2007, Ivanka Trump had just met Jared Kushner.

CORDISH: She called me up, and she said, "I met a guy. We're going to a party. Get dressed."

BORGER: Maggie Cordish has been a close friend of Ivanka's for nearly 20 years.

CORDISH: And there was a clear connection. I know it's just -- it was very obvious, I mean, sort of the rest of the party dropped away, and they were very focused on each other and.

BORGER: Did she fall for him?

CORDISH: She fell for him. I think she knew right away.

BORGER: When it was time to introduce Jared to her father, Ivanka was nervous.

I. TRUMP: I was too smart to bring home a date or a boyfriend.

BORGER: There's a little intimidating.

I. TRUMP: I was not going to subject boyfriends to the scrutiny of my father or mother for that matter, unless I was 100 percent sure.

BORGER: With Jared, Ivanka was 100 percent sure.

I. TRUMP: I remember spying on the lunch that my husband and my father had in Trump Tower.

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: How did you spy on it?

I. TRUMP: I was hiding around columns, there were tremendous amounts of hand gestures. I didn't know if this was good or bad. I was, you know, obviously when you love somebody so much you hope that the people in your lives that you love, love one another, so.

COOPER: Do you remember that?

D. TRUMP: I do, I do. She's very happy with Jared, and fantastic.

BORGER: In Jared, Ivanka found a natural connection. They both grew up heirs to real estate empires, run by powerful and controversial fathers, and both were executives in their family businesses.

E. TRUMP: They really created force to be reckoned with and they spend a lot of time thinking, strategizing, planning. They really feed off to each other. Their personalities truly, truly feed off each other.

BORGER: Ivanka and Jared married in 2009, at Trump National Golf Club in New Jersey. Ivanka converted to Judaism, practicing in the orthodox Jewish traditions that Jared grew up with and observes.

D. TRUMP JR.: It was, you know, something that meant a lot for her, but I think it also shows how seriously she took, you know, the relationship with Jared. And that was something that was, you know, obviously a very big deal for him.

BORGER: In March 2016 and in the middle of her father's presidential campaign, Ivanka and Jared welcomed their third child, Theodore James. Brother to Arabella and Joseph.

CORDISH: She's a wonderful mother. She is fierce and devoted. She is up with them early every single morning, giving them breakfast and being with them. And then, you know, putting them to bed.

D. TRUMP JR.: For myself, as a father of five young kids, it's really difficult. I mean it's really difficult work wise. It was even more difficult on a campaign, where information every five minutes, that's an up and down cycle, right --

[21:15:10] BORGER: And how does she do that?

D. TRUMP JR.: You know, honestly, I think, you know, the conversion to Judaism is a big part of it, because, you know, observing the Sabbath. From Friday night to Saturday night it's, you know, there's no phones, there's no computers. And I think that was actually probably very helpful.

BORGER: Motherhood was part of what inspired Ivanka to launch a lifestyle brand aimed at empowering women. Its mission, the company says, is to inspire women to create the lives they want to live.

I. TRUMP: I want my daughter, Arabella, to grow up thinking that the phrase working woman sounds as odd and superficial and forced as the phrase working man.

FOX: She launched a portion of her website dedicated to many kinds of tips that you can give working women, whether that's what do I wear to work in winter. How should I ask for a raise?

BORGER: The brand includes Ivanka Trump apparel, handbags, shoes and accessories. And when she wasn't running her own business, she was an executive vice president at the Trump Organization.

I. TRUMP: I actually knew from when I was a little girl that I wanted to go into real estate. I went to Wharton, I majored in real estate and finance. I knew that real estate was what I wanted to do.

BORGER: But her father actually encouraged her to consider a different career direction.

I. TRUMP: He'd say, are you sure you don't want to try this? Are you sure you don't want to try that? He always said to us, you have to do what you love, and you'll never succeed, you'll never be able to compete at the highest level if you don't deeply love what it is that you do.

BORGER: What was she like when she was a young, working career woman, just out of college?

CORDISH: She was serious. She was driven. We were at a girls' weekend, and I woke up, and she was just gone. You know, she had slipped out to go to New Jersey with her father to look at some job site, quintessential Ivanka. I mean that's where her focus was and that's where her attention was.

BORGER: She joined her father as a co-host on "The Apprentice".

I. TRUMP: What exactly did he say to you?

D. TRUMP: Wait, wait, wait, Ivanka, wait.

BORGER: And was negotiating his most important deals, like the Doral Golf Resort in Miami and the old post office in Washington, D.C.

BARRACK: She is hell on wheels. No emotion. But totally focused and a great poker player.

BORGER: Very different from her father, and very much her own woman.

MICHAEL ASHNER, REAL ESTATE EXECUTIVE: She's an excellent businesswoman. She's the real deal.

BORGER: Michael Ashner is a real estate executive who sold the Doral property to the Trumps and negotiated the deal with Ivanka.

ASHNER: Real estate people can be very volatile. And at every moment, she brought the tension down. She was identified what the issue is. How do we talk about it? It was superb. It was really controlling the room.

E. TRUMP: Ivanka and I worked very, very closely on it. And you have different people who are really good at certain elements in the deal. And Ivanka went and she found a deal and she worked her heart out and she got the deal closed.

BORGER: Coming up, closing deals in the White House.

What do you think your father values the most about Ivanka?

E. TRUMP: Well, I think --

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[21:22:34] BORGER: It was 2016, midday, in a conference room in Trump Tower. CONWAY: We were having lunch on an entirely different topic before I joined the campaign.

BORGER: Ivanka and Jared were meeting with Kellyanne Conway when Jared asked her, "What makes a good vice president?"

CONWAY: And I said to him, you know Jared, the last couple of Republicans have chosen someone they thought would really excite the base. And I pointed at his father-in-law who was beyond the glass in the atrium, and I said, "This year, we have all the excitement we need. We have all the excitement we need right there."

BORGER: As the convention approached, the list was down to three names, two outspoken candidates and the more reserved, Mike Pence.

CONWAY: And so I think Ivanka Trump was in a very unique position to give her father a voice in choosing a vice presidential running mate, because she knows what Donald Trump expects and how he works best with what types of leaders and support system around him.

BORGER: When her father was torn between candidates, Ivanka, Jared and her brothers arranged to take a last-minute flight to Indiana to be by their father's side at a breakfast with Mike Pence. Soon after, Pence got the nod. And days later, Trump himself accepted the Republican nomination.

I. TRUMP: As president, my father will take on the bold and worthy fights. He will be unafraid to set lofty goals, and he will be relentless in his determination to achieve them.

Thank you all so much.

BORGER: Ivanka became one of her father's strongest advocates but it wasn't always easy. Trump's rough edges can conflict with his daughter's carefully curated brand. So Ivanka steered clear of policy, except when it involved her agenda.

I. TRUMP: Safe, affordable, high-quality child care should not be the luxury of a fortunate few.

BORGER: Like child care, paid maternity leave and equal pay.

E. TRUMP: And these are things that she's been fighting for a very, very long time.

I. TRUMP: We needed to change the dialogue.

E. TRUMP: She's created an entire business, really, surrounding that, you know, women that work, you know, that empowerment movement.

BORGER: And when we spoke in July, she defended her father against criticism over his treatment of women.

I. TRUMP: He's absolutely not a sexist. There's no way I could be the person I am today if my father was a sexist. I would not be one of his senior-most executives. [21:25:01] And I would not be working shoulder to shoulder with my brothers. I would be working for my brothers, if at all.

FOX: Oftentimes, you would hear people say if Ivanka came from Donald Trump, he must have done something right. Ivanka was, really, just a spoonful of sugar for the Trump campaign. She was successful, and talented, and bright, and really brought out what would be the best in Donald Trump.

BORGER: Do you think she had also become part of his political antenna in a way?

CONWAY: Yes. In my view, Ivanka Trump is, has, and will continue to be part of her father's political antenna.

In Washington, D.C., they'll say, "All right, who's affected here? Who do we owe something to? What special interests has lobbied us?" And I find Ivanka to be some days, much more inclusive in her thinking. She is somebody who says, "Well, who's not included in the messaging and will they, in fact, still excluded?"

BORGER: Ivanka has brought unexpected visitors to Trump Tower like climate change activist, Leonardo DiCaprio and former vice president, Al Gore.

CONWAY: She brings a certain, and not just balance the equilibrium, but also a certain non-hyperpartisan perspective.

BORGER: She's independent?

CONWAY: She's an independent who thinks very passionately about the issues.

BORGER: Ivanka's husband, Jared, became one of Trump's closest confidants and political advisors during the campaign, leading to his appointment as senior advisor in the White House.

E. TRUMP: He calls the counter middle (ph). He's always been a straight shooter. He's always been incredibly pragmatic. He's effective. He's really become one of the main voices in, you know, our father's life.

D. TRUMP JR.: He knows, you know, how to speak to my father. I think he knows how to get his point across very effectively.

UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: Tell us how the transition is going.

BARRACK: He became who was what was really needed, which was a buffer between new people coming into Donald's life who had a program, a plan or a project. Some of which worked, and some of which didn't work, the old people in his life who were loyalists but maybe didn't have those tools in their toolkit.

BORGER: While Jared is taking a coveted spot inside the west wing, Ivanka has decided not to take an office there, at least not yet. Instead, she's working on a child care proposal behind the scenes and getting her family settled in the Tony Kalorama Neighborhood in Washington.

How would she be most helpful if you were to kind of take a, say, this is where I think Ivanka would most help Donald Trump.

D. TRUMP JR.: Well, I there's the Donald Trump that I now as a son. And so I think if she can sort of show some of the softer side of him and be able to bridge some of those gaps, I think it will go a long way towards his efficacy in getting things that he wants done, done.

BORGER: Though she's stepping away from the Trump Organization and her own brand, Ivanka will likely face constant questions about her possible conflicts of interest, like marketing the dress she wore at the Republican convention.

DOUGLAS BRINKLEY, CNN PRESIDENTIAL HISTORIAN: Well, I think that idea of conflict of interest is going to hound her. And that she meets with somebody who runs one of the Trump hotels after that same day she was in the White House, people are going to say it's a conflict. That's going to happen.

The key to the Trump Enterprise is they don't think in terms per se of conflict of interest. They think of legal and illegal. They think of winning and losing.

BORGER: With her father winning the White House, Ivanka Trump is on target to become the most influential first daughter ever.

CONWAY: Ivanka Trump certainly is, you know, at 35, she's and as a successful business woman twice in real estate and development and certainly in her own brand. I think she'd be very powerful. But again, I don't sense from Ivanka it's about power. It's about impact.

BORGER: And it's about the family protecting and enhancing the newest brand, the Trump presidency.

E. TRUMP: We value family, especially in our world. And I think, you know, for years, we've always heard, you know, real estate is one of those cutthroat industries in the world. Nothing compared to politics. It's nothing compared to politics.

And then I think when you go through that and you live through it, I think quite frankly, you become a closer family than ever before. They are the closest people in your life. They are the people who will look out for you when others might have conflicting interests, and that's very, very special. And I think we all lend (ph) that in some certain way, and Ivanka will lend (ph) that in a very big way.

D. TRUMP JR: She has a great way of being able to talk to him. He trusts her. You know, she's proven herself time and time again in business. And whatever she decides to do in Washington, you know, if there is a role for her then, I'm sure it will be similar to that. But that's really up to her.

COOPER: And good evening again. You've just been watching the CNN Special Report, "First Daughter: Ivanka Trump."

Welcome to "360" here in Washington. Joining us now, the voice of this special, Chief Political Analyst, Gloria Borger.

[21:30:00] In terms of Ivanka Trump, I mean, she doesn't have an actual official title, correct, in the, you know --

BORGER: No, not yet.

COOPER: -- in the White House. But, but clearly, she has an important role for Donald Trump.

[21:30:02] I mean, she doesn't have an actual official title, correct? In the White House.

BORGER: No not yet.

COOPER: But clearly, she has an important role for Donald Trump. I mean she's somebody who has his ear and is a very, is a major adviser.

BORGER: Right. And we don't know if she's going to have an office in the West Wing. She's decided at least now, let Jared go work there, but eventually whether she's inside the White House, Anderson, or remains outside the White House, she is going to be her father's gut check. There's no doubt about it.

He leans on her. He listens to her. She offers her advice freely. They don't always agree, as she said, in the piece. But I think she will always be there when he, when he wants somebody to say, what do you think about this? Because she is so loyal, and she has no other agenda as family members are. That is what he thinks is so important.

COOPER: Well, and obviously, he prizes loyalty. We've seen that before you.

BORGER: Yup.

COOPER: Some have been critical of the role, you know, Jared Kushner, Ivanka Trump play, I mean, why shouldn't a president have people who he feels are loyal to him and who are more loyal than his kids? I mean other people, Bill Clinton, you know, leaned on Hillary Clinton to do health care.

BORGER: That's right. And Ronald Reagan leaned on Nancy Reagan. But, if you recall, there were an awful lot of problems inside the White House, because people went to Nancy Reagan to get to the president. And they didn't want to get on Nancy Reagan's bad side. So if you're in a meeting and you are the White House Chief Of Staff Reince Priebus or you're with Jared Kushner or you're with Ivanka Trump and the president, it's very difficult to disagree some would say. Because they are first among equals, and I think this can cause a problem in the White House.

Ivanka for now, though, is backing off, dealing with her issues behind the scenes. She's dealing with people behind us on Capitol Hill about child care, tax credits and her issues, but on a personal level, I think she will be one of the last voices the president listens to when he needs to make decisions.

COOPER: Gloria Borger, thank you very much --

BORGER: Sure.

COOPER: -- for staying with Ivanka Trump. From one upcoming first daughter to the two who are now leaving, coming up next, a look back at Sasha and Malia's Obama time in the White House and where they go from her. And a major development in the wake of the Orlando night club mass killings, like police have attacked the attacker's widow.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[21:36:07] COOPER: Well, Ivanka Trump will soon be a very different kind of first daughter, no doubt about it. We'll be watching her work with her dad talking about her policy positions, reporting where she stands in the competition for the president's time. It's a sharp contrast to how we saw the outgoing first daughters which certainly makes sense. Eight years ago, Sasha and Malia Obama were still very young for policy-making. More now from our Randi Kaye on that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIO)

SASHA OBAMA, DAUGTHER OF BARACK OBAMA: Daddy, what city are you in?

RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: They were just 7 and 10. Two little girls from Chicago who captured the nation's heart in a instant. Sasha and Malia Obama were officially introduced at the 2008 Democratic National Convention.

S. OBAMA: I love you, daddy.

KAYE: And on election night, they were at their father's side celebrating. With their move to Washington, D.C., the Obama girls became the youngest children to live in the White House in decades.

MICHELLE OBAMA, FIRST LADY OF THE UNITED STATES: I joke that my first job is going to be mom in chief. Because with little kids, you know, I have to make sure that their feet are on the ground.

KAYE: Sasha and Malia attended Sidwell Friends School. And their parents insisted they do their own homework, make their own bed and pick up after their puppy Beau. There were always strict rules.

BARACK OBAMA, (D) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We don't let them watch T.V. or use the computer except to do their homework during the week.

KAYE: At the 2009 inauguration, Sasha signalled her approval. Years later, in 2013, there was the yawn seen around the world, Sasha caught on camera during her father's second inaugural speech.

B. OBAMA: I, Barack Hussein Obama, do solemnly swear --

KAYE: After he took the official oath of office that year camera microphones picked up Sasha telling her dad, "Good job. You didn't mess up." Older sister Malia liked to needle her dad, too, in one case, giving him advice about how to greet her friends. MALIA OBAMA, DAUGTHER OF BARACK OBAMA: He's like hi, and he shook her

hand, and I was like, you know, daddy, you really don't shake, you know, kids' hands that much.

KAYE: Over the years, the girls enjoyed the privileges that came along with being first daughters. Flying on Air Force One. Front row seats for selfies at inaugural parades and singing Christmas carols with Justin Bieber and other celebrities. There were also trips around the world. London and Milan. And China. In South Africa, they visited Nelson Mandela. The girls are now 15 and 18. Malia got her driver's license after being taught how to drive by the secret service. There was even talk about her dating.

B. OBAMA: Dates, that's fine because she's, you know, she got secret service protection.

KAYE: Malia has plans to attend Harvard University. For younger sister, Sasha will finish out high school at Sidwell Friends. Their dad paid tribute to them in his final public speech in Chicago.

B. OBAMA: Of all that I have done in my life. I am most proud to be your dad.

KAYE: Randi Kaye, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: Two young women we have watched become young women. Perspective now from CNN presidential historian Douglas Brinkley along with our Dana Bash. I mean, Doug, the Obama daughters spent their childhoods growing up in the White House and as much as the press tries to give them space, it's still an enormous pressure.

DOUGLAS BRINKLEY, CNN PRESIDENTIAL HISTORIAN: Yeah absolutely, even though they were born in Chicago, it's really not their hometown, Washington, D.C. is. In some ways this going to continue to be the first family staying here in Colorama (ph) area. So, you know, Sasha will be continuing to go to school here. So this is all they know and imagine, a childhood with Secret Service watching everything you do whether you're in the tree house in the White House or whether you were, you know, wandering the lawn or on a date, someone was watching you.

COOPER: It was an interesting detail, the Secret Service teaching her how to drive.

DANA BASH, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yeah.

BRINKLEY: When they called her radiance, the Secret Service. That was her nickname. I thought that was one of the better nicknames the Secret Service has ever given to someone, because she so radiant when you see her.

[21:40:07] COOPER: It is -- you know, I think I saw Michelle Obama talking to Oprah saying that she didn't allow the kids to complain about being in the White House at their age, because it's such an extraordinary experience.

BASH: Yeah. Absolutely. And look, its one thing to say that and to have that rule. But neither of you have this experience. I do, I was a teenage girl. And it's hard enough without the cameras on you. You know, we saw Amy Carter, we saw Chelsea Clinton and now, you know, the Obama daughters go through this and, you now, go through those tough years, never mind some of the transformation, but also just the -- the way that girls and boys, but particularly girls are so, you know, upset about everything that goes on and to have the spotlight on you is pretty remarkable and to watch the way they have done so well, and we don't know what goes on behind closed doors. But the fact that they haven't last job (ph), that they haven't rebelled (ph) in a way -- I know I did as a teenager, maybe you guys are too is really remarkable.

COOPER: Well also, I mean, you think about the social media --

BASH: Yeah.

COOPER: -- for kids now which is such a huge difference than my generation. And that they were able to avoid, you know, some sort of social media disaster of, you know, Instagram or Twitter or whatever.

BASH: That's so true.

BRINKLEY: Barack and Michelle Obama are amazing parents. I think one of the finest things they did was showing America how to raise kids in such a difficult circumstance. I mean, they're a beloved first family. That's going to continue. We'll have to see -- you know, they never seem to have the angst to their parents. Amy Carter used to (inaudible) Jimmy Carter --

BASH: Yeah.

BRINKLEY: -- and she turned more to the left and Maureen Reagan and some of Ronald Reagan's kids were really kind of that war, loggerheads, we never seen or felt any of that. We'll have to see --

COOPER: When you think about it, it's just one of the things, you know, both for President Obama but also for President-elect Trump, you know, even people who disagree with Donald Trump even during the campaigns would point to his kids as being, you know, amazing representatives of him and the family.

BRINKLEY: I thought that clip of you they just showed on the documentary of Ivanka when you were interviewing Trump and the Trump family was one of Donald Trump's better moments.

BASH: No question.

BRINKLEY: Unbelievable. Because he kind of was quiet --

COOPER: Right.

BRINKLEY: -- and stayed back a little and let the family dynamic play out, and I thought that really gave him a bounce. BASH: And yeah, look, with all politicians, particularly presidents, since they are, you know, in our living rooms every day, the fact that they have families make them relatable, when they have families who are seemingly successful and sweet and, you know, people who we look up to and want our daughters and sons to be like, it's a good thing. These people are human beings. And the fact that, you know, we saw that documentary from Gloria on Ivanka and we're talking about Barack and Michelle Obama's kids is a good reminder.

COOPER: And very nice that the George W. Bush's daughters --

BASH: That was so real (ph).

COOPER: wrote that letter to Sasha and Malia for making an adjustment which is going to be surreal adjustment to suddenly being outside the bubble for the first time in their lives. Dana, thanks, Doug Brinkley as well. Coming up. Complaints filed against Steve Mnuchin, Trump's pick for treasury secretary, alleging he once owned a bank that may have discriminated against minorities. We're looking at those allegations. He's not the only Trump administration pick now under fire.

And later, the wife of the Orlando night club shooter has been arrested. What did she know about the killings? Details ahead.

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[21:47:45] COOPER: Well, just days before he's to be sworn in as president, Donald Trump's choices for his administration are under fire. CNN has reviewed House records that showed Trump pick for Health and Human Services Secretary Congressman Tom Price bought shares in a medical device manufacturer then days later introduced legislation that would have benefited that company. After Price introduced the bill that company is political action committee donated to Price's re-election campaign.

Now spokesman for Price who should point out said any effort to make a connection between those two facts is false then it was a broken who made that purchase without Price's knowledge.

Meanwhile, Monica Crowley is bowing out for appointment to a senior communications role that Trump administration after CNN uncovered multiple instances of plagiarism in her book, columns in PhD dissertation. Now the questions about Trump's pick for treasury secretary, former Goldman Sachs partner Steve Mnuchin, there are allegations that he ran a bank in California that only wanted white customers. Mnuchin's confirmation is set for Thursday. On Wednesday, Senate Democrats tell CNN they plant to have what they call a shadow hearing about Mnuchin's nomination calling witnesses who say his bank did them wrong. CNN Senior Investigator Correspondent Drew Griffin tonight reports.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DREW GRIFFIN, CNN SENIOR INVESTIGATOR CORRESPONDENT: Two California advocacy groups have filed a complaint with the federal government, alleging the bank once owned by Steve Mnuchin, Donald Trump's pick for treasury secretary discriminated against minorities. The complaint is based on its own analysis, alleging OneWest under Mnuchin's leadership engaged in redlining, avoiding doing business in Los Angeles' minority communities.

PAULINA GONZALEZ, EXEC. DIRECTOR, CALIFORNIA REINVESTMENT COALITION: They had zero branches in African-American communities and in a county like Los Angeles County, that's really seems impossible, doesn't it?

GRIFFIN: Paulina Gonzales of California Reinvestment Coalition says the argument Mnuchin was involved in redlining goes like this. In 2009, Mnuchin took over a failing California bank and gave it a new name, OneWest. The bank came with dozens of bank braches spread across Southern California, and when you put those braches on the map, like the advocacy groups did, you will notice major gaps where the branches are not located. These red dots represent bank branches. They are located where white people live and very few blacks, Latinos or Asians.

[21:50:03] GONZALEZ: We saw that between 2014, 2015, for example, they made two loans to African-Americans. And if you look at amp of their branches they basically do not have branches in communities of color.

GRIFFIN: If you think that sounds low, it is precisely what the government reported from its database called the Federal Home Mortgage Disclosure Act. Gonzalez' study revealed 83 percent of the banks mortgage lending went to whites. Far more the group says than the industry average. And less than 2 percent of their loans went to blacks. Far less than industry average.

Sherri Jackson has been a real estate agent in downtown Los Angeles for three decades. She says met Steve Mnuchin in 2014, said she even tried to pressure him to do more business with minorities. But said she got nowhere.

SHERRI JACKSON, STATE ALLIANCE FOR URBAN CHANGE: I met him, I met there. I've seen what's been going on. I've seen what the bank has done. It's very clear that this bank was doing.

GRIFFIN: Like other nominated Trump cabinet secretaries, Steve Mnuchin is relying on transition officials to defend him against claims like this, but in this case, the claims have already gone nowhere. Similar complaints filed with Federal bank regulators have gotten little of any attention. And this new complained filed with the Department of Housing and Urban Development has also gotten an acknowledgement from HUD, that all complaints are looked into but potentially nothing more.

A Trump transition spokesperson says there's a good reason these latest redlining allegations are going nowhere. They aren't true. A spokesperson says, Mnuchin bought a bank that was already had branches in place. Mnuchin didn't build them, he bought them. And he bought them for one reason and he knew he could make money on them. His supporting saying it was all business, had nothing to do with race, redlining or denying any minority group access to banking, it had to do with making good business decisions. Precisely says the transition official why Steve Mnuchin is Trump's pick to run the Department of Treasury. Drew Griffin, CNN, Atlanta.

COOPER: Well, coming up, her husband committed the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history. Now she herself is under arrest. What we know about the wife of the Pulse nightclub shooter, next.

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[21:51:22] COOPER: An update tonight on an unforgettable tragedy. Seven months ago there was heart break in Orlando. Gunman open fire inside Pulse nightclub killing 49 people, injuring dozens more. The gunman was killed. Now his wife is under arrest. Our justice correspondent Pamela Brown has details.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh my god.

PALEMA BROWN, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Tonight, Noor Salman, the widowed wife of the man responsible for the deadly rampage in Orlando's Pulse nightclub is in federal custody. Facing charges of obstruction of justice and aiding and abetting her husband's attempted material support to ISIS. Salman's family in this San Francisco area home with drawn curtain and closed doors refuse to comment.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Can you tell me if this is where it happened?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No moment.

BROWN: A law enforcement official tells CNN authorities believe Salman knowingly and willingly obstructed the investigation into the shooting.

LORETTA LYNCH, ATTORNEY GENERAL: We said from the beginning, we were going to look at every aspect of this case, of every aspect of this shooter's life, to determine not just why did he take these actions, but who else knew about them? Was anyone else involved, is there any other accountability that needs to be had here in this case.

BROWN: Law enforcement sources allege weeks before the attack, the shooter made sure his wife had access to their bank account and added her name to an important documents like his insurance policy. He also bought his wife an expensive piece of jewelry.

According to officials in the middle of the three hour massacre, the deadliest shooting in U.S. history that took the lives of 49 people, the two exchanged texts. After, we asked her if she had seen what was happening. Salman allegedly also called her husband multiple times after news broke of the shooting.

Salman also allegedly told the investigators her husband was angry when he left their Ft. Pierce home the night of the attack and carried with him a bag full of guns. She claimed she pleaded with him not to leave. Grabbing him by the arm. She maintained she did not know his specific plans.

Salman talked to the New York Times in November about the horrific attack saying, "I was unaware of everything, I don't condone what he's done. I am very sorry for what has happened. He's hurt a lot of people." She told investigators her husband was abusive toward her. But according to a law enforcement official, evidence will show Salman was complicit of her own free will in her husband's actions. Today, Salman's neighbors were shocked at her arrest.

GLAUBER FRANCIE, SALMAN FAMILY NEIGHBOR: All the blinds are closed all the time, so we don't see what happens there. I'm surprised to know she was there. So, it's kind of weird.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: Noor Salman's attorney released a statement today after her arrest saying "Noor Salman had no foreknowledge nor could she predict what Omar Mateen intended to do that tragic night. Noor has told her story of abuse at his hands. We believe it is misguided and wrong to prosecute her. And it dishonors the memories of the victims to punish an innocent person. Salman will have her first appearance tomorrow morning in California, Anderson?

COOPER: Pam Brown thanks for that.

Finally, it is a waning moon tonight. Perhaps that is fitting, in some ways a full moon in all its beauty and familiarity and seeming closeness would remind us of a wish unfulfilled for Gene Cernan. Apollo 10 and 17, astronaut, Gene Cernan who died today at the age of 82. He wished by now the moon would be a regular destination as it closest it looks on a clear night. And if he had his way, we may not be remembering him at all tonight. (Inaudible) the same light as Neil Armstrong, the first person to walk on the moon, that's because of Captain Cernan had his wish, he would not be famous for what he is for being the last person to walk on the moon nearly four and a half decades ago. By now, he'd just be one of many, part of the long and growing list of men and women to travel there and beyond and perhaps one day soon he will.

Our thoughts are with him, his family, and his friends. That does it for us. Thanks for watching. CNN Tonight with Don Lemon starts now.