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Trump: Reports of Russian Interference are "Ridiculous"; CNN Heroes: An All-Star Tribute, Live at 8P ET; Will Fed Rate Decision Cool Stock Market Rally?; GOP Senators Raise Concerns Over Secretary of State Contender; Charleston Pastor: Congregation and Families Still Hurting. Aired 6-7p ET

Aired December 11, 2016 - 18:00   ET

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

POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: The group includes republicans Senators John McCain, and Lindsey Graham, along with democratic Senator Chuck Schumer, the incoming minority leader, and Senator Jack Reed, the top Armed Services Committee Democrat.

[18:00:04] In a joint statement, they warned, quote, "This cannot become a partisan issue. The stakes are too high for our country."

Senator McCain spelled out his concerns as well here. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), ARIZONA: Because it's clear the Russians interfered. Whether they intended to interfere to the degree that they were trying to elect a certain candidate, I think that's subject of investigation. But the facts are stubborn things. They did hack into this campaign and the Russians have interfered in a lot of other elections. The Russians have hacked into some of our most secret military information. The Russians have been active using as a tool as part of Vladimir Putin's ambition to region Russian prominence and dominance in some parts of the world.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: Meantime, President-elect Donald Trump does not believe the U.S. intelligence reports concluding that Russia did try to intervene to help his White House bid. Here's what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENT-ELECT: I think it's ridiculous. I think it's just another excuse. I don't believe it. And they have no idea if it's Russia or China or somebody. It could be somebody sitting in a bed some place. I mean, they have no idea.

CHRIS WALLACE, FOX NEWS ANCHOR: So, why would the CIA put out this story that the Russians wanted you to win?

TRUMP: I'm not sure they put it out. I think the Democrats are putting it out because they suffered one of the greatest defeats in the history of politics in this country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: CNN's Ryan Nobles is with me tonight outside of Trump Tower in New York.

So, what is expected from this bipartisan push?

RYAN NOBLES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Poppy, I think what is expected is a showdown. And those two sound bites you played right there demonstrate it perfectly. You've got a powerful group of senators, both Republican and Democrat, who believe there's real problem here with Russia's attempt to intervene in this election. And then, you've got a president-elect who believes there's no problem at all. And the incoming minority leader, Chuck Schumer, has said that he's not going to rest until there's a full investigation into this.

Listen to what he said this morning.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER (D), NEW YORK: The fact that the CIA and FBI disagree shows the need for a bipartisan investigation that gets to the bottom of this. The investigation should be tough, strong and bipartisan, and should have access to all materials, classified and not.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NOBLES: Now, leading Republicans like John McCain believe this is something that should benefit Republicans, too. He said if the Russians are trying to get involved in the United States elections, it's not that they prefer a particular party, they want to cause chaos and mess things up. If it's Republicans today, it could easily -- I'm sorry, if it's Democrats today, it could easily be Republicans down the road.

But as you showed, Poppy, the president-elect just does not think that there's a problem here, and this also raises questions about how he views Russia's role in the world and how that's going to impact that world when he becomes president-elect. This is poised to become a pretty big issue for both sides to deal with as we get closer to him being inaugurated as president.

HARLOW: And, you know, those warnings that the Democrats today, it could be Republicans being hacked tomorrow. That's what we heard from some prominent Republicans during the campaign, about this WikiLeaks emails, saying be careful to, you know, put so much weight on those. It could be us next.

Ryan Nobles reporting for us live tonight -- thank you very much.

In just 40 days, President-elect Donald Trump will take the oath of office.

Let's talk about it with our panel, Zeke Miller is with me. He's a political reporter for "TIME" Magazine. Kimberly Dozier joins us, CNN global affairs analyst and national security correspondent for "The Daily Beast". Jeffrey Lord is also with us, CNN political commentator, former political director for the Reagan White House and a Donald Trump supporter.

Thank you all for being here.

JEFFREY LORD, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Hello, Poppy.

HARLOW: Kimberly, first of all congratulations on your new gig with "The Daily Beast". So I could have you.

And let's jump right into this, because you argue that Trump has essentially -- I mean, in your words, Kim, declared war on leading intelligence agencies. Really?

KIMBERLY DOZIER, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Well, that is how some current and former officers of the intelligence community feel. There's been a real visceral response that starting back in the fall, he rejected the director of national intelligence's assessment. General James Clapper came out at the time, saying that they believed with high confidence or with confidence that Russia hacked the election or was trying to influence the election.

And now, he is responding to these anonymous quotes in "The New York Times" and "The Washington Post" and were able to match it at "The Daily Beast", that yes, the CIA believes the Republican National Committee was hacked and that information wasn't released because Russia wanted to throw the election towards Trump and rather than -- and to damage the Clinton campaign. And the response is a sort of revulsion that, you know, OK, you can have tough questions for us, but you don't believe us at all. Especially within the CIA, there's real shock.

[18:05:02] HARLOW: And I think, you know, disagreeing in private versus disagreeing in public is a whole another thing. I should note that Reince Priebus, the incoming chief of staff for the president- elect, did say on "Meet the Press" today, unequivocally, that the RNC was not hacked, but clearly those are big disagreements on that one.

Jeffrey Lord, to you, doesn't this put incoming CIA Director Mike Pompeo in quite a precarious situation that the president-elect apparently doesn't trust the veracity of the information coming from the CIA? What does he do when he's leading it?

LORD: Well, what you do is you replace the director of the CIA, which is in process, and the new head of the CIA will take charge and investigate things. And there's plenty of president for that.

HARLOW: That doesn't change the morale issue. That doesn't change what Kimberly said how the intelligence agents feel.

LORD: The new director can do that. I mean, you can go all the way back to the Bay of Pigs which was pressed on President Kennedy by the then director of the CIA, Allen Dulles, and, of course, it was a big failure. Allen Dulles was fired shortly thereafter, and a new director was brought in and the agency was revamped. So, there's nothing unusual here. I would, frankly, Poppy, you know,

whether it's Russians or some kid in a basement in Philadelphia hacking, or anybody else trying to influence an election, I would hope that the Senate, if they really want to get to the bottom of people interfering with elections, would investigate non-citizens voting in this country, showing up voting.

HARLOW: OK, let me jump in. Do you think that's real? Because what you're saying is really echoing what the president-elect said in his interview this weekend with Chris Wallace. You're saying whether it's Russian actors on behalf of the Kremlin, or whether it's a teenager in their basement in Philadelphia, let's get it. You know, do you really think there's an equal shot that it's a kid in his basement in Philadelphia or someone acting on behalf of the Kremlin?

LORD: Well, I think one of the hackers to somebody, whether it was Hillary or whomever, was done from some kid in Macedonia or some nitwit -- you know, Poppy, the bottom line is we don't know. We don't know.

HARLOW: But we do know what our intelligence officials, whom we trust, say.

LORD: Right, right.

HARLOW: They said back in October, Jeffrey Lord. They said back in October, that Russia did hack into affect the U.S. election. What's new is saying that there was an intent, some of these officials believe to tilt towards Trump.

Some are questioning whether they hack at all, what you heard John McCain and a number of Republicans saying, yes, this is bad.

LORD: I don't know, Poppy. Poppy, I don't know. All I'm saying is let's get to the facts.

But, I mean, let's be clear. I mean, I live here in Pennsylvania. Hillary Clinton lost Pennsylvania because she was Hillary Clinton. She didn't lose because it any Russians hacking in here. She lost because she didn't appeal to the working folks here in Pennsylvania.

DOZIER: Just to jump in.

HARLOW: Zeke, jump in. These are two different things, blaming the loss of an election or, you know, being just concerned that an aggressive foreign actor would have their thumb on the scale.

ZEKE MILLER, POLITICAL REPORTER, TIME MAGAZINE: That's exactly right, Poppy. Both of these things can be true. Hillary Clinton lost this election in part because she was a bad candidate and made some strategic errors and tactical errors with her campaign. But, also, the intelligence community believes that the Russian government or elements of the Russian government were involved in hacking U.S. political entities and some elements of the intelligence community believe that was designed to help Donald Trump. Both of those things can be true to Jeffrey Lord's point. I mean, the bigger issue is both the morale issue at the intelligence

community, but also he has, you know, a number of nominations pending or intended nominees from -- you know, to the director of the CIA, director of the national intelligence, to his secretaries of state, and attorney general. All of them are going to face questions about Russia's role here and they're going to be testified under oath in front of the U.S. Senate. And the odds of them getting confirmed, if they sort of buy into the Donald Trump narrative that none of this happened, dismissing, you know, element of the intelligence community's assessment here.

It's going to be a lot harder for them to get through, particularly given that the Republican majority right now is 52 seats. And we just saw to Republican senators saying this is a big issue for them. And that's going to be a big issue for Donald Trump.

HARLOW: Kimberly, let me get your take on this because something else that really stood out to me from the president-elect's interview is Chris Wallace, is Chris Wallace's question about these presidential daily briefings. And we know the president-elect right now is getting one a week instead of them daily. He defended that here.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: If something should change from this point, immediately call me. I'm available on one minute's notice. I don't have to be told -- you know, I'm a like a smart person. I don't have to be told the same thing and the same words every single day for the next eight years.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: Many smart presidents get daily briefings. What's your take given all the connections in the intelligence community? What's your assessment on it? I mean, is it not needed daily if the information if it's the same?

DOZIER: Well, there's a reason it's called a presidential daily brief. It's a chance for the CIA and the rest of the intelligence community to present what they think are the most pressing threats that have developed in the past 24 hours. And it does evolve every day. It's not the same thing.

So, what we're seeing is a rejection not just of business as usual, but he further said in that interview that, you know, he'll talk to the generals as opposed to talking to the intelligence community. I think what we're seeing is possibly the influence of former Defense Intelligence Agency director, retired General Mike Flynn, who is now his national security advisor, who really butted heads with the CIA, questioned their opinions on things.

But if Donald Trump isn't going to receive those briefings and is relying more on what he hears from the Pentagon, the question is, where is the check and balance? Because --

HARLOW: Well, to be clear -- DOZIER: -- the way it's designed is the Pentagon and intelligence

community have different opinions on things, and the president supposed to listen to both and weigh that.

HARLOW: And he's getting this. He's getting them weekly, not daily.

Jeffrey to you, President-elect Donald Trump back in 2012 when he was a businessman, not a politician, he criticized then sitting President Obama for exactly this. Let me read you that tweet. "Priorities while fundraising and campaigning on our dime, Obama has skipped over 50 percent of his intel briefings."

Now he's doing the same thing.

LORD: Right. Well, I mean, he's now the new president. I think he probably has a different set of judgments now that he's the new president, to be perfectly candid. I mean, he's absolutely correct. You don't need to be told the same thing every day. The vice president is reading the same briefs.

What you need is new information. If there's new information, he said, you know, I'm ready in a minute's notice. But just doing the same thing over and over and over again -- I can tell you someone worked in the White House, there is a sort of bureaucracy at work here, with everybody clamoring to get the president's attention on A, B, or C, under the assumption that what they got is the most important. That's not always the case and that's up to the president to decide.

HARLOW: There's bureaucracy in government, Jeffrey Lord? No.

(LAUGHTER)

LORD: I know. I know it's a shock, Poppy.

HARLOW: Thank you very much, guys.

LORD: My Christmas wish is to have less of it.

HARLOW: Thank you all very much. Zeke, Kimberly and Jeffrey Lord, we appreciate it.

All right. Let's have some fun. A star-studded television event today honoring every day heroes, making an incredible defense in our world tonight. Tonight, host Anderson Cooper and Kelly Ripa join me live on the red carpet.

You guys look smoking. We'll see you in a minute.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:16:05] HARLOW: Tonight is the 10th annual "CNN Heroes: An All Star Tribute". It's an evening honoring every day people who are changing the world in some pretty remarkable ways. Each week, this year, an incredible individual has been honored as a CNN hero. And tonight, based on your votes, one of these top ten heroes will be

chosen as CNN's Hero of the Year, receiving $100,000 to continue their life-changing work.

With less than two hours until show time, I want to get straight to tonight's co-hosts. Joining me from the red carpet, CNN's Anderson Cooper, joined this year for the first time by the very beautiful Kelly Ripa.

Kelly, let's begin with you, because you have presented three or four times. I know it's meant a lot to you. How did Anderson get you to share the gig with him tonight?

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: I begged her.

KELLY RIPA, CNN HEROES CO-HOST: I mean, anything he would ask of me I would do for him, obviously. He's one of -- Anderson is one of my personal heroes.

And I just find every year this show, because I've been watching it now for ten years, to be the most fulfilling thing that you can do is to watch this show. It really inspires you to be a better person. To be more active in your community, to either support these charities or to forge ahead and form your own and that's what these CNN heroes do. And that's why I couldn't say no. That's for sure.

HARLOW: It is every day heroes. And, you know, Anderson in our line of work, it's not often that you get to dedicate an entire night to great news and to beautiful things happening from our neighbors and doing things. We night not dedicate so much time to.

You hosted for ten years. Personally for you, what does it mean?

COOPER: Well, you know, I mean, this whole heroes really came about from CNN reporters out in field. And we would all -- you know, we'd meet. And you know this, you'd meet such an incredible people who don't necessarily fit into the story or telling, or what you're there for. But you -- you know, you constantly are running into just people who have seen in the community and don't have access to money or power, but decide to, you know, open up their homes to those in need or whatever it is.

And -- so, that's how heroes begin. There should be a vehicle to highlight the works of these every day people who are really changing the world. And so, it's just been a tremendous honor to be part of it for ten years. You know, we've not only given attention to people really deserving but it's not giving them large amounts of money but just giving them a global platform and they can grow their foundations and the work they're doing.

And even this year, not only is it live this year for a 10th anniversary. Not only we're honored to have Kelly co-hosting with me, but we also brought back five past CNN heroes. One of them will be voted by our viewers tonight and voting is open right now at CNNheroes.com to be the super hero of the year, and they will get additional $50,000 for their work. HARLOW: Not only $100,000 to the top hero but a super heroes as well.

Kelly, tell us a little bit about some of the people that we're all going to be introduced to tonight, these honorees. What are their stories like?

RIPA: We have -- I mean, there's so many stories of inspiration. People that are really finding the need in their communities where there are -- I mean, there's so many people that have started martial arts and physical fitness platforms for children and people with disabilities.

COOPER: People taking care of aging dogs, finding homes for dogs that can't adopted.

RIPA: We're actually going to have a dog that's up for adoption on the stage. There's so many stories like this. I want to echo what Anderson was saying before I personally and I know so many of my friends that have gotten involved with the CNN Heroes stories because we watched the show and we started supporting these organizations.

[18:20:02] HARLOW: Wow

RIPA: It really is always, to me, extraordinary. We get very competitive with each other seeing whose hero will win this year, you know? So, we always hope, if you're a presenting like I've been for the past few years, you always want your hero to be the winner.

HARLOW: So, on that point, Kelly, so, in case anyone missed it in the promos, your mother-in-law, not in the audience, but she will be watching because she credits Anderson a lot. She thinks he practically gave birth to these heroes.

RIPA: Well, we sat next to each other and we were on the sofa. It's the first CNN Heroes special. And we were both sobbing from the first hero to the end. From the -- I mean, the entire -- I mean, you're so inspired by these people, and she turned the man, she's got this beautiful Italian accent. And she goes, oh, Kelly, you must thank Anderson. I know he's your good friend, but he's bringing such light to these people.

And she really does -- I mean, fundamentally believe that Anderson did, in fact, give birth to the heroes, the CNN Heroes movement.

COOPER: Yes, which -- yes.

RIPA: But he does bring -- I mean, you are bringing so many stories of people that would not have a platform to have exposure like this. So --

COOPER: It's an honor.

HARLOW: Any insight? I'm going to run from the anchor desk over there. I'll be a little late tonight, guys, but I will be there. Any surprises coming on stage tonight, Anderson? COOPER: You know, it's live TV. So, you never know. We've got a

couple of surprises. We've got some musical performances that will be great. You never know what these heroes are going to say. That's the highlight of the night.

It's great to have celebrities coming out to present the awards but the focus is really on them.

HARLOW: And that's really the thing is, that these are people that it's not based on box office or how many records you sold. These are people that are just giving to people of need in their communities and worldwide. So, it's such -- it's a really feel good night.

COOPER: And it's all up to viewers to decide who is the CNN Hero of the Year, and tonight, also the Superhero of the Year.

HARLOW: And they can vote, Anderson. Where can you vote for the super hero?

COOPER: CNNheroes.com. Voting is still open up for that. So, people should definitely, yes, go online.

HARLOW: Kelly, waterproof mascara?

RIPA: Always. I made a big fatal mistake, I'm wearing false eyelashes for some reason. So, I don't -- I think they can wash away, I'm not sure.

COOPER: Why do you need false eyelashes?

HARLOW: Because they look amazing, Anderson, because we all wear them.

COOPER: It's amazing -- OK.

RIPA: He doesn't know what I look like. He doesn't even have any idea.

HARLOW: I walk into CNN with no makeup on and the security guards have no idea who I am. They are transformational. I tell you. Thank you, guys.

RIPA: They have no idea who I was tonight coming in here for rehearsal. None.

HARLOW: There you go.

All right, guys. See you later. Have a lot of fun.

COOPER: Thanks, Poppy.

HARLOW: Thank you so much.

RIPA: Bye, Poppy.

HARLOW: CNN's "All Star Tribute is tonight, 8:00 p.m. Eastern. Don't miss it. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:25:30] HARLOW: Now, this week's "Before the Bell". Here is Alison Kosik -- Alison.

ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Poppy.

It's a big week for Wall Street but everybody wants to know, will the post-election explosion in stock prices continue? The Dow is on cruise control, hitting record highs next week. The NASDAQ and the S&P 500 set new records as well.

But one big event may stand in the way of the red hot stock market. The Federal Reserve wraps up its two-day policy meeting on Wednesday. Investors put the chances of a rate hike at 95 percent. That's significantly higher than it was a month ago. A strong jobs report, solid GDP numbers, and a bunch of other positive economic signs make an increase all but certain.

More readings come out this week. We're going to get a look at retail sales and a report on consumer prices. Outside of Wall Street, Donald Trump is set to give a big speech on how he will step away from his businesses. Some early plans were leaked last week but we're going to get more details on Thursday -- Poppy.

HARLOW: We will indeed. Alison, thank you very much. We appreciate it.

Don't forget, the new CNN Money Stream app is here. It's your favorite business topic all in one feed. Every story, video and tweet handpicked for you. Download it now on your iPhone and you're Android.

We'll be back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARLOW: More U.S. troops are headed to Syria. Defense Secretary Ash Carter making that announcement this weekend at a security summit in the Persian Gulf. Carter said up to 200 additional troops will deploy to Syria, not directly to fight on the ground, but to train and help equip local forces as they work to push ISIS out of the city they claim as their capital.

I want to show you something else in Syria right now, a desperate mother clinging to her child. Her newborn baby as she evacuates the city of Aleppo. The baby girl was born just seven days ago in the middle of a war zone. And now, she's part of a flood of refugees. Rebel forces are losing ground fast as regime air strikes pound Aleppo.

The baby girl's shaken mother spoke with our CNN's Fred Pleitgen.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This is what rebel desperation looks like during the Aleppo nights, firing at jets in the skies, unable to stop them from dropping their deadly load.

And this is what the rebels' defeat looks like when daylight comes. Thousands of civilians fleeing the old town of Aleppo only hours after government forces took most of it back.

Among them, Najua (ph), with her seven children, one of them her baby Bilal (ph).

"When we left, there was a lot of shelling behind us, a lot of shooting in front of us, and the airplanes above us," she says. "We barely managed to get out."

Most seem weak and malnourished, some resting finally in safety in this former school. The smallest, a baby girl Nazal (ph) is only seven days old, born right as the battles were at their worst.

[18:30:01] It's truly remarkable, some of the scenes that we're witnessing here. Hundreds of people have already come across the border crossing between eastern and western Aleppo, and many of them are taking shelter in buildings like this one carrying only the very few possessions they could take as they fled.

Soldiers take us to the places they recaptured from opposition forces only hours before. We see Syrian troops evacuating weak and elderly, and rebel barricades showing just how intense the fighting was.

Just look at all the destruction here. We're actually in the old town of Aleppo right now. And this entire area, until a few days ago, was right on the front line. While this may not be the end of the opposition's fight in Aleppo, many of those fleeing describe the rebel's morale sinking and the harrowing conditions in the besieged area.

"We didn't have food and barely any bread," this man says.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): We were eight people. They would only give us two loaves of bread every two days. That was it for all of us.

PLEITGEN: While much of eastern Aleppo has been reduced to rubble, the one thing expanding was the cemeteries. This one ran out of space as the bodies kept coming. Now that much of eastern Aleppo has changed hands, Syrian soldiers plant their flag on the ruins of the place they've just conquered.

Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Aleppo.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARLOW: That's incredible reporting, Fred. Thank you very much for that. After the break, back to politics. The leading contender for the

country's next Secretary of State is raising eyebrows among even some leading Republican Senators. Why? His close business ties with Russia. We'll explain, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:36:01] HARLOW: President-elect Donald Trump is getting close to nominating a Secretary of State. A senior transition source tell CNN the man they're looking at, Rex Tillerson, is the likely and leading pick. Trump teasing a bit on Twitter earlier today, "Whether he choose him or not for 'State,' Rex Tillerson, the chairman and CEO of ExxonMobil, is a world class player and deal maker. Stay tuned!"

Senators, even those in Trump's own party, already questioning the potential pick, particularly because Tillerson has incredibly close ties through his business with Russia. Senator Marco Rubio tweeting earlier today, "Being a 'friend of Vladimir Putin' is not an attribute I'm hoping for in Secretary of State." Senator Lindsey Graham also speaking out, telling "The Washington Post," "I don't know Tillerson much at all but let's put it this way, if you received an award from the Kremlin, an Order of Friendship, then we're going have some talking. We'll have some questions. I don't want to prejudge the guy, but that's a bit unnerving."

Let's talk with our panel about all of it. Zeke Miller is back with me, political reporter for "TIME." Betsy Woodruff, politics reporter for "The Daily Beast," and CNN political commentator, Jeffrey Lord, a former Reagan White House political director and vocal Trump supporter.

Jeffrey, do you think Rex Tillerson is qualified to be Secretary of State? Would he be the best pick?

JEFFREY LORD, FORMER POLITICAL DIRECTOR FOR RONALD REAGAN: Well, I mean, that's the subjective judgment of the President-elect's, any president-elect. But, Poppy, one of the things that's going on here that doesn't really get mentioned a lot is we have a sort of sub rosa battle between the political class in this country and the private sector. And --

HARLOW: But I'm asking your assessment as someone who was the political director in the Reagan White House. You know what it takes --

LORD: Sure. Of course, he's qualified.

HARLOW: -- to be a good of Secretary of State.

LORD: Yes.

HARLOW: OK.

LORD: Yes, sure.

HARLOW: So what are his key qualifications? LORD: Sure. He's run an international business. He knows more

foreign leaders than most members of Congress. Absolutely, he's qualified for the job. The problem here, Poppy, is that -- I mean, they're saying now that his relationship with Vladimir Putin is suspect. Let's just remember that Secretary of State John Kerry has been --

HARLOW: I'm not saying that. Republican Senator Marco Rubio is saying that.

LORD: Well, I understand.

HARLOW: Republican Senator Lindsey Graham is calling it, quote, "unnerving."

LORD: I understand this. Did they support John Kerry for Secretary of State? I mean, this is a man who, when he was a young man, was quite clearly out there, very well known in my day, saying that communism was no longer a problem. He threw his medals over a fence in a protest against the Vietnam War. Did they vote for him for Secretary of State? I mean, I don't know the answer but I suspect, in the name of Senate collegiality, the answer was yes.

HARLOW: Zeke, let me ask --

LORD: You know, there's a double standard here.

HARLOW: Let me get some of the other folks in here. Because, Zeke, when you look at some of the business dealings in Russia that he's done while leading Exxon, they signed this massive deal in 2011, and the man running the Russian oil giant, Rosneft, which they signed it with, here is what he said. He essentially bragged about the valuation of his company soaring to $7 billion in five days, so what it shows us is that Exxon's deal helped Russia a lot. That's fine in business, right?

It's different when you then take off the business hat and you become Secretary of State because we know that the sanctions against Russia have really hurt Exxon. They've cost it a billion dollars according to regulatory filings and Rex Tillerson said, "We were excited to get back work in Russia." Can he completely take off the CEO hat and put on the diplomacy hat and one does not affect the other?

ZEKE MILLER, POLITICAL REPORTER, TIME: I mean, that certainly all remains to be seen. He hasn't officially been nominated yet. And, you know, always with Donald Trump, even, you know, while my sources close to, you know, the transition say, you know, that there's always a chance, until it's formally out there, that he could go in some other direction.

But, you know, assuming it's him, he is somebody who brings, obviously, a lot of business connections and experience in the business world. He's been at Exxon for 40 years, a lot of that time spent making deals overseas. That's something that makes him, you know, sort of -- Donald Trump sees a lot in common with him in that sense. [18:40:03] I mean, the way that Donald Trump approaches this, you

know, it's not personnel, it's policy. It's the personnel's performance. It's almost like casting Cabinet and he looked the part for Donald Trump. And so the question that Mr. Tillerson will have to answer -- the questions that he'll have to answer before the Republicans of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and the full Senate, will be, can he actually disassociate his business career from what he would do in government? There's no way for us to answer that. I mean, there are a lot of red flags, certainly, with that potential nomination. He could have great answers for him, but we don't know yet.

HARLOW: Betsy, I got one minute left, to you. I mean, how tough would his confirmation be? We've already got two Republicans questioning it.

BETSY WOODRUFF, POLITICS REPORTER, THE DAILY BEAST: It would be really tough. It'd be tough for him to get through the Senate Foreign Relations Committee given that there are some vocal critics of Putin on that committee.

I think it's likely that if Tillerson is nominated, his confirmation process will become sort of a proxy war within the Republican Party where we have sort of the new Trump wing of the Party pushing for much warmer relations with Russia while, at the same time, you have the John McCain/Lindsey Graham wing that emphasizes, you know, the many allegations of human rights abuses, that emphasizes deep frustration with his annexation of the Crimea. That's a massive tension in the GOP.

Even whether Tillerson is nominated or not, that tension isn't going to go away, and it's going to be a central fight within the Party for the next four years.

HARLOW: Betsy, Zeke, Jeffrey, thank you all very much. We appreciate it.

MILLER: Thanks.

LORD: Thanks.

HARLOW: Still to come, the pastor of the Charleston Church where nine parishioners were murdered because they were Black, that pastor speaks with CNN about the trial now under way.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REV. ERIC S.C. MANNING, PASTOR, MOTHER EMANUEL AME CHURCH: The sad part is, after taking nine lives, you find humor in it. There's something not right with that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

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[18:45:21] HARLOW: While court is adjourned for the weekend in the Charleston Church massacre trial, the horror and pain faced by parishioners of the Emanuel AME Church is ever present. Twenty-two- year-old Dylann Roof is standing trial for gunning down nine people, nine people who had welcomed him in to their church to pray with them. Roof will be back in court tomorrow morning. Our Polo Sandoval spoke with the pastor of the church this morning, and he joins me now.

Polo?

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Poppy, Reverend Eric Manning planned to stay silent during the trial of Dylann Roof out of respect for the families, but he said he felt the need to speak out most recently since this evidence began to surface during the trial itself to tell people here in Charleston and the rest of the world that he and his congregation are still hurting but they're doing okay.

And that is something that we say firsthand when they invited us into the sanctuary and mainly that room where that awful shooting took place last summer. There is that sense of togetherness there and even celebration, as people are coming together, particularly this time of year, to celebrate the memories of those nine victims.

Back to the pastor. I can tell you that the last few days have been very difficult and challenging for him. His goal here, his role, according to him, is to be the spiritual leader for the victims and the survivors and the families of these victims as they head to court. He told us what it was like as he sat in that courtroom on Friday with the families and watched Dylann Roof's confession tape.

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MANNING: I think realistically, from that particular perspective, it showed no remorse. The sad part is, after taking nine lives, you find humor in it. There's something not right with that. But, as I shared with so many others, being reminded that we wrestle not against flesh and blood, it's a spiritual warfare. And as I shared with someone else as well, that is just pure evil, and people saw it and reacted as such. So, yes.

SANDOVAL: That was difficult to watch and image, too, that was put out on Thursday of him walking in and walking out.

MANNING: Uh-hmm. Yes. It was.

SANDOVAL: Yes.

MANNING: I will be there with the families to provide spiritual support and like I said, just the presence, the ministerial presence, just being there. Very important to me.

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SANDOVAL: Reverend Manning saying that perhaps some of the hardest days could still be ahead for some of the survivors and the families of the victims when those family impact statements take place during the Dylann Roof trial. I could tell you here for the leaders of this church, though, Poppy, their focus is on the victims. Even today, they handed out some of these calendars to some church goers, each month including the story of the Emanuel nine and also the survivors that were in that church on that unholy day, Poppy.

HARLOW: Polo, thank you very much, for us in Charleston tonight.

Also tonight on CNN, honoring everyday heroes making a difference in our world. We will take you live to CNN Heroes' red carpet, next. You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

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[18:52:35] HARLOW: We are counting down to the "10TH ANNUAL CNN HEROES: ALL-STAR TRIBUTE," co-hosted by our own Anderson Cooper and Kelly Ripa. Our Deborah Feyerick joins me now live from the red carpet at the iconic American Museum of Natural History in New York City.

Deb, big night ahead.

DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It's a huge night. Kelly and Anderson are inside already along with a number of the heroes. We were talking to them, and what's so incredible is that they are so humble. The amazing work that they're doing, it is not a big deal to them but they know how deeply impactful the work they're doing is and the people that they're helping.

But we have stars and celebrities here, people walking the red line. I want to bring in Laurie Hernandez, one of the Olympic Five who just won "Dancing with the Stars." First of all, I have to ask you, how does "Dancing with the Stars" compare to the Olympics?

LAURIE HERNANDEZ, CNN HEROES CELEBRITY PRESENTER: Well, it's really hard to compare the two because they're totally different but they both mean so much to me, and it was an honor to be able to experience the both of them.

FEYERICK: So here you are at CNN heroes, a lot of people who are doing great work. It's your first time. Tell me a little bit about what you're anticipating.

HERNANDEZ: Well, I'm just excited to be in the presence of so many amazing people. It's, you know, ordinary people doing extraordinary things. And it's amazing to be a part of this, and I feel very inspired by all of them.

FEYERICK: You know, it's amazing because here, you inspired an entire nation, really. Everybody was rooting for you, everybody was cheering for you, and now you see people having impacts on other people's lives in a really meaningful way, as well, and just to be exposed to that. You know, if you could do anything after the Olympics, which you already have with "Dancing with the Stars," but what would you want to do? How would you like to help?

HERNANDEZ: Well, I mean, I think my goal would be just that, is to go out and inspire others, whether it's creating goals for themselves or keeping their minds open to new opportunities and new hobbies, whether it's a sport or just something on the side that they like to do. But I feel like everyone should stay open just because there's so many cool things to experience in life, and it's good to try at least all of them, you know?

FEYERICK: So is this your first time here at the Natural History Museum?

HERNANDEZ: Actually, yes.

(LAUGHTER)

HERNANDEZ: It's so cool.

FEYERICK: What do you think of the big dinosaurs over here?

HERNANDEZ: I like them. It kind of reminds me of history.

FEYERICK: So wait until you go and see the big wheel because that's pretty impressive as well. You are here. What are your plans? I mean, are you meeting anybody kind of cool that's been here so far?

HERNANDEZ: Well, actually, I have the opportunity to present an award today so that's going to be really exciting.

[18:55:00] FEYERICK: And in terms of what your plans are now, what are you going to be doing?

HERNANDEZ: Well, right now, I'm on the "Dancing with the Stars" tour so that's going to be exciting. That is until Valentine's Day. And I also have a book coming out in January.

FEYERICK: All right. Well, congratulations. Good luck to you. Thank you so much for inspiring an entire nation. And tonight, this will be a very inspiring ceremony, as well. So thanks so much and good luck with your presentation.

HERNANDEZ: Thank you.

FEYERICK: Of course. So, Poppy, really a star-studded night here at the Natural History Museum. And just really, the energy here is incredible, Poppy. I know you're going to be coming down here a little later on. And you talk to these people and you really feel inspired and you want to make a difference, Poppy.

HARLOW: Yes, absolutely. I think, Deb, you and I need to talk on Monday about how we're going to help remotely as much as these incredible people. Deb, thank you so much. You look stunning in red, my friend.

FEYERICK: Of course.

HARLOW: We'll see you in a little bit.

FEYERICK: Thank you.

HARLOW: "CNN HEROES: AN ALL-STAR TRIBUTE" just one hour away, do not miss it. It begins live tonight at 8:00 p.m. Eastern and Pacific. We will be right back.

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[18:59:50] HARLOW: You are live in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Poppy Harlow in New York. Tonight, President-elect Donald Trump is telling us exactly what he thinks of the CIA's assessment that Moscow meddled in the election with the intent to help Trump win. Here is the President-elect earlier today on Fox News.

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DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT-ELECT OF THE UNITED STATES: I think it's ridiculous. I think it's just another excuse. I don't believe it.

CHRIS WALLACE, FOX NEWS ANCHOR: Do you think that the CIA is trying to overturn the results of the elections?