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Natanyahu Summons U.S. Ambassador; Interview With South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham; Russian Military Plane Crashed In Sochi; Donald Trump To Dissolve Charitable Foundation; Top 10 of 2016; Presidential Transition Reactions; Earthquake in Chile; Weather Forecast; Pope Francis' Christmas Address; Ailing Queen Elizabeth II Misses Christmas Church Service; J.K. Rowling's Christmas Message; Netanyahu Summons U.S. Ambassador. Aired 12-1p ET

Aired December 25, 2016 - 12:00   ET

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

[12:00:07]

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

DANA BASH, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, thanks for joining me. I'm Dana Bash in for Fredricka Whitfield.

We start with breaking news overseas.

Israelis Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says he is summiting U.S. Ambassador Daniel Shapiro after the U.S. allowed a United Nations resolution condemning Israeli settlements to pass. Israel also summoned the ambassadors of 10 countries that voted for the resolution. A foreign ministry spokesman said the meetings were -- quote -- "to express deep anger and dissatisfaction as a result of the vote of countries that consider themselves friends of Israel."

The vote sparked a bipartisan backlash for many here in the U.S. who thought the U.S. should have backed Israel and voted against the measure. Vetoed it, which would have killed it.

CNN correspondent Oren Liebermann is with us now from Israel. And Oren, a U.S. ambassador being asked to see the Israeli ministers is not that unusual in normal circumstances but these are anything but normal circumstances.

Is this kind of a power play or a message by Mr. Netanyahu?

OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on the phone): It's absolutely a message. Netanyahu said right after this passed he would take diplomatic steps. We saw the first of those steps last night. Netanyahu (INAUDIBLE) to five different U.N. organizations, pulling some $8 million from the U.N and now we're seeing a follow-up to those steps. He's (INAUDIBLE) sort of reprimanding every ambassador of countries that have relations with Israel (INAUDIBLE) reprimand them for voting for this resolution of critical settlement.

Israel says this is anti-Israelism and won't bring about peace at all. At first, Israel had decided not to summon the U.S. ambassador because he was -- (INAUDIBLE) voted (ph) in favor (ph) it was in the abstention (INAUDIBLE) after reconsidering Netanyahu decided to summon U.S. ambassador Dan Shapiro. Now what's interesting about that, Shapiro is a President Obama appointee, which means he only has a few weeks left in office.

Netanyahu has been very clear he's looking forward to president-elect Trump and Trump has already picked his ambassador to Israel, a man named David Friedman whose views on Israel and the concept (INAUDIBLE) are far closer to Netanyahu's.

BASH: Oren Liebermann, thank you so much for that report from Jerusalem.

Now the repercussions of that controversial United Nation's vote may end up hitting the U.N. in a place that could really hurt it, its wallet. Republican Senator Lindsey Graham says he's planning to spearhead a move in Congress to withhold U.S. funding to the U.N. In an interview, he also said he won't stop there. Here's part of our conversation.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R), SOUTH CAROLINA (on the phone): This is a real affront (ph) of the state of Israel. These have been decades-old policies for the United States by the United States to make sure the parties negotiate on the ground in the Mideast and not in the U.N. Security Council. And he told me that when it comes to the U.N., the gloves are off. And I told him that's (INAUDIBLE) too. So I will respond in kind.

Twenty-two percent of the United Nation's budget comes from the American taxpayer and I'm going to lead the charge to withhold funding until they repeal this resolution.

BASH: Now, you've been talking about that but I guess when I hear you say, that my question is, what makes you think that that will turn around the entire Security Council on this settlement issue? I realize that 22 percent is a lot of money, but it's certainly not the whole ball game from them?

GRAHAM: Oh, no. I mean, it's up to the body to decide what kind of body it would like to be.

Here's my view of the peace process. Israel gave Gaza completely to the Palestinians years ago. They withdrew. They've gotten 10,000 rockets fired from the Gaza Strip controlled by Hamas. Who in the hell is Israel supposed to do peace with?

The Palestinian authority pay young Palestinians money to kill Israelis and Americans. Taylor Force was a young man whose parents live in South Carolina, West Point graduate, went to Israel on a visit as part of a graduate exchange program and was killed by a Palestinian, and the body was sent back to Ramallah and he was given a (INAUDIBLE) his family (INAUDIBLE) big lump sum of cash by the Palestinian authority because he was a hero in their eyes. Not only am I going to lead the charge to suspend funding to the United Nations until they correct this problem, we're going to suspend funding to the Palestinian authority until they stop paying young Palestinians to murder innocent people.

BASH: Do you think you're going to get enough support for that, to withhold that kind of funding for the Palestinians?

GRAHAM: I think it would be -- I think it would be a very interesting vote. And what's so sad about this is I'm an internationalist. I went to the new secretary general designate about four weeks ago, talking about a marshal plan for the developing world. I have been very in the forefront of trying to create aid programs to combat terrorism, not going to (INAUDIBLE) by killing terrorists, we got to build up the lives of others and the U.N. does a lot of good work in the refugee area.

[12:05:08]

But I said, please don't single out Israel. The reason we don't have peace is not because of settlements. Again, Israel gave all of the Gaza Strip back to the Palestinians and in return they have the terrorist organization launching rockets into Israel. So it's not settlements. It's the idea that the Palestinians won't accept the recognition that the Jewish state as being a viable entity.

So I think most members of Congress believe that the Obama administration's decision to break the 40 years of policy is unacceptable. The U.N. needs to be put on notice that Congress is a player when it comes to American foreign policy and I don't believe most Americans want to fund an organization who can't see the difference between the democracy, Israel and a terrorist organization, which is the Hamas and the Palestinian authorities heading in that direction.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BASH: Elsewhere overseas, a tragic Christmas day plane crash with no survivors. It happened off the coast of southern Russia in the Black Sea.

A military plane with 92 people on board, most of them members of a well-known military orchestra and choir. Rescue crews found the wreck in the water about a mile from where it took off, the winter Olympic city of Sochi. CNN's Matthew Chance is in Moscow following developments.

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, according to defense officials, none of the passengers or crew on board this Tupolev 154 aircraft operated by the Russian military survives the crash which happened shortly after takeoff from the Black Sea resort of Sochi in southern Russia.

A naval recovery operation has been under way to retrieve (INAUDIBLE) the aircraft's fuselage and bodies. And a formal investigation into the disaster has been launched. This was an aircraft en route to Syria and to Russia's military base there in Latakia. On board were more than 60 members of the Russian Army's official military choir and dance troop, the Red Army Choir or Alexandrov Ensemble.

They were due to give a New Year's performance to Russian troops stationed in Latakia. It's also the exact type of aircraft used by the Russian defense ministry to transport journalists to Syria. Me and several of my colleagues have taken this trip in the past. Indeed, Russian officials say there were at least nine journalists on board this flight apparently all from Russian news organizations had been especially invited to cover the musical performance in Syria.

Well the Russian President Vladimir Putin has offered his condolences and declared a day of national mourning for the passengers and crew who lost their lives. He's also appointed his prime minister, Dmitry Medvedev, to oversee the crash investigate. Russian officials say they're ruling out terrorism at this stage as a possible cause and are focusing on mechanical or pilot error to explain why this aircraft in apparently smooth weather conditions plunged fatally into the sea.

Matthew Chance, CNN, Moscow.

BASH: Tragic indeed. Matthew Chance, thank you so much.

And coming up, the Trump Foundation closing up shop. Why the president-elect is planning to dissolve his namesake charity and the legal road block that could stand in his way, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[12:11:03]

BASH: President-elect Donald Trump is dissolving the Trump Foundation, the charity that bears his name, and the reason Trump said in a statement is -- quote -- "To avoid even the appearance of conflict of interest with the role as president that I have decided to continue to pursue my strong interest in philanthropy in other ways."

The Trump Foundation was a prime target for Democrats during the campaign amidst allegations that Trump used it to settle private legal disputes.

CNN Jeremy Diamond is following the story and joins me live right now from West Palm Beach, Florida with a pretty enviable Christmas duty there. Jeremy, let's talk about the story. Explain to our viewers what this means and the idea that dissolving the foundation really could be easier said than done.

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Well, it's interesting because, you know, the foundation actually has no employees, it has no real active fundraising operation to speak of so it should be relatively easy to shut it down but the problem is, the Trump Foundation is currently under an investigation launched by the New York attorney general. And the New York attorney general's spokeswoman told me in an e-mail yesterday -- quote -- "the Trump Foundation is still under investigation by this office and cannot legally dissolve into that investigation is complete." So despite Donald Trump's desire to shudder the foundation, he says to avoid the appearance of conflicts of interest while he's president of the United States, clearly he can't do that legally just yet while that investigation continues. Now that investigation is related to a number of things, including accusations of self-dealing that Donald Trump used the foundation to settle personal, private business at times, legal disputes and he used the foundation's money, which has primarily come from other people, not himself.

And now the DNC, the Democratic National Committee, is of course jumping on this to kind of suggest that while Donald Trump is trying to show that he's trying to deal with his conflicts of interest. He isn't exactly. They say "Trump's announcement today is a wilted fig leaf to cover up his remaining conflicts of interest and his pitiful record of charitable giving."

So clearly the Democrats trying to put back into the spotlight the issues with Donald Trump's charitable giving. First the issues with his foundation also, of course, the fact that he has not released his tax returns and therefore we don't know exactly how much money he's given to charity.

But this is just the beginning. You know, Donald Trump is working in the coming weeks and his executives and lawyers are working in the coming weeks to resolve issues of conflicts of interest and he is expected to announce next month the steps that he'll take to disentangle himself from those potential conflicts of interest.

Dana --

BASH: Jeremy, thanks and untangling himself, disentangling himself, whatever the proper word is to use there, it is not going to be easy. There's no question about that and obviously I'm guessing we don't know the half of it.

Thank you very much, Jeremy Diamond.

I want to talk more about this with CNN presidential historian, Tim Naftali. Tim, thank you spo much for joining me.

Let's just start with where I left with Jeremy. Donald Trump is going to be inaugurated in 26 days. Have you seen -- you're a historian, anything in recent history or history at all in this country to give us a guide post for somebody who is the kind of business person or has the kind of business interest that Donald Trump has and how he is going to shift away from that into the White House?

TIMOTHY NAFTALI, CNN PRESIDENTIAL HISTORIAN: Well, Dana, the first issue is that this -- at least the statement by Donald Trump is a move forward because he's admitting the possibility of conflicts of interest and there were some in the Trump camp that were sending a signal that the president is above the issue of conflicts of interest. So this is -- this is definitely a step forward.

Now, there have been wealthy people who have come to office before. George Washington, after all, was a very wealthy man. [12:15:03]

The Roosevelt family, the Kennedy family, they had a lot of money. So that part isn't surprising. But because Donald Trump didn't release his tax returns during the course of the campaign, the public doesn't really know the extent of the tentacles of his empire -- of his empire. And for that reason it's very hard to know what possible conflicts of interest there are.

The fact that he's been so opaque about the Trump organization means it's very hard -- I'm not talking about partisans. I'm talking about nonpartisans because this issue is important for governance.

It doesn't matter if you're a Republican or Democrat. Because he's been so opaque, it has been very hard to know what the possible mind fields might be and that's why he's in this problem right now. People are going to keep asking questions until he's more transparent about the nature of the Trump organization.

BASH: You know -- you know, that's a fair point and you mentioned, you know, the fact that he's certainly not the first rich person to be elected to the White House. But did we know about the business holdings of both Roosevelts, of JFK? I mean, did we really have that information, especially since the practice, the tradition of releasing tax returns is pretty recent when it comes to U.S. history?

NAFTALI: Well, there are two things about this. First of all, we didn't know about the holdings of the Kennedy Family Foundation but we're talking about 1961. And the American people have come to expect more. After all, afterwards you would have -- you'd have Watergate and have a series of shocks to the system and as a result, people began to request more information about what their -- about the president's interests, about his family interests, about the source of his money. There are -- we expect more as Americans because of the trauma of Watergate.

BASH: So interesting.

So let's talk about this specific attempt, and I'm calling it an attempt, by Donald Trump to dissolve his foundation because the New York attorney general says, not so fast. He can't do that because it's under investigation. So how big of a challenge does that present for Trump on this issue?

NAFTALI: Dana, I assume the president-elect has very good lawyers and I'm assuming --

BASH: Good assumption.

NAFTALI: Yes. And I'm assuming that he has had a discussion with them about this. And I suspect that they are well aware of the attorney general suit in the state of New York. But, you know, I'm not a lawyer -- and I will say the most important takeaway for me as someone observing him and is an historian, is that he has admitted the problem of conflict of interest. He has admitted it finally. And that's an -- that's an opening to a much broader conversation he may not want to have but he's going to have to have after January 20th.

BASH: Well, there's another example of that that happened this past week and that is his son Eric announced that he is going to stop fundraising for his own charity because there was a tweet that got out -- obviously it got out, it was made public on Twitter, auctioning off coffee with his sister Ivanka as part of that charity. So he kind of shut it down.

Donald Trump on Twitter lamented the fact -- there you can see the tweet, making the offer. But Donald Trump lamented the fact that his kids are going to have to stop doing this kind of charitable work because it helps kids with cancer. (INAUDIBLE) read it off the screen, "My wonderful son Eric will no longer be allowed to raise money for children with cancer because of a possible conflict of interest." And it goes on to say, "My presidency. Isn't this a ridiculous shame? He loves these kids, has raised millions of dollars for them and now must stop. Wrong answer."

So my question for you, Tim Naftali, the historian, is this just what happens that people like Donald Trump when they are a candidate can go after their opponents like he did about the Clintons and the Clinton Foundation and pay for play, but once they are elected and get what they want they realize that they have that potential conflict of interest, too?

NAFTALI: Well, the campaign is over and saying, you know, "they did it" is not good enough anymore. OK?

The Clinton Foundation is not off limits but it's irrelevant in its discussions. Here's the difference and here's what makes the big difference. Donald Trump is the only person to come into office with an active business life, an active business empire. There have been rich people who have come to the Oval Office before but they were -- they have been in public administration.

Donald Trump has never had to disclose because of an elected position before. He has never been in a public administrative position. So he's never even thought about conflict of interest and it's disentangling his empire from the Oval Office that is going to be really, really tough and complaining about the Clinton Foundation just won't hack it.

[12:20:06]

That's not the answer. As he would put it in a tweet, "wrong."

BASH: Very well done. It's quite notable that you as a historian, you're already expressing and predicting Donald Trump's tweets because I think that that will be a large part of the history of the Donald Trump presidency. Tim Naftali, thank you so much. Merry Christmas, happy Hanukkah, happy holidays to you.

NAFTALI: Merry Christmas, happy --

BASH: Thank you.

And coming up, it was an election full of twists, turns and jaw- dropping claims.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: It's just awfully good that someone with the temperament of Donald Trump is not in charge of the law in our country.

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Because you'd be in jail.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: Up next, the top 10 most unforgettable moments of a year full of them in a campaign unlike anything we've ever seen.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BASH: Controversial, unprecedented and unexpected. 2016 was an election year for the ages with an ending meant to disrupt Washington and that it did.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BASH (voice-over): The fight for the GOP presidential nomination hit new lows in 2016 as Republicans scrambled to beat front-runner Donald Trump at his own game.

SEN. MARCO RUBIO (R), FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: And you know what they say about men with small hands. You can't trust them. You can't trust them. You can't trust them.

BASH: The insults got under Trump's skin.

TRUMP: He referred to my hands small hands -- if they're small, something else must be small. I guarantee you there's no problem. I guarantee.

BASH: But nothing could knock the billionaire from the top five.

REP. PAUL RYAN (R-WI), SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE (ph): All right, everybody.

BASH: In a remarkable display of GOP hesitation and consternation about Donald Trump, House Speaker Paul Ryan, the top Republican in government, refused to endorse the presumptive GOP presidential nominee.

RYAN: Well, to be perfectly candid with you, Jake, I'm just not ready to do that at this point. I'm not there right now.

BASH: Then, touche, Trump parroted Ryan's language in an interview with "The Washington Post."

BASH (on camera): I like Paul but these are horrible times for our country.

[12:25:01] We need very strong leadership. We need very, very strong leadership and I'm just not quite there yet.

BASH (voice-over): Ryan did eventually offer Trump a tepid endorsement but the party's discomfort with their unconventional nominee persisted through Election Day.

On the Democratic side, there was Hillary Clinton's rhetorical fumble about Trump voters.

CLINTON: You could put half of Trump supporters into what I called the basket of deplorables, right? The racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, Islamphobic -- you name it.

BASH: She issued an apology but Trump and his supporters embraced and moniker.

TRUMP: Remember what Hillary Clinton said, basket of deplorables?

BASH (on camera): Months of intraparty fighting culminated in two historic conventions, each party trying to repair their rifts before the general election.

BASH (voice-over): In Cleveland, a public display of GOP disunity. Trump's formal rival, senator Ted Cruz, was invited to speak but refused to endorse the nominee.

SEN. TED CRUZ (R), TEXAS: Stand and speak and vote your conscience.

BASH: Trump, ever the showman, stole Cruz's thunder, appearing in the family box in the middle of the speech. And in Philly, it was an unknown couple, Khizr and Ghazala Khan, who took on Trup.

KHIZR KHAN, GOLD STAR FATHER: Let me ask you, have you even read the United States Constitution? I will -- I will gladly lend you my copy.

BASH: Trump took the bait going after the Gold Star family in interviews and on Twitter and handing Hillary a post convention lead.

For President Obama, 2016 was personal.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The Donald is not really a plans guy. He's not really a facts guy either.

BASH: Obama eviscerated Trump on the campaign trail and Trump hit back.

TRUMP: He's the founder of ISIS. He's the founder of ISIS.

BASH: But after years of stoking conspiracies about President Obama's birthplace, Trump reversed course for the sake of his own presidential run.

TRUMP: President Barack Obama was born in the United States, period.

BASH (on camera): Then, there were the debates. The candidates' performances in three face-to-face fights were must-see TV for voters.

CLINTON: Hello.

BASH (voice-over); Clinton used the matchups to lure Trump off message.

CLINTON: He called this woman "Miss Piggy." Then he called her "Miss Housekeeping" because she was Latina. Donald, she has a name.

TRUMP: Where did you find this? Where did you find this?

CLINTON: Her name is Alicia Machado.

BASH: But Trump successfully painted (INAUDIBLE) more the same part of the problem in Washington, which it turns out really resonated.

TRUMP: She's been doing this for 30 years and why hasn't she made the agreements better?

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: The monster political storm rocking Donald Trump's campaign.

BASH: October brought an unwelcome surprise for the Trump campaign and instantly infamously caught on tape moment from a 2005 "Access Hollywood" appearance where the Republican nominee is heard making extremely lewd comments about women.

TRUMP: When you're a star they let you do it. You can do anything.

BILLY BUSH, ACCESS HOLLYWOOD HOST: Whatever you want.

BASH: Those words led to a string of accusations from women saying that Trump had sexually assaulted them. With only weeks until the election, it seemed like the contest might be over.

But in a stunning move, FBI director James Comey broke historical precedent by taking action 11 days before the election and handed the Clinton campaign their own October surprise. Comey had more power than usual since Attorney General Loretta Lynch was compromised after Bill Clinton boarded her plane during the investigation into Hillary Clinton's e-mails.

Comey decided not to bring charges against Clinton in June. But then he sent a letter to Congress a week and a half before the election saying the FBI was looking additional e-mails discovered on Anthony Weiner's home computer.

CLINTON: It is incumbent upon the FBI to tell us what they are talking about.

BASH: He cleared Clinton again before November 8th but her team points directly to his actions and the key reason for her loss.

CLINTON: I accept your nomination for president of the United States!

BASH: After trying in 2008, Hillary Clinton did make history in 2016, becoming the first female presidential nominee of a major political party. Still, her heartbreak was palpable when she spoke about falling short of the historic benchmark she failed to reach.

[12:30:00] CLINTON: I know we have still not shattered that highest and hardest glass ceiling, but someday someone will, and hopefully sooner than we might think right now.

(APPLAUSE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(BACKGROUND MUSIC)

BASH: For the political world, 2016 will be remembered with one head- spinning day, November 8th.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: CNN can report that Hillary Clinton has called Donald Trump to concede the race. She has called Donald Trump to say that she will not be president.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: Even Donald Trump himself appeared surprised.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENT-ELECT: As I've said from the beginning, ours was not a campaign, but rather an incredible and great movement.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: Voters certainly called for change in 2016. The test for 2017 is whether Donald Trump, a first-time politician and unconventional candidate and president-elect, can deliver his promise to fix Washington.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BASH: Hello. Thanks for joining me, and Merry Christmas. I'm Dana Bash, live from Washington, D.C.

President Obama versus President-elect Donald Trump. A White House official says, quote, "There is one president at a time. President Obama is the president of the United States." This comes as Trump continues to speak out on a number of international issues contradicting the current president. CNN's Tom Foreman has the story.

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Presidents-elect are expected to make headlines with their cabinet picks, but Donald Trump is going a lot further, issuing a statement on trade with China, talking about renegotiating government fighter jet contracts, and calling the recent attacks in Europe terrorism, even before investigators or the White House confirmed it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: It's an attack on humanity and it's got to be stopped.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOREMAN: Inauguration is still four weeks away, but if President Obama is feeling hurried out the door, team Trump does not seem concerned.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[12:40:00] SEAN SPICER (R), INCOMING WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: If the president-elect wants to get things done, he's going to get things done.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOREMAN: The latest example: Mr. Trump tweeted, "The United States must greatly strengthen and expand its nuclear capability." That prompted a swift outcry from nuclear weapons opponents, and a strong reply from Russian president Vladimir Putin.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VLADIMIR PUTIN, RUSSIAN PRESIDENT: (SPEAKING RUSSIAN)

TRANSLATOR: Today, the Russian Federation is stronger than any potential aggressor. If someone accelerates and speeds up the arms race, it's not us.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOREMAN: The president-elect did not back down a bit. Indeed, a co- host of "Morning Joe" says he told her off-camera, "Let it be an arms race. We will outmatch them at every pass, and outlast them all."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SPICER: What it means is that he's not going to sit back and let another country act. He needs to send a clear and concise message, which he's done, that he is going to be a president that defends America's interests, and defends the American people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOREMAN: And on it goes. At the United Nations, the president-elect urged the White House to veto a resolution to stop Israeli settlements. Instead, the administration abstained, the measured passed, and a frustrated tweet quickly followed: "Things will be different after January 20th."

Political historians note outgoing and incoming presidents often clash, but rarely so openly, and it could be risky.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JULIAN ZELIZER, HISTORIAN AND PROFESSOR, PRINCETON UNIVERSITY: If you hear two different voices, especially from people with two different perspectives, countries overseas or interests here in the United States might not know exactly what's going on.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOREMAN: The White House really hasn't pushed back against this publicly a whole lot, realizing that Donald Trump's power politically is growing every day. But they did say, "You know, there's only one president at a time, and at least for now it's still Barack Obama.

Tom Foreman, CNN, Washington.

BASH: So let's talk about this power battle. With me now, Mustafa Tameez, a Democratic strategist and former consultant for the Department of Homeland Security; and Ed Martin, head of late Phyllis Schlafly's Eagle Forum, and former chairman of the Missouri GOP.

Ed, I want to start with you. Check this out: Here are just some of the ways Trump has jumped into U.S. policy since being elected. He shook up the U.S. and China and the relations between the two after talking on the phone with Taiwan's president. He intervene -- he intervened on a U.N. vote on behalf of Israel, contacting the Egyptian leader. He threatened to trigger an arms race after calling for the U.S. to increase its nuclear capability; and he caused Boeing and Lockheed to see their stock take tumbles, at least temporarily so far, after publicly calling for them to deal with high-priced aircrafts that they are doing, that he says are just, you know, skyrocketing out of control and hurting taxpayers.

So my question for you after that litany, is can you name another modern day president-elect who has had this much of an effect, or tried to have this much of an effect, before even taking office?

ED MARTIN, PHYLLIS SCHLAFLY'S EAGLE FORUM HEAD: I -- I don't -- No. Dana, thank you, and Happy Christmas Day to you.

Look, I don't think there's any -- been anybody like Donald Trump in American politics. I think what we're seeing, though, is a guy whose campaign is being run -- was run in a way that was very transparent. The transition is very transparent, and he is going to act out this way.

Now, the question becomes, are the rest of our leaders going forward going to be more like him, or more like the past? Because he really is, I would say, more transparent and accountable. He's -- he's buffeted by what the voters think and --

But here's the thing: Obama already gave a speech three -- three or four weeks ago where he said after he's out of the presidency, he is not going to abide by the tradition that says he should be quiet. He's going to get involved.

So this idea that traditions of the past should bind all of us, I think it's -- I think people are ready to drain the swamp and to change the rules, and Trump is doing that. BASH: Well, I think one thing has been very clear: that tradition is some -- a word that we should just not even use anymore with regard to our political system.

Mustafa, let me ask you about something that the former speaker of the house, Newt Gingrich said. He spoke this morning about the transition. Here's what he said about Obama's final days:

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NEWT GINGRICH (R), FORMER HOUSE SPEAKER: President Obama is beginning to figure out that his legacy is like one of those dolls that, as the air comes out of it, shrinks, and shrinks, and shrinks. And he's in this desperate frenzy. What he's actually doing is he's setting up a whole series of things to distract Trump, which will make his liberal allies feel good about Democrats and hate Republicans when Trump rolls them all back.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: Your response?

MUSTAFA TAMEEZ (D), DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: You know, the presidency is not a reality television. It's not all about appearances. There are some important things that the president of the United States does, and I -- I'm not sure if Donald Trump or some of his allies really understand that. And -- and as he talks about the word transparency when it relates to Donald Trump, it's just laughable.

[12:40:00] This is the most opaque presidential campaign that we've seen. It's the most opaque transition that we've seen, and we're going into a -- a -- an inauguration of a president who we don't -- haven't even seen his tax returns. So his -- his erratic behavior coming into the -- this transition makes the world afraid. And he talked about nuclear proliferation in a way that Kim Jong Un talks about it. So this is making a lot of people around the world nervous.

BASH: Well, you know, let's talk about that, Ed.

MARTIN: Sure.

BASH: Let's take aside the debate about transparent versus opaque.

MARTIN: Sure. OK.

BASH: Because I've seen that Mustafa does have a very good point, that there are a lot of parts of the Trump campaign, and now the transition, that are quite opaque. Then there are parts that are transparent.

But what is clear going forward is that when we're talking about what the Trump policies will be, they are very much left open to interpretation, and it seems to be done on purpose. You know, there -- there's very little you can do with 140 characters on Twitter, and maybe that is to Donald Trump's benefit, right? To leave -- to -- to put things out in the ether, have people guessing, and then that way when it comes down to actually creating policy, there's such confusion that he believes he will have leverage. But he's --

(CROSSTALK)

MARTIN: Yeah, I mean, look, it's just -- it's hard -- it's hard to know where to start on this. I think Donald Trump, when he ran for president, he laid out 10 points on immigration. When he named, what I would say, transparently -- he's interviewed every person for his campaign -- his cabinet -- by going through the gauntlet of the press. So we know who he's talked to. When he named someone like Andy Posner, Andy Posner says, "Notwithstanding my past positions, I will do what Donald Trump as president says." When Rex Tillerson is -- is nominated for secretary of state, he says, "I will follow the president's lead."

I mean, the guy, President Trump, (sic) has laid out who he is and what he's about. He hasn't said yet the seven steps to do each of them, but I would say, you know, to your -- your point again, on the earlier commentary of the report, one of the things that Obama's living with is they were counting -- we know this. They were counting on a Hillary's third-term of Obama.

So many of the things that they had tried to do by executive order are now going to be reversed (snaps finger) like that. Live by the pen and the phone, and die by the pen and the phone. And the point is, Obama and his people -- they've admitted this -- are terrified that their legacy, as Newt said, is going to be reversed very quickly. But that's what politics and campaigns mean, and America chose. And so this idea --

And by the way, let me say on nuclear proliferation, we -- what -- what Trump has said -- and this is a tradition of military superiority that's gone on since the Cold War began. We'll be better, not just big. We'll be better than the other guys.

(CROSSTALK)

BASH: (inaudible)

MARTIN: That keeps us safe. That's deterrents.

BASH: Ed, let me just stop you there and let Mustafa get one final word here.

MARTIN: OK.

TAMEEZ: Well, look, the tradition in America has been that since the -- the, you know, since the Kennedy administration, we have been trying to reduce the nuclear armament around the world, and that's been the tradition, because that's what makes the world safer. To go in and attack --

(CROSSTALK)

MARTIN: (inaudible)

TAMEEZ: Where we're going to try to increase nuclear armament around the world, and to do it on a tweet, for God sakes, that's not the world that we want to live in.

BASH: OK, that's going to be a whole 'nother discussion, which is very much worth having, and I guarantee you we will have it, you know, for many hours, and hours, and hours to come over the next, you know, few months, few years, and we promise to do that very soon.

Ed Martin and Mustafa Tameez, thank you so much. Merry Christmas. Thanks for joining us on this holiday.

TAMEEZ: Merry Christmas.

MARTIN: Thanks, Dana.

BASH: And coming up, speaking of holidays, winter weather is causing a headache for some people traveling this weekend. We'll tell you where to expect snow and ice after a quick break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[12:46:55] BASH: A powerful earthquake rocked the coast of Southern Chile this morning. The magnitude 7.7 quake struck an island about 800 miles south of the capital of Santiago. Luckily, there were no immediate reports of injuries or death, and a tsunami alert for the immediate area has now been lifted, but people are still being told to avoid beaches there.

Now, if you're still dreaming of a white Christmas, you may be getting a little bit more than you bargained for if you're celebrating in the northern plains. And in parts of the Southeast, it feels more like Memorial Day. Meteorologist Tom Sater joins us now from the weather center. So Tom, who's going to get the snow?

TOM SATER, AMS METEOROLOGIST: All right.

BASH: Who's going to get the sun?

SATER: Well, how about Southeastern U.S., Dana, will not have Christmas in Dixie. There will not be snow in the pines, I should say. They're looking at record warmth, into the mid-70s in some locations.

We have a lot of rain that moved in the L.A. Basin, parts of San Diego, rain in Arizona and New Mexico, where it's changed over to a little snow. Flagstaff getting 10 inches. Moved into Colorado, great for the ski resorts.

Salt Lake City could probably see about 8 to 10 inches. But this is where it gets a little bit better as far as the forecast. In the middle of the country, just two days ago, we were looking at a tornado outbreak across Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska. Now it's just a thin line of storms that could produce maybe a damaging gust. But that's it. No tornado threat.

Changes over to ice. Some areas of Iowa, Nebraska, getting into South Dakota, that'll change to snow in a little bit. Central Minnesota's looking at a -- a rough kind of go at it. Minneapolis is looking at significant icing.

Blizzard warnings in the Dakotas. You are highly advised against traveling at all. Just hunker down at grandmother's house. Have another piece of pie. Look at the purple. That is significant icing that's going to take effect.

So, the Eastern part of the country looks really good. As we look at the forecast quickly for you, that storm's going to intensify. Look for the snow with whiteout conditions in the Dakotas to create up to 15 inches, drifts that would bury a reindeer.

One quick look at the high temperature records today -- Memphis could hit 73. Record goes back to 1942, Dana. Kind of warm.

BASH: Memphis is looking kind of nice right now, not that I don't love a white Christmas.

SATER: I hear you.

BASH: But 73 sounds really nice. Tom, thank you so much.

SATER: Sure.

BASH: Appreciate it.

And ahead, new concerns about Queen Elizabeth's health after she misses a traditional Christmas church service. We'll take you to London next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[12:52:07] BASH: This morning, Pope Francis gave his Christmas address to the city and the world, and he singled out the victims of Aleppo, saying far too much blood has been spilled.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

POPE FRANCIS: (SPEAKING ITALIAN)

TRANSLATOR: Aleppo, site of the most awful battles in recent weeks. It is most urgent that assistance and support be guaranteed to the exhausted civil populace, with respect for humanitarian law. It is time for weapons to be still forever.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: The Pope also urged the international community to actively seek a solution to restore civility in war-torn Aleppo.

For the first time in decades, Queen Elizabeth was too sick this morning to attend the royals' traditional Christmas visit to church. Buckingham Palace officials say the monarch is recovering from a, quote, "heavy cold." But just a couple of hours ago, the palace released a year-end message from the queen, which -- which -- which was recorded before she got sick.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

QUEEN ELIZABETH II: I often draw strength from meeting ordinary people doing extraordinary things -- volunteers, carers, (sic) community organizers and good neighbors -- unsung heroes whose quiet dedication makes them special. They are an inspiration to those who know them. And our lives frequently embody a truth expressed by Mother Teresa, from this year, St. Teresa of Calcutta. She once said, "Not all of us can do great things, but we can do small things with great love."

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: Again, that was a pre-taped message. CNN's Ian Lee is in London with more on the queen's current condition.

IAN LEE, CNN JOURNALIST: Dana, we were expecting to see the queen attend a Christmas Day church service. It would be her first public appearance since announcing she was suffering from a severe cold. But the 90-year-old monarch didn't attend, with Buckingham Palace saying, "The queen continues to suffer from a heavy cold and will stay indoors to assist with her recovery. Her Majesty will participate in the royal family Christmas celebrations during the day."

The palace announced that the queen and her husband, Prince Philip, were ill last Wednesday, delaying their holiday travel to Sandringham. But for the rest of the royals, it was business as usual. Prince Philip did attend the church service with Prince Charles and his wife, Camilla, as well as with Prince Harry. For Prince William and Kate, they spent Christmas with her family in Berkshire.

In the queen's yearly Christmas message, which was recorded before she caught the cold, she spoke about the importance of giving, as well as small acts of kindness. Dana?

[12:55:01] BASH: Ian Lee, thanks. And we'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BASH: I now want to share a moment with you that is really going all over the Internet right now. It's going viral, and when I read this for you, you'll know why. It's from the Harry Potter creator, J.K. Rowling, and it's her Christmas message. And let me read it to you, and again, you'll get it. Here's what she wrote:

"At this time of year, we're bombarded with images of perfect lives, which bear as little relation to reality as tinsel does to gold. If you're lucky enough to be with the people you love, warm and safe, with enough to eat, I'm sure you feel as blessed as I do. But if your life is currently full of difficulties; if you aren't where you want to be, either literally or figuratively, remember that extraordinary transformations are possible. Everything changes; nothing is forever.

"So if you're sad or lonely, or bereaved, or ill, or separated from your loved ones, or in any other way suffering this Christmas, I send you love and wish you luck and better times. Millions of us have been where you are now. Remember, Christmas Day is, in the end, just a day. It isn't a test or a scorecard of you or your life, so be kind to yourself. Merry Christmas."

Thank you, J.K. Rowling, for that wonderful message, and from all of us at CNN, we hope you are having a wonderful Christmas Day.

The next hour of CNN starts right now.

BASH: Hello, and thanks for joining me. I'm Dana Bash in for Fredricka Whitfield. Merry Christmas to one and all. We start overseas.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says he is summoning the U.S. ambassador, Daniel Shapiro, after the U.S. allowed a United Nations resolution condemning Israel sediments -- settlements to pass.

[13:00:00] Israel also summoned the ambassadors of 10 countries that voted for the resolution. A foreign ministry spokesman said that the meetings were, quote, "to express deep anger and dissatisfaction as a result of the vote of countries that consider..."