Dems Ask Justice Department to Review Kushner Pick; China's Alibaba Promises One Million U.S. Jobs; Western U.S. Pounded with Intense Flooding; The History of Hollywood & Politics.
JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: This is CNN NEWSROOM live from Los Angeles. Ahead this hour: The Trump family heads to the White House as the President-Elect names his son-in-law as a senior adviser. With a wallop of snow and rain in northern California while a deadly freeze hits hard at Europe. And after six months off the tour, Roger Federer's comeback begins at next week's Aussie Open. The tennis great will join us live later this hour. Hello and welcome to our viewers all around the world. I'm John Vause. Great to be back. NEWSROOM L.A. starts right now. In the coming hours, U.S. President Barack Obama will deliver his farewell speech to the nation. He'll make the address in Chicago on Tuesday night where his political career began. A day after that, President-Elect Donald Trump will hold his first news conference in more than 160 days and his first since winning the November election. And on Capitol Hill confirmation hearings begin within hours. First up on Tuesday Trump's pick for Attorney General, Jeff Sessions and General John Kelly, the nominee to head the Department of Homeland security. At Trump Tower on Monday the President-Elect met with Alibaba executive chairman Jack Ma and said he is confident the hearings will proceed smoothly.</s>DONALD TRUMP (R), U.S. PRESIDENT-ELECT: They're going great. The confirmation's going great. (inaudible)</s>TRUMP: I think they will all pass. I think every nomination will be -- they are all at the highest level. Jack was even saying I mean they are the absolute highest level. I think they're going to do very well.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There is some concern about Jeff Sessions in particular.</s>TRUMP: No, I think he's going to do good -- high quality man. Thank you -- Jack. It's good to --</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Can you speak a little more, Mr. President about --</s>VAUSE: Joining me now Shawn Steel, a member of the California Republican National Committee and Ethan Bearman, a talk radio host here in California. Thanks for coming in. So one appointee who will not need a confirmation hearing is Jared Kushner, the President-Elect's son-in-law. He's going to be the senior adviser in the White House. Democrats have a lot of concerns with this in particular with anti- nepotism laws. This is what the law says. A public official may not appoint, employ, promote, advance or advocate for appointment, employment, promotion or advancement in or to a civilian position in the agency in which he is serving or over which he exercises jurisdiction or control any individual who is a relative of the public official." It's complicated but basically it says he can't really do it. So Shawn, why do these laws not apply to the President?</s>SHAWN STEEL, CALIFORNIA REPUBLICAN NATIONAL COMMITTEE: For one thing it's not -- not even the old fashioned term nepotism. He's not going to get paid for very much. He has to sign financial disclosure forms. He has to sign a federal conflict of interest form. So there's a lot of scrutiny already. And if he's going to do anything that's going to be useful, the last thing he wants to do is get his father-in-law into trouble. He also comes from a long family of Democrats. His father and his grandfather have been major donors in the Democrat Party nationally so for the Democrats to turn on one of their own is kind of ironic.</s>VAUSE: Ethan -- is there enough wiggle room here for Kushner to be appointed to this position? And when you answer this question, answer me this -- how is this different from when Hillary Clinton when she was first lady appointed by Bill Clinton to oversee health care reform.</s>ETHAN BEARMAN, TALK RADIO HOST: Well, the difference is first-off the first lady gets involved in numerous issues and has, all the way going back to Nancy Reagan for that matter in my lifetime. So it is different on that alone. But Jared Kushner will be able to get the position by skirting the anti-nepotism laws because that really was more directed at cabinet positions. Look, I'm not a fan of Jared Kushner in the first place. I think we don't need another real estate magnate in the White House who was born with a silver spoon in his mouth. I don't know that he is the right person to provide another unique perspective in advising the President.</s>VAUSE: And Shawn you touched on he would divest himself of a lot of his business interests but there are still the questions of a conflict of interest. The "New York Times" reported over the weekend he held that meeting with a Chinese financial group with close ties to Beijing. So there are a lot of questions here for Kushner. And if he has to divest himself of all of his investments, why doesn't his father-in-law?</s>STEEL: Well, you know, we don't know how much they're going to divest or how much they're going to step aside. One thing we know for sure, they all understand the pressure, they all understand that the "New York Times'" solitary function is to attack Trump 24 hours a day. And they understand the scrutiny. And I'm going to -- I'm going to suggest or think that they're going to be -- they are hyper sensitive about that and they're going to take extra steps to try to remove that appearance of conflict of interest. The issue is that when you have successful human beings and Trump's brought in a lot of successful human beings, that's going to always be an ever-present issue. But the question is do they use those powers to enrich themselves and in this age of transparency and this age of video recording it's going to be pretty hard to get away with a lot of that.</s>VAUSE: Ethan, Shawn is saying trust me -- in a low-trust world that we are in right now.</s>BEARMAN: Exactly -- and here's the problem and Shawn knows this as well as anybody. You can layer corporations in ways that it's impossible. There is no transparency. You can absolutely hide transactions around the world. And this ultimately is the biggest problem that we have with Donald Trump's promise that he hasn't held up which is to release his tax returns.</s>VAUSE: Ok. Well, Donald Trump had his own meeting with a Chinese billionaire, Jack Ma -- he's the founder of the e-commerce site Alibaba. This is what he said after the meeting.</s>TRUMP: We had a great meeting. It's jobs. You just saw what happened with Fiat where they're going to build a massive plant in the United States in Michigan. And we're very happy. And Jack and I are going to do some great things -- small business, right.</s>JACK MA, ALIBABA FOUNDER: We'll focus on small business.</s>VAUSE: Let's bring in CNN Money's Asia-Pacific editor Andrew Stevens, live in Hong Kong. Andrew the big headline from this was a promise was to create a million jobs in the United States. What are the details?</s>ANDREW STEVENS, CN MONEY ASIA-PACIFIC EDITOR: Absolutely. Big things for small business -- John. The details are few and far between to be honest. It's a big statement. It's a bold statement. It's also quite a vague statement. And it's something that we do know that Jack Ma, who founded Alibaba, has been focusing on for some time now. In fact he wrote an op-ed for the "Wall Street Journal" about seven months ago saying that what he wants to do is connect small businesses in the West including the U.S., obviously, with this growing consumer class in the East in China -- the biggest, fastest growing consumer market of all. So this is what he is saying to Donald Trump, I want to get my online platforms like Taobao, like T-Mall which are currently being used by Chinese to buy online. I want American products on those platforms that Chinese middle class consumers want to buy. So how that creates jobs will, if more people buy more stuff, more stuff has to be made. That's pretty much the line. But where you get a million jobs from I have no idea. What Jack Ma did say and this is slightly new, is that he wanted to produce from the Midwest of the U.S. So we are talking agricultural products. And after that little sound they heard from Donald Trump and Jack Mama, Alibaba people were talking about organizing a conference for thousands of small businesses, for farmers, et cetera, et cetera to work out how they can take this forward. But as I say it's a little bit vague at the moment.</s>VAUSE: It was good for the share price. Alibaba went up a percent or so after that announcement. But it seems from what you're saying and from I've read, many of these jobs if they're there at all they are on the works many, many months ago. It seems like a bit of a stretch for Donald Trump to claim credit?</s>STEVENS: Well yes, John. If you go back to the meeting with Masayoshi Son, the boss of Softbank and Donald Trump talking about creating 50,000 jobs and investment in the U.S. that was also a work in progress before the election was known -- the election result was known. So Donald Trump certainly is emphasizing these deals and they look like deals which as you say are in the pipeline and they are still vague. So you can't justify this. I should add it is also a pretty photo opportunity for Jack Ma as well. As you point out, the share prices are up. And Jack Ma is a very savvy PR man. He was close to Barack Obama. He appeared with Obama on stage several times. And he wants to make sure that he stays close to the incoming administration. It's good for Alibaba. I mean he -- Alibaba is facing scrutiny in the U.S. over the sheer number of counterfeits on its own platforms. In fact the U.S. trade representative slapped his -- slapped Taobao -- one of those platforms I was talking about on this list of notorious markets, notorious for operating fakes. So Jack Ma wants to get close to the administration to make sure that they get their point across. But it is all, you know, it's all good PR on both sides at the moment.</s>VAUSE: Andrew -- I'm glad you brought up the issue of the counterfeit goods. It's a nice segue. But we'll say goodbye to you for now. Andrew Stevens, live in Hong Kong. So with that in mind, Shawn -- I, you know, went online and I bought my Trump make America great again hat. This cost $25, it's the genuine article -- right.</s>STEEL: Are you sure it's genuine.</s>VAUSE: It's genuine, it's genuine.</s>STEEL: Not a knockoff.</s>VAUSE: Well, you mentioned the knockoff because then I went to the Alibaba Web site, Taobao. And what shall I find there but a counterfeit version. Make America great again -- I can get it for $2.60 U.S. I mean this is one of the big issues with Alibaba, you know. And this is one of the big issues for Donald Trump on the campaign trail -- intellectual property theft by the Chinese. But today, on Monday rather, smiles and handshakes with Jack Ma and not a word of intellectual property theft being carried out by the Chinese.</s>STEEL: You know, one of the things I'm not worried about Donald Trump despite all the many wonderful contradictions and the excitement that he creates. I don't think he is going to be real soft on the Chinese on trading in the first place. Now what really irritates me but I also find sparkling delicious is how the mainstream media is attacking Trump when he is talking about bringing jobs to America, maybe taking credit where credit is due. But he's creating a narrative. The point is he creates an attitude, a tone and an approach that more and more businesses are beginning to think maybe it is worthwhile to invest in this country. Maybe it's worthwhile actually creating jobs in the United States. Maybe it makes a lot of practical sense or economic sense. And he's doing it in his own way but he is actually beginning -- I think we're beginning to find a consumer confidence is up. Even liberal polling organizations are telling us that. The people are beginning to believe that the economy can start getting out of the doldrums. And so, you know what, by creating that narrative he might actually help become true before passing a single legislation.</s>VAUSE: And Shawn</s>BEARMAN: You know, I think it's wonderful. Any time we can add jobs in the United States it's a great thing. But let's go back to this Alibaba deal for just a second. So how are we -- I'm from the Midwest. I want us to export farm goods from the Midwest or manufacture goods and sell business goods to China. The Chinese government has to lift their tariffs and trade rules first. Alibaba has no control over what the Chinese government is prohibiting from coming into their country. And on top of it all I find this interesting because there is a Chinese company called LeEco (ph) which actually bought the Yahoo property up in the Bay Area. And it has announced back in October 12,000 new jobs that they are hiring in the San Francisco Bay Area for computer programmers and software engineers. Why wasn't that touted by anybody?</s>VAUSE: Ok. We did hear from the President-Elect on another issue today. He did actually slam actress Meryl Streep after her acceptance speech at the Golden Globes. This is part of what Miss Streep said on Sunday night.</s>MERYL STREEP, ACTRESS: It was that moment when the person asking to sit in the most respected seat in our country imitated a disabled reporter -- someone he outranked in privilege, power and the capacity to fight back.</s>VAUSE: Ok, so on Twitter Donald Trump posted this, "Meryl Streep, one of the most overrated actresses in Hollywood, doesn't know me but attacked last night at the Golden Globes. She's a Hillary flunky who lost big. For the 100th time, I never mocked a disabled reporter. I would never do that but simply showed him groveling when he totally changed a 16-year-old story that he had written in order to make me look bad, just more dishonest media." Jarrett Hill is the host of the "Back2Reality" podcast. He's a correspondent for the "Hollywood Reporter" and he is with us now. So Jarrett -- liberals love the Streep takedown. Didn't do a lot for conservatives, did it?</s>JARRETT HILL, HOLLYWOOD REPORTER: Well, the interesting thing that we have to point out is that in the "Hollywood Reporter" -- shameless plug -- in 2015, Donald Trump talked about Meryl Streep being one of his favorite actresses and how she was such a great person. But the moment she says something that is taken as an attack because he likes to use that verb, then all of a sudden she is overrated, she's ridiculous. And you know, it's kind of the same thing that we see again and again from Donald Trump where he will say one thing and then say something that's completely different in "look over here this something shiny" kind of way. And it's frustrating to watch because you know, it's completely contradictory to what he just said about Meryl Streep recently.</s>VAUSE: But when we have high profile, you know, actresses like Meryl Streep and others, you know, within Hollywood getting up and saying these kinds of things about the President-Elect doesn't it backfire in a way? Doesn't it just sort of solidify the support that Donald Trump has? Doesn't it do them a disservice in the long run?</s>HILL: It certainly has a galvanizing affect for some people on different sides of the aisle. But Meryl Streep didn't say anything in that was all that controversial really. The real question you have to ask is like what exactly did she say that we're arguing against? That we shouldn't mock people that are disabled? We should defend people that are coming from marginalized communities. It's challenging for me to watch the Meryl Streep speech and then think oh yes, I can see why such and such could be controversial. It's incredibly frustrating. And Megan McCain obviously jumping in with tweets talking about how this is how we're going to help Donald Trump get re-elected. What exactly are we railing against that Meryl Streep said? What exactly was indefensible? It's hard for me to process.</s>VAUSE: Ok. Jarrett -- thank you for being with us. We'll catch up soon. I want to stay with the Meryl Streep issue, Ethan, because -- just speak up on the last part of Trump's tweet where he claims he never mocked that disabled reporter who works for the "New York Times". Look at the moment when it actually happened. This is it.</s>TRUMP: Right after a couple of good paragraphs, and talking about northern New Jersey, draws the (inaudible) -- written by a nice reporter. Now the poor guy, you got to see this guy, I don't know what I said, I don't remember. He's going like -- I don't remember, maybe, that's what I said. This is 14 years ago. He still -- they didn't do a retraction.</s>VAUSE: You know, clearly he did mock the reporter. So why does Donald Trump feel the need to revisit these past controversies and deny what actually happened?</s>BEARMAN: Well, I'm not a psychotherapist but it's interesting because he suffers from an issue that many narcissists have which is the inability to admit that they have done something wrong. Just as I said the day after that video came out, I said just donate a million bucks to like a paralyzed Veterans for American group and apologize and move past it. And instead, he's the one who brings it back up and he makes it an issue again. Maybe it's to take attention away from some of the other problems that he --</s>VAUSE: Shawn you are squirming --</s>STEEL: I think it's such a fake story. He's used that particular caricature of using his arms like this, it's been recorded since 2005. He used it several times talking about himself. It's part of a self expression and he wasn't using anything to try to identify a person's particular disability. This is just a typical mainstream media lie and the beauty is half of America doesn't believe it. You can keep saying it again and again but it's a lie.</s>VAUSE: Ok, if you want to split hairs here then, so he did not mock the reporter for being disabled but he did mock a disabled reporter.</s>STEEL: Oh, for God's sake. Let me tell you one thing about one of the most important reasons why Trump got elected. One of the most beautiful things that's happened in our society, he's destroyed the politically correct culture. We don't care. This PC thing of trying to be nice and proper and appropriate and sensitive -- that's a lot of crap. We don't buy it any more. Meaning the majority of people that got him elected don't buy it any more. Liberals still do. Meryl Streep still does but nobody cares about Meryl Streep. That is -- my people don't care about her.</s>BEARMAN: So where does that end though if we say well, we don't care that it was a disabled reporter. We don't care that that happens, what about --</s>STEEL: It was a reporter that might have been disabled and we don't care if anybody mocks him for the words and the tone and what he wrote. We don't care about his particular features, we don't care about his racial color. We only care about --</s>BEARMAN: And the Mexican judge and that Mexico sends us their rapists and on and on. There's my black guy over there. That is a tone that is set with this president -- soon to be president -- that is really --</s>STEEL: Well, you're cherry picking very nice stuff to try to --</s>BEARMAN: -- which leads to death threats on people like me because I dare speak out --</s>STEEL: I got a death threat last week from a progressive. So, you know, you're not immune.</s>VAUSE: Ok.</s>HILL: Shawn I want to say like this is what exactly what the Donald Trump campaign does all the time. We will look at something and then be told that is not what we just saw. We looked at this with plagiarism when I covered the story months ago with Melania Trump. We can watch side by side video of something and then you come back and tell me that it's not what I saw. We just watched this video of Donald Trump imitate this man and say all these different things about him and then you turn it right around and say that's not what happened.</s>STEEL: You know it's not true.</s>HILL: Kellyanne Conway was on CNN this morning telling us that we shouldn't think about what is coming out of his mouth but we should think about what is in his heart. What does that even mean? It's so frustrating to watch because you continue to see him do things and then tell us that it's not the same thing.</s>VAUSE: Ok. Let's keep this going next hour. Sorry guys. Jarrett -- thank you so much. Ethan and Shawn -- we appreciate your being with us. We'll continue this in a while. And a programming note here, U.S. President Barack Obama will give that farewell address on Tuesday. It starts at 9:00 p.m. in New York, 2:00 a.m. Wednesday in London, that's 10:00 a.m. Wednesday Hong Kong. Don't forget, you can watch it right here on CNN. And we'll take a short break. When we come back some heavy rain and snow pounding California, there's more on the way. And a bitter cold snap is gripping parts of Europe making life so much harder for thousands of refugees living in limbo. Also one of tennis's most successful players is back on the court after months on the sideline. Roger Federer's plans for the 2017 season in just a moment.