Trump Postpones News Conference on Business Empire; Horror in Syria; Exxon CEO Nominated as Secretary of State.
JAKE TAPPER, CNN ANCHOR: Governor Rick Perry nominated to run the department of -- of -- oops. THE LEAD starts right now. It's official. The ExxonMobil CEO with ties to Putin is now Donald Trump's pick to be America's top diplomat. But could the Republican- led Senate end up saying nyet? No new deals. President-elect Trump vowing businessman Donald Trump will go into something of a hibernation for the next four years. But could we still see a crossover episode of "The Apprentice" and "The West Wing"? Plus, breaking news: a cease-fire in Syria to stop what's being called a complete meltdown of humanity in Aleppo. Syrian forces knocking down doors, reportedly slaughtering men, women and children. Will these innocents now have a way out? And is this a cease-fire or a surrender? Good afternoon, everyone. Welcome to THE LEAD. I'm Jake Tapper. Ending weeks of speculation over his secretary of state pick and kicking off weeks of more speculation about whether his pick can pass a Senate confirmation hearing, president-elect Donald Trump finally made his choice, ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson, a successful businessman with significant experience doing deals with foreign entities, as when he negotiated a multibillion dollar deal with Rosneft, Russia's state-controlled oil company, to drill in three key Russian regions, the Arctic, the Black Sea, and Siberia. The signing ceremony was attended by Vladimir Putin himself. U.S.-led sanctions against Russia for invading and annexing Crimea hurt ExxonMobil's bottom line, so Tillerson has opposed those sanctions. Texas' former Governor Rick Perry, he knows something about oil business himself, having run the petroleum-rich Lone Star State. And Perry also made the Trump administration cut. He will, Senate confirming hearing coming up, he will run the Department of Energy, a government agency that Perry once vowed to eliminate. And, yes, in that infamous oops clip, Energy was the one governor -- that Perry forgot. CNN correspondent Phil Mattingly is live outside Trump Tower. Phil, one assumes that the president-elect saw the comments from Republican senators expressing concern about Tillerson's ties to Putin. He must know this could be a tough confirmation battle.</s>PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. In talking to Trump advisers, Jake, they know they are going to have a fight on their hand. But they believe that if they make the case and they will that they can smooth the way to eventual confirmation. What this underscores is something frankly the president-elect has said throughout. He is going to pick who he wants to pick and he's willing to defend them, no matter their history.</s>MATTINGLY (voice-over): Today, president-elect Trump sticking to his pledge to pick unorthodox business-minded Cabinet secretaries, even if it sets up a bipartisan confirmation confrontation for his choice to be top diplomat.</s>MIKE PENCE (R), VICE PRESIDENT-ELECT: We just couldn't be more grateful that someone of Rex Tillerson's proven leadership and accomplishments has been willing to step forward to serve our nation.</s>MATTINGLY: Rex Tillerson, CEO of oil giant ExxonMobil, now tapped to be Trump's secretary of state, a man with no government experience, but decades of deal-making and international business ties. Those ties include extensive relations with Russia and, most notably, Vladimir Putin, ties Trump and his team see as a net positive.</s>JASON MILLER, TRUMP ADVISER: What we're going to see with Tillerson is someone who has been a business leader on the world stage. Rex Tillerson has actually stood up and said no to Vladimir Putin.</s>MATTINGLY: The pick coming amid allegations from the intelligence community that Russia was involved in meddling in the election to Trump's advantage, an allegation the Trump team rejects. Some GOP senators quickly firing out statements raising concerns and raising the possibility Tillerson's nomination could be an uphill climb. Marco Rubio saying -- quote -- "I have serious concerns about the nomination." Tillerson, however, getting an immediate boost from former Cabinet Secretaries and GOP foreign policy standard-bearers Condoleezza Rice and Robert Gates. Both did work for Tillerson's firm and, behind the scenes, sources tell CNN both recommended and endorsed Tillerson to Trump. Rice calling him an excellent choice and Gates touting his vast knowledge, experience and success in dealing with foreign leaders, this coming as sources tell CNN Trump will select Rick Perry as his energy secretary, the former long-serving governor of oil-rich Texas. It elevates a man who once proposed eliminating the department altogether, but in trying to lay out that specifically, had this epic oops moment.</s>RICK PERRY (R), FORMER TEXAS GOVERNOR: The third one, I can't. Sorry. Oops.</s>MATTINGLY: Trump also delaying his own announcement about his plans to separate himself from his business empire, aides saying Trump's focus has been on personnel and Cabinet choices and that the final plan simply wasn't ready, but Trump still able to find time to meet with someone decidedly not in contention for a Cabinet post today, hip-hop star Kanye West.</s>KANYE WEST, MUSICIAN: I just wanted to take a picture right now.</s>MATTINGLY: Jake, we have it on pretty good authority Kanye West is not in the running for a Cabinet selection. Obviously, as we noted, Rick Perry is. And it's important to note Rick Perry at one point called Donald Trump's candidacy a cancer on conservatism. Now he is in the fold. We have seen it repeatedly over the last couple of weeks. Despite some of the bombastic statements, despite the Twitter attacks, there is a very real effort inside Trump Tower behind me to try and unify the party as the president-elect prepares to become the president -- Jake.</s>TAPPER: All right, Phil Mattingly outside Trump Tower, thank you so much. Next year, Tillerson could face a bruising confirmation process. First, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee meets to consider him. He needs a majority of those senators' support to move forward. If Senator Marco Rubio, for instance, votes no, Tillerson could be rejected. Or Republicans could do some maneuvering and get the Tillerson recommendation to the full Senate, bypassing the committee. Now, if every Democrat there votes no, Tillerson needs all Republicans but two to vote yes in order to be confirmed. At least four Republicans have expressed concerns about the pick, which would theoretically sink his nomination, unless some vulnerable Democrats in energy-rich states decide they could back Tillerson. CNN senior reporter Manu Raju joins me now. Manu, the Trump campaign will have to get organized to get this nominee through.</s>MANU RAJU, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, no question about it, Jake, especially since Democrats by and large are signaling they are going to oppose this nomination, particularly those senators -- Democratic senators on the Foreign Relations Committee. That means that there is virtually no margin for error, particularly if you start to see significant defections within Republican ranks. Now, the one good piece of news for the Trump campaign, for those Republican senators who have expressed some concern is that they're not saying they will oppose the pick. They are willing to listen to what Mr. Tillerson's views are especially on the issue of Russia, his views on Russia, whether or not he opposes or supports sanctions on Russia and what his relationship really is like with Vladimir Putin. All the senators and the sources that I have talked to, they say that they want to hear more about that before making up their minds, which means, Jake, this is going to be a rather thorough and potentially bruising confirmation process.</s>TAPPER: And, Manu, several high-profile conservatives have praised the Tillerson pick, Condi Rice, Bob Gates, Jim Baker, Dick Cheney. Does that matter to these wavering or questioning Republican senators?</s>RAJU: I think it does have an impact. You saw today Trump critic and Arizona Senator Jeff Flake, who does sit on that Foreign Relations Committee, he said that that carries considerable weight in his view. He thought it was a very good sign. Potentially, if he can win over a Jeff Flake, potentially, he could win over others in that more skeptical position, you could push him through. So those are very significant statements that Republicans are taking seriously, Jake.</s>TAPPER: All right, Manu Raju, thank you so much. The Trump transition team has attempted to downplay the relationship between its nominee for secretary of state, Rex Tillerson, and the president of Russia. Noted Trump campaign manager Kellyanne Conway -- quote -- "It's not like he's pounding down vodka with Vladimir Putin." Fact-check: True. They did not drink vodka together. It was champagne, as we see them here Tillerson and Putin celebrating a big oil deal with a champagne toast. Of course, that was Tillerson as CEO of an oil company representing stockholders, not representing the American people. We have not heard from Tillerson about how he'd approach Russia as secretary of state. But that hasn't dampened the enthusiasm coming from Moscow. CNN senior international correspondent Matthew Chance joins me now from Moscow. Matthew, the Russian government expressed support for Tillerson even before he had been officially chosen.</s>MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that's right. I don't think his Senate confirmation hearings is going to be as quick to endorse Rex Tillerson as the Russian government have been. But you're right. When his name was floated some days ago as a potential choice for Donald Trump as secretary of state, even then Russian officials were virtually tripping over themselves to try and lavish praise upon Rex Tillerson, who is somebody they know quite well. The head of the Russian Parliamentary International Affairs Committee, Aleksey Pushkov, said it was a sensation that Rex Tillerson had been nominated for secretary of state and that it showed the seriousness of Donald Trump, the seriousness perhaps of Trump to do a deal with Russia. The Kremlin has also come out and made remarks saying that Rex Tillerson is a respectable and professional person. That's about as high praise as you get from the Kremlin these days, it seems. And the foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, who would be Rex Tillerson's counterpart here in Russia, has also lavished praised on the oil man from Texas, saying that him along with Trump are both pragmatic people and that they are not opponents to the development of relations between the two countries, so a resounding thumbs up all around from Russian officials when it comes to this nomination of Rex Tillerson for secretary of state.</s>TAPPER: All right, Matthew Chance in Moscow, thank you so much. He was on the Trump short list for secretary of state. And now Senate Foreign Relations Chairman Bob Corker of Tennessee is launching his own investigation into Russia's hacking. Senator Corker will join us next. Stay with us.