Trump Picks Nikki Haley as Ambassador to U.N.; Will Trump Incorporate Family into Administration?; Trump Changes Mind on Waterboarding; Report: Trump Gets Warning on North Korean Nuclear Threat
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: Happening now, breaking news. Team of rivals. Donald Trump has more cabinet picks, including the first two women. One of them, South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, has been a sharp critic of the president-elect. Another harsh critic, Mitt Romney, is in the running for the inner circle. But can they all get along? General persuasion. Trump has said he knows more than the generals, but now that he's about to be commander in chief, what is he learning from them? Road warriors. Tens of millions of Americans take to the highways and the skies for this Thanksgiving holiday. There are backups and breakdowns already, but is the busiest travel day yet to come? And un-appreciated threat. Donald Trump gets a warning from the Obama administration about the top national security challenge he is likely to face as president: the nuclear armed North Korean regime of Kim Jong-un. Wolf Blitzer is off. I'm Brianna Keilar. You're in</s>THE SITUATION ROOM. ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.</s>KEILAR: Our breaking news: Donald Trump may be off at his Florida estate, but he is busy putting his cabinet together. Today the president-elect picked two women for his administration, one of them a sharp critic. South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley. She is the daughter of Indian immigrants. She is Trump's choice for United Nations ambassador. Even though she backed two of his opponents and exchanged sharp jabs with Donald Trump during the campaign. Haley has no foreign policy experience, but she is a rising star in the GOP and says she's accepting Trump's offer out of a sense of duty. The president-elect also has picked Betsy Devos, a top Republican donor and school choice activist, to head the Education Department. Trump says she will help, quote, "break the bureaucracy that is holding our children back." And Dr. Ben Carson turned Trump supporter today tweeting that, quote, "An announcement is forthcoming" about his role, which he said would involve making our inner cities great. Trump has said he's considering Carson for housing secretary. Meantime, there is new information tonight about one of the biggest challenges the Trump administration may face: the aggressive nuclear armed regime of Kim Jong-un. The Obama administration has reportedly warned Trump's team that North Korea will be its top national security threat. I will speak with Republican Congressman Peter King of the Intelligence and Homeland Security Committees. And our correspondents, analysts and guests have full coverage of the day's top stories. We do begin, though, with our CNN senior White House correspondent, Jim Acosta. And Jim, the president-elect has shown that he doesn't really like criticism, but that certainly is not stopping him when it comes to building his cabinet.</s>JIM ACOSTA, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Brianna. Donald Trump has done what many of his critics thought he was incapable of doing, and that is bring in one of his harshest critics to serve in his administration. He's also making some moves that suggest some of his campaign promises might not make the trip to the White House.</s>ACOSTA (voice-over): As Donald Trump settles in for the Thanksgiving weekend, the president-elect is making room at the table for some surprising cabinet picks. For starters, his choice for ambassador to the U.N., one of his toughest GOP critics, Nikki Haley, saying in a statement, "The South Carolina governor and daughter of Indian immigrants is a proven deal- maker. And we look to be making plenty of deals. She will be a great leader representing us on the world stage." Explaining her decision to step down as governor, Haley said, "When the president believes you have a major contribution to make to the welfare of our nation and to our nation's standing in the world, that is a calling that is important to heed."</s>GOV. NIKKI HALEY (R), SOUTH CAROLINA: When a bully hits you, you hit that bully right back.</s>ACOSTA: Haley had a different calling in the primaries. When she was backing Marco Rubio, she attacked Trump as a race-baiting bully.</s>HALEY: I will not stop until we fight a man that chooses not to disavow the KKK. That is not a part of our party. That's not who we want as president. We will not allow that in our country.</s>ACOSTA: Trump punched right back.</s>DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENT-ELECT OF THE UNITED STATES: She's very, very weak on illegal immigration. You can't have that.</s>ACOSTA: In addition to his selection of Haley, Trump also tapped billionaire school choice advocate Betsy Devos for education secretary and appears to be closing in on announcing Ben Carson to lead Housing And Urban Development. The Devos pick is already angering some conservatives who are outraged over her alliance with Jeb Bush's push for Common Core standardized testing in schools, though on her website Devos says she opposes Common Core, something Trump repeatedly vowed to end.</s>TRUMP: We're going to provide -- you're going to like this -- school choice, and put an end to Common Core, which is a disaster. We'll bring our education local.</s>ACOSTA: Trump's willingness to go outside his comfort zone may be a sign he could turn to one of his biggest Republican adversaries to become his secretary of state, Mitt Romney. MITT ROMNEY (R), FORMER PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE; His domestic policies would lead to recession. His foreign policies would make America and the world less safe. He has neither the temperament nor the judgment to be president.</s>ACOSTA: The potential move is enraging some of his core supporters.</s>MIKE HUCKABEE (R), FORMER GOVERNOR OF ARKANSAS: There's only one way that I think Mitt Romney could even be considered for a post like that. And that is that he goes to a microphone in a very public place and repudiates everything he said in that famous Salt Lake City speech.</s>NEWT GINGRICH (R), FORMER SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: I could think of 20 other people who would be more naturally compatible with the Trump vision of foreign policy.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right.</s>ACOSTA: As Trump indicated to "The New York Times," he's willing to listen to opposing views, as in the case of retired General James Mattis, a leading contender for defense secretary, who told president- elect waterboarding doesn't work.</s>TRUMP: He said, "I've always found give me a pack of cigarettes and a couple of beers and I do better with that than I do with torture."</s>ACOSTA: Contrast that with Trump's enthusiastic support for torture during the campaign.</s>TRUMP: Torture works. OK, folks? Torture -- but you know, I have these guys, torture doesn't work. Believe me, it works. OK? And waterboarding is your minor form. Some people say it's not actually torture.</s>ACOSTA: And the selection of Nikki Haley for United Nations comes at a critical time for the Trump transition team. With so many Americans uneasy about Donald Trump becoming president, one Trump advisor told me that they hope the Haley selection serves as sort of a pressure reliever for this holiday weekend -- Brianna.</s>KEILAR: All right. Jim Acosta in New York. Thank you so much. And before Donald Trump headed to Florida for Thanksgiving, the president-elect met with "The New York Times." He dropped his pledge to prosecute Hillary Clinton and denied that his business interests are a conflict of interest. Let's turn now to CNN national correspondent Jason Carroll. We're learning a lot, Jason, about this meeting. Tell us about it.</s>JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, more about that meeting, specifically when it comes to his son-in-law, Jared Kushner. As you know, Brianna, he was instrumental, many say, in getting Donald Trump to where he is right now. One of his closest advisors. And Donald Trump seemed to suggest that perhaps Jared Kushner could be instrumental with helping with the Middle East peace process.</s>TRUMP: Maybe nothing, because I don't want to have people saying conflict. Even though the president of the United States is -- I hope whoever is writing this story, it's written fairly. The president of the United States is allowed to have whatever conflicts he wants, he or she wants. But I don't want to -- I don't want to go by that. Jared is a very smart guy. He's a very good guy. People that know him, he's a quality person. And I think he could be very helpful. I would love to be able to be the one that made peace with Israel and the Palestinians. I would love it. That would be such a great achievement. Because nobody has been able to do it successfully.</s>MAGGIE HABERMAN, REPORTER, "THE NEW YORK TIMES": Do you think he can be part of that?</s>TRUMP: I would -- I think he'd be very good at it. I mean, he knows it so well. He knows the region, knows the people, knows the players. I would love to be -- you can put that down in a list of many things that I'd like to be able to do.</s>CARROLL: Clearly, that would be a tall order. But there's also a question. His critics point to the fact that this could be a violation of anti-nepotism laws. You look at the law that's on the books from 1967 that was enacted after John F. Kennedy basically installed his brother Robert to be attorney general. But you heard there from Donald Trump, president-elect himself, if there could be possibly some way of getting around that, it seems as if he might be OK with that -- Brianna.</s>KEILAR: Jason Carroll in Florida, thank you. And joining me now is Republican Congressman Peter King of New York. He's a key member of the Intelligence and Homeland Security Committees. Sir, thank you so much for being with us today.</s>REP. PETER KING (R), NEW YORK: Thank you, Brianna.</s>KEILAR: I want to ask you about something that Kellyanne Conway said. She confirmed to the "Wall Street Journal" that Donald Trump Jr. met last month in Paris with diplomats to discuss working with Russia on the issue of Syria. And then Ivanka Trump joined Donald Trump in meeting with the Japanese prime minister, also on a phone call with the Argentinian president. Is that -- is that appropriate for his children to have that level of involvement in presidential affairs?</s>KING: Well, you know, the president-elect trusts them. He has faith in them. And unless there's something shown that they did something untoward or that there was something, I'd say, corrupt going on, I -- I think it's appropriate. Listen, I realize the issue. They're using someone who is not actually an official part of the government. But on the other hand, again, to me, I believe the president should have the power to get things done. I don't see anything untoward going on here. And if that's how the president wants to function and to get the information he needs and to send signals, yes, I think it is appropriate. Obviously he has to be careful about it. But I think he realizes that. Obviously, he doesn't want his family to be getting in any kind of trouble, but he does have absolute faith in them. And I think by doing that, it sends a signal to people on the other end that the president-elect is really sincere about what he wants.</s>KEILAR: But at at the same time, they are going to be basically in his stead at the Trump Organization, representing his financial interests.</s>KING: Right. Yes.</s>KEILAR: So why -- square that for me. Why is that OK?</s>KING: Yes. This is the first time this has ever happened, that you had a president who had such a vast amount of interests, none of which is secret as far as I know. They're out there. I think Donald Trump himself has said that legally he can probably do all this, but he wants to find a way to put enough measures in place to assure people that everything is being done honestly and appropriately. And, again, this is the first impression. First time we've had as far as I know anything like this. Maybe if Rockefeller had been elected.</s>KEILAR: You say none of his interests are secret. But I mean, he hasn't released his tax returns. So there's actually a significant amount of his interests that are indeed secret, the definition of secret.</s>KING: Yes. Well, again, as I said, Donald Trump isn't hiding the fact that he realizes there's an issue there, and I'm sure that he and his lawyers and others will be working between now and January 20 to come up with a formula and put it in place to address this. Again, this is first impression. And I don't see anything that Donald Trump is doing which is an attempt to get around the law. In fact, he wants to comply with the law, which he may not even have to comply with. I mean, it's out there. This is -- what I'm saying is no secret. There's no secret that he has vast holdings all over the country and to some extent around the world. And we've never had this before in a president. There's nothing wrong with him having it. But now we're putting the two together. And I think he realizes the necessity to try and find a way to work through this and to do it in a way that assures the American people.</s>KEILAR: I want to ask you about something that you said, actually, right here on THE SITUATION ROOM in August. Because this was when you talked about Hillary Clinton and even just the appearance of there being perhaps conflicts. Let's listen to that.</s>KING: She should have known as secretary of state the conflicts or the appearance of conflict that was being raised by accepting all this money from foreign donors, foreign companies, people who had involvement with overseas interests. And really, so it does raise questions about her judgment.</s>KEILAR: Why does the appearance of conflicts with Hillary Clinton raise questions about her judgment; and yet the appearance of conflicts -- I mean, you had Donald Trump, who met with Indian business partners who built the first Trump property in that country. He took a photo with them. This photo went up. It was put public, and then it was later deleted, obviously, because it wasn't great news for Donald Trump. Why is there that double standard?</s>KING: I would say the difference here is that there was no reason why she had to be going out, again, dealing with countries that were also dealing with the Clinton Foundation, and, again, she was secretary of state. And when she was going out affirmatively and, in effect, you know, breaking new territory, going out seeking funding. Her husband was going out seeking funding. And the fact is that now we have Donald Trump who had all this coming in. Before the campaign started, he had all this wealth. He had all these interests. And now he's trying to find a way to square the two of them. And again, he's not denying any of this. He wants to find a way to make it work.</s>KEILAR: Without defending the foundation, because I think that there have been some good points raised certainly about that, and I think the firewall wasn't exactly what she said it would be. We're talking about a charitable foundation. And when you're talking about Donald Trump, this is not a foundation. This is his business empire. This is solely for profit. This is something that should be treated even more seriously than a charitable foundation. Shouldn't it be?</s>KING: I think he's treating it seriously. And again, the charitable foundation...</s>KEILAR: How is he treating it seriously if he's meeting as president- elect with Indian business partners? And taking photos with them?</s>KING: Because he's going before the American public. He even went with the "New York Times." Why he met with them, I'll never know, but he met with "The New York Times." And he's acknowledging these issues are there, and he wants to find a way to address them. He's not denying that he has the interests. He's not denying the fact that he realizes as president there could be issues and he's going to find a way to work around it. There's no -- there's no secret hear, in fact, that he has these holdings. Now as far as the foundation, yes, it did charitable work. But also, it was a good life line for the Clintons also. I not into bashing the Clintons. I'm just saying that there is a distinction in that Donald Trump had the wealth first. He had the holdings first, and then he ran for president. He wasn't using one to benefit the other. And he's acknowledging the issue is there.</s>KEILAR: But he met, for instance, with Nigel Farage, Mr. Brexit himself, who -- they had a meeting. And he implored, certainly, people in, as we understand, Farage's entourage not to build a wind farm near his properties in Britain. So, I mean, that -- that seems, as president-elect, to be asking someone to do something to benefit his business, isn't that the definition of what you just said?</s>KING: No. Because it's said publicly. He's known Farage. They have a common interest on Brexit. Donald Trump can answer all this for himself. If you're trying to do something, you don't do it -- if you're trying to do something surreptitiously, you don't do it in the public. This was all out in the open. People know about it. That's Donald Trump. He is different from other people in that. There's no secrets here. He says what's on his mind. He talks to allies. And, again, I think between now and January 20th this will be resolved. This will be another one of those issues that's used against Donald Trump and the American people -- obviously, they elected him. His numbers have gone up in the last 10 days. The more he's attacked in the media, the more his numbers go up. He is out there; he's open. He says he realizes the issues are there. And he wants to have them resolved.</s>KEILAR: So you're confident that, by the time he is no longer President-elect Trump, he's President Trump, that there are not going to be any concerns about whether he would use the presidency to benefit his business interests?</s>KING: Well, I'm sure that people in the media and some enemies will always try to attack him. I'm confident he will do all he can between now and January 20, or as soon thereafter as possible, to have these issues resolved, to have a formula in place which will assure reasonable people that he's doing the right thing.</s>KEILAR: All right. Congressman King, many more questions ahead. Stay with me.</s>KING: Sure.</s>KEILAR: We'll be back with Congressman King in just a moment.