Sign of how the stock market may react as its still flirting with that recordsetting 20,000 mark. Also one huge question as we look ahead to the next administration is the Federal Reserve is about to get a massive makeover thanks to the 45th president of the United States, mr. Donald trump. So we have alison kosik, cnn money Business Correspondent at the new york stock exchange, as soon as we get the fed, let me know. And heath herzog is with me, author of black market billions, before we talk to you alison kosik, you have to scoop, will they be raising that rate . Reporter the fed for the first time of the year have raised Interest Rates 25 basis points. The last time the fed raised rates was last december. The one thing investors are looking for is how much or how aggressive the fed will be in the future. What the fed said as it was giving this information is that theyll raise rates at least three times next year that could be the reason youre seeing major indices tournesol it red. The fed has been hinting, so this is not a big surprise, that rates went higher. The fed has been dropping big hints since this summer that it would raise rates in december because they basically think the economy is ready for it although some people say the economy isnt booming. You look at the employment picture, unemployment the Unemployment Rate is at a nineyear low. Were adding at least 180,000 jobs on average every month. Gdp is up in the Third Quarter 3. 2 . So all the signs are there that the economy can handle it. Now that the fed has raised rates, in about a half hour, brooke, fed chief janet yellen will be holding a News Conference and although the fed is independent, not supposed to be political, many are calling on fed chief janet yellen to talk about a Trump Presidency. Its being called the elephant in the room. One thing fed chief janet yellen doesnt want to look is politically leaning toward one way or the other. But the fact of the matter is many people do believe that the fed is kind of privately looking at how a Trump Presidency will affect the economy trump policies are expected to be progrowth, low taxes, low regulation, more spending, those are things that can heat up an economy and that could be part of the reason in the thinking for the fed to raise rates now, to get ahead of it and be proactive instead of reactive. Brooke . You hit on two important points. Well come back to the influence president elect trump will have on the fed but thooeheatha, to if the job market is as strong as it is for the fed to feel confident enough to raise their rate, this dreskt ldirectly aff people with credit cards, want to buy homes, cars, how much did this affect them . The Interest Rate didnt go up that much,. 25 . Its an increase. However when youre going to see the impact on credit cards is when you start seeing that Interest Rate go up many times during the year. So now it wont have a huge impact on credit cards however if you are carrying large balances, lets say youre shopping for the Holiday Season you have those large balances on however many credit cards you will probably then want to make sure those balance s as are pai down because that will increase the interest that you carry over on those cards. I say as we should be because i havent started. Any hoo, with regard to president trump, i was reading a piece on cnnmoney. Com, two spots on the feds committee are open for trump to nominate how might he impact what we see financially moving forward . Hes notoriously antifed so he has a little bit of leeway to appoint whoever he wants to those positions. I think its up to two up to almost 12, i should say, he could potentially appoint. Also janet yellen is due to what alison mentioned. In 2018. So theres an opening right there. Will he implement his own policies the way he wants it to . Look the way he wants it . Probably. However if you look at what the markets are doing right now it looks like people are responding well to what donald trump kind of has financially planned out for the country. Just in terms of what hes saying in terms of job growth, the deregulation. Who knows if that will continue. Who knows what he what his plans that he wants to implement will, in fact, materialize in a positive way but were seeing the trump effect go gang busters. Almost 20,000. Almost 20,000. Hitha, thank you so much. Alison kosik, thank you down at the new york stock exchange. Lets move on to talk politics. Right now president elect trump is meeting with perhaps the most unfriendly crowd thus far at trump tower, about a dozen or so tech tie sans from places like facebook and google and ibm and amazon and other Silicon Valley companies. Theyre scheduled to visit the president elect right now, sitting behind this closed door meeting. Mr. Trump blasted apple and amazon and others when he was on the campaign trail and its no secret that the Tech Industry has not exactly supported him with some Major Players labelled trump as quote unquote divisive. But today the two sides are meeting with a common goal create more jobs. As the president elect talks employment, we are learning his sons have been taking part in some key new hires for their fathers administration. Lets begin there with sara murray who is live outside of trump tower. Lets begin with what weve learned today with don, jr. Well, weve learned that don jr. Was involved. But it doesnt just stop with don jr. Eric trump sat in on one of the meetings between donald trump and mitt romney and were learning when donald trump does head to the white house, the office thats normally seen as the office of the first lady and called that is going to become the office of the first family to make way for ivanka to play a role in the white house. We know both Jared Kushner and ivanka trump are expected to head to washington, d. C. And be advisers to donald trump when hes in the white house. Trumps transition aides have down played this and said of course the kids are involved in the transition, we said they would be involved in the transition so its no surprise they may be weighing in on cabinet picks or that they may be sitting in on meetings but it raises the question if eric trump and donald, jr. , are going to be running the business is it appropriate for them to play a role in helping to pick cabinet secretaries or evaluate cabinet secretaries. This is one of the questions were hoping to get more clarity on when donald trump finally does hold this press conference, now one we expect in january, explaining how hes going to untravel his business interests with his interests in washington. There are a lot of people, sitting members of congress, who are waiting in washington to see how hell do this, brooke. Well come back to that with my panel. Let me ask you about a building not too far away from the white house, that being trumps new washington, d. C. Hotel. We know according to the General Services administration if it stays as status quo mr. Trump would be in violation of the lease come inauguration day. Explain that to us and what mr. Trump plans to do about it. So this is a shiny sparkly example of a potential conflict thats awaiting donald trump once he gets to the white house. If he does nothing now, if he does not divest from his business interest, its possible he will run afoul of the lease that his Washington Hotel has been built on. Now there are still questions about whether donald trump will divest from that hotel, whether he could make changes between now and then and the gsa put out a statement saying look, its premature to evaluate right now whether donald trump will run afoul of this lease. But, brook, as you said, if nothing changes it looks like he will. His aides have been punting on this question today saying we are trying to work this out, we are trying to figure it out and be transparent in how were going to unwind Donald Trumps white house from Donald Trumps business interest but these are not answers that were expecting to get by the end of this month, brooke. Okay. Sara murray, hopefully well get the answers in january when he holds the News Conference, if not before. Thank you. Lets have a bigger conversation here. Kevin sheridan is back, he was Communications Director for paul ryans Vice President ial campaign when he ran with mitt romney. Maeve reston is with us, cnn National Political reporter. Good to see both of you guys and, kevin, let me turn to you and piggyback off of saras point on this d. C. Trump hotel. Again just to make it clear for you watching. So the issue is this hotel sits on federal property so a provision of the deal prevents any official like the president of the United States from having a piece of the lease. What do you think mr. Trump should do . Well his legal team postponed their announcement of what theyre going to do. Its a complicated issue in general with the entire Trump Organization about how theyre going to separate the hotel is only one piece of it, its a multiple Dollar Company and its worldwide. They have to come up with a way to show the American People there is a real divide what donald trump is doing as president and what his family is doing running the business. Im confident they will do that. You are confident . I am. They have an excellent leal team. Were in uncharted territory. We dont know what that will look like or what theyll come up with but when they announce it i think there will be a real separation and the American People will know. The American People just voted and they voted for a guy who has a multiple dollar multinational company. They knew that. They know he has a family involved in all of it. They voted on it, he won. Maeve reston, on the family being involved, thank you, tomorrow would have been the day tomorrow s the 15th. Tomorrow would have been the day when mr. Trump said wed hold this News Conference. Part of that is with don jr. And making phone calls on this interior secretary position. What is this blurred lines to you . Yes, its very much blurred lines and part of the problem for donald trump here is that this is normally the kind of thing that a candidate would address during the campaign and explain to voters how hes going to separate himself from his businesses and to what extent his children will have a role. He really wasnt very clear about exactly how this would play out and i think the delay in the press conference only is sort of heightening the questions about conflicts of interest. What if the trump team says its complicated, were working on it, its taking more time. Slow your role. Is that good enough . Thats what they should have been working on, the transition team, over the last six to eight months as they were planning for a potential donald Trump Presidency. The there are a lot of people that were comfortable with the fact that ivanka was in on the meeting with the Prime Minister of japan, for example, and no one knows how much advice donald trump is getting from his children behind the scenes. They obviously have properties all over the world and hell face a lot of thorny questions on this and i think the public is waiting for more clarity on how hes going to create whatever chinese wall hes going to create and it needs to go beyond saying im just not going to talk to my kids about the business deals theyre making. Quickly on the talking to the kids bit, apparently don, jr. , did this interview with his outdoor magazine and he said this the big joke at christmas was that the only job in government that i would want is with the department of the interior. I understand these issues, its something im passionate about, i will be the very loud voice about these issues in my fathers ear. No one gets it more than us. So to kevin and then were going to finish talking about don, jr. , but you can understand people are saying well, hang on a second, if youre a loud voice in the room but youre supposed to run your dads company which were officially waiting on word in january, what are we supposed to think . Well, i saw read that article. Hes a passionate outdoorsman and hell offer his opinion. Donald trump, the buck stops at his desk, hes the president and hell have to take in all opinions from all sorts of people, including his family. Except if his son is running his business but he wasnt advocating for something specific about his busine business. I think thats fine. Look, president ial families are always going to have the opinions they have their opinions around the dinner table, theyll get their voice in there. Hillary clinton did it with bill clinton, everybody will have their voice. Let me move on to your former boss. Donald trump was on his thank you tour in wisconsin and likened your former boss to a fine wine. Roll the clip. Speaker paul ryan, ive really come to [ boos ] oh, no, ive come to appreciate him. Speaker paul ryan. Wheres the speaker . Where is he . He has been ill tell you he has been terrific and you know, honestly, hes like a fine wine. [ laughter ] every day goes by i get to appreciate his genius more and more. Now if he ever goes against me, im not going to say that ch. So i want to point to what we heard, kevin. So cheers, some boos, you know this is speaker ryans home state. Is that thats not a great thing for the speaker of the house and do you think mr. Trump enjoyed that . No, its fine if you talk to republicans in washington or the states, original donald trump supporters, people reluctant who support him who ultimately did, everyone is very excited right now, we have a very good cabinet already in place. Why were there boos . You have a 100day agenda coming together. Mike pence is working closely with paul ryan right now. Theyre getting that done. Youre going to see real progress, real results in the new congress. This is an exciting time to be a republican. It is a different tone from months ago when we were looking at the relationship who would have guessed but its an exciting time to be a republic republican. Maeve, jump in. Lets also think about the fact that paul ryan is a potential successor to donald trump in the white house. This is going to be a very interesting dance over the next year where there probably will be times when i mean, were sure there are going to be times when congress and donald trump wont agree on the issues and paul ryans been very careful in navigating that so far but there were a lot of people hoping he was going to run in 2020 against Hillary Clinton, making the assumption that she was going to win. He raised an enormous amount of money this year. He is clearly a rival for trump potentially if trumps presidency blows up into smithereens so i think that, you know, thats a really interesting relationship to watch over the next year and clearly donald trump was warning something there. Agree. Maeve and kevin, thank you very much. Just ahead, who is the most powerful person in the world in Vladimir Putin or donald trump . Forbes releasing its list with a couple surprises. Plus new video and emotional testimony here in the trial of this racist man. And breaking news, thousands of people, innocent families trapped as the ceasefire in aleppo has collapsed. Hear whats happening on the ground from someone whos been there. Youre watching cnn. But then i realized there was. So, i finally broke the silence with my doctor about what i was experiencing. He said humira is for people like me who have tried other medications but still experience the symptoms of moderate to severe crohns disease. In clinical studies, the majority of patients on humira saw significant symptom relief. And many achieved remission. Humira can lower your ability to fight infections, including tuberculosis. Serious, sometimes fatal infections and cancers, including lymphoma, have happened; as have blood, liver, and nervous system problems, serious allergic reactions, and new or worsening heart failure. Before treatment, get tested for tb. Tell your doctor if youve been to areas where certain fungal infections are common, and if youve had tb, hepatitis b, are prone to infections, or have flulike symptoms or sores. Dont start humira if you have an infection. If youre still just managing your symptoms, talk with your gastroenterologist about humira. With humira, remission is possible. I want to take you straight to trump tower and listen in on donald trump and leaders in the Tech Industry around this round table. Asking to come to this meeting. [ laughter ] and i will say peter was sort of saying no, that companys too small and these are Monster Companies but i want to thank i want to start by thanking meter because he saw something very early, maybe before we saw it and of course hes known far in a different way but hes been so terrific and so outstanding and he got just about the biggest applause at the Republican National convention. Hes ahead of the curve. I want to thank him. So i want to add that im here to help you folks do well youre doing well and im honored by the bounce. Were going to try to have that bounce continue and perhaps even more importantly we want you to keep going with the incredible innovation. Theres nobody like you in the world. Theres nobody like the people in this room and anything we can do to help this go along, well be there for you and youll call my people, youll call me, it doesnt make any difference, we have no formal chain of command around here. Im honored to have gary, the president of Goldman Sachs to do this and wilbur, Everybody Knows wilbur, they never call him wilbur ross on wall street they just say oh, its wilbur. So well do fair trade deals and make it easier for you to trade across borders because of a lot of restrictions, a lot of problems and if you have any ideas on that that would be great because there are a lot of border restrictions and a lot of border problems, you probably have less of a problem than some companies, some companies have you have some problems. All right, so thats what we got was the tech trump round table there. Chiefs of amazon, google, oracle and the like all sitting around that room. Basically the net worth in the that room probably close to 100 billion. I should also note, though, of course as theyre talking jobs, many of whom have been very critical of thencandidate trump, jobs, trade, i should point out the head of twitter not in the room. Were back with our breaking news out of syria. Civilians who are still inside of aleppo have just been told they will no longer be able to escape, at least for now. A ceasefire has collapsed just hours after it went into effect. The deal, it was struck between the rebels and the progovernment fighters, was aimed to get the families, these women and children, away from the fighting but now were getting reports of new shelling leaving an estimated 50,000 people trapped in a war zone. Many pleading with the world to help them. Let me show you the latest tweet from a mother of that sevenyearold girl in aleppo named bana al abed. She and her family have been documenting their struggle just to survive. The mother writes dear world, theres intense bombing right now, why are you silent . Why . Why . Why . Fear is killing me and my kids. I want to cling in clarissa ward, our Cnn Senior International correspondent who has been inside aleppo you have called it hell, weve talked about the ceasefire but i want to ask you, we know people inside aleppo are badly injured, youve talked about the medical facilities, no resources, no food, no medicine. How do these people live and survive . Well, at the moment i think their very survival, brooke, is hanging in the balance because what were seeing now is rockets essentially raining down on aleppo, on that small part of eastern aleppo that is still under rebelheld control and as you said its an estimated 50,000 people inside that area, its difficult to know, frankly, it doesnt matter exactly how many there are. There are thousands of people. They dont have electricity. They dont v food. Many of them are severely injured. By some reports the hospitals are filled with dead bodies, they dont know what to do with them exactly and i can speak to just on a personal level receiving many messages from people inside aleppo, essentially goodbye messages, people saying thank you for the work you did here, thank you for your friendship, i want to say goodbye to you now because theres not a chance to do it. There is a real sense for people trapped in this part of the city that they may not live to see another day. There was a brief window last night when it looked like this turkishrussian brokered truce might take effect. The fighting stopped for a few hours. There were large green buses lined up purportedly to take out civilians from the heavily hit areas and get them into a safer space. That has subsequently crumbled. We dont know why although there is talk now that the deal may be back on but as weve seen so many times before, one doesnt want to get ones hopes up when you hear the deal is on. One doesnt want to fall into a pit of despair when the fighting starting again but for the people inside those areas who are being rained down on with rockets who have no power, no food, despair is a tough thing to keep at bay. Just to think that you were getting journalist to journalist goodbye notes from people within syria because they dont think they will live to see another day. The next question is about what this administration has done. We know that president obama sat down with Fareed Zakaria for this extensive interview. Fareed asked him how he feels about the u. S. Out of the Syrian Civil War militarily. Here is what he said. I think it is the smart eest decision from a menu of bad options that were available to us but do i believe that it would have been a profound mistake for us to wade in and to currently have 100,000 troops or 50,000 troops inside of syria right now . Do i think the situation would be better for us, i do not believe so. How do syrians feel about obamas decision . Well, i think they feel deeply disappointed. They also felt that they were misled. Part of the reason they went out and marched into a hail of bullets carrying signs calling for freedom was because they saw what happened in libya and the moral precedent that had been established there by the u. S. And they genuinely believed that the west would come in in some capacity if not to actively support them then certainly to prevent the basically extermination that we have seen take place across the country. And i think whats a little disingenuous about president obamas statement that you heard from fareed, is that he was presenting this as it was a either a choice to do nothing, which was the choice the u. S. Went with, or a choice to send in 100,000 troops and have a full on military intervention, a fullon invasion, if you like. To people on the ground inside syria that feels like a false representation they believe very firmly that the International Community could have done more, that a coalition could have been established. Weve heard from the saudis and the turks and the qataris that they were willing to take on the onus of a ground presence if only they had at least the support of the u. S. As always with these situations, hindsight is 2020, obviously in the fog of war its never easy to make these decisions but on the ground deep deep disappointment and bitterness about the u. S. s lack of involvement, brooke. Clarissa, thank you. Clarissa ward, shes been there, she knows. Coming up next, we are just days away from the official Electoral College vote that would seal the deal for a Trump Presidency. But more than a dozen electors are considering not voting for trump like theyre supposed to. Generosity is its own form of power. You can handle being a mom for half an hour. Im in all the way. Is that understood . I dont know what shes up to, but its not good. Cant the world be my noodles and butter . Get your mind out of the gutter. Mornings are for coffee and contemplation. That was a really profound observation. You got a mean case of the detox blues. Dont start a war you know youre going to lose. Finally you can now find all of netflix in the same place as all your other entertainment. On xfinity x1. Bottom of the hour, youre watching cnn, im brooke baldwin. In just four days, members of the Electoral College will officially cast their ballots to confirm their states choice for president of the United States. Pretty straightforward process. But now there are calls for those electors to vote against donald trump and one professor says some of them are likely to change their minds. But will it change the result . No. Zero percent. Will it be symbolic . Lets talk about that. The harvard professor leading this fight is lawrence lessig, he joins me now. I should mention that you yourself, sir, ran for president in the democratic primary. Also with me, attorney rj lyman who has been speaking with some of these republican electors. Gentlemen, thank you so much. Larry, first to you. So doing the math, you have to have at least 37 republican electors to oppose trump to then have him drop below the magic number of 270. Where are you right now . Well, as i said last night and i think rj will give some of the backing to why we think this is a fair number, we think theres about 20 who are seriously considering right now making a judgment of conscience and voting against how theyre pledged. A week ago there was one and so the real question is whether the incredible focus thats now been raised about the issues related to donald trump and this russian involvement and donald trump and his refusal to divest himself, to make him compliant with the foreign bribery clause, will lead others to ask the question whether they in good conscience can vote to affirm donald trump as their president. Everyone ive ever talked to said theres no way you would reach that point. Youd need, doing the math, 17 more to hit below 270 so this is really symbolic. Youre right, if all there is is 20, a significant number will decide not to vote against donald trump because what purpose will there be at that point . But if there is 20 and a number more begin to coalesce and say were also interested in voting our conscience then i think theres a significant chance, not a probability but a significant chance that enough will begin to see theres a reason for them to vote their conscience and if by monday they can be confident theyll have 37 others with them, then in fact they may make a decision that would change the result in this election. Rj, youre talking to some of these republican electors, what are they thinking . What are the conversations youre having . Well, i want to be clear. Im not recruiting them a cause. Im reminding them of their duty. The fundamental purpose of the Electoral College is not simply to spread the campaigns across the country. If we did that wed just have a statebystate point system. These are real people with a real responsibility and theyre supposed to follow their conscience and the constitution. People who call for the abolition of the Electoral College, people who say they should follow the popular vote, people who browbeat these good people who are serving the country i think are missing the mark and i think instead what the electors ive talked to appreciate is a little bit of guidance in how to think about how to discharge their responsibilities in a conscientious manner. Im curious, rj, in these conversations, the professor mentioned russia, we know a number of electors, roughly 10, have asked for these briefings on any sort of foreign intervention in the election. We know the Clinton Campaign is supporting that desire to get those briefings. Have they mentioned that at all and what have they said. Im quite careful not to tell you what the electors have said to me because they say it to me in confidence but i will tell you that when i talk with them and i say the test that hamilton and madison and the others who ratified the constitution set was fitness for the office and as i say thats really about whether the president will faithfully execute the office and whether he will preserve, protect and defend the constitution. And in talking about the constitution, theres no doubt about it if you look at the presumptive president elects conduct since november 8, campaigns are messy, i dont ask them to look to that, whether its First Amendment and attacks on the press, whether its his cavalier attitude towards treaty clause or as i like to say to them, most of us didnt know how to pronounce or spell moll yemo but we know the constitution dealt with the prospect of a president who might be more interested in moneymaking than in Government Service or in be subject to the interference of a foreign government. I have to jump in and quickly ask because i understand youre saying youre not trying to recruit anyone. Larry, we know liberals were initially through the campaign process crying foul because trump was saying he may not or he is being nebulous about whether or not he would accept the results of the election, especially if clinton were to win. But isnt that exactly what youre doing right now . Well, the election is a popular vote which, of course, clinton did win and an Electoral College vote which is exactly whats being raised right now and in the judgment that electors have to make but Electoral College is the reality here. Electoral college is a bunch of electors who are charged by the constitution with an obligation to make a judgment about whether they will affirm the results that have come from their states and thats exactly the decision theyre making right now and the judgment needs to be as rj has said one that looks to the constitution and the purpose of the restrictions the constitution imposes on the president. So you want them to go against their states and what they committed to and switch . I want them to vote their conscience. If i might. Please. Go ahead. Forgive me, im trying to understand. I hear you say vote their conscience but that kind of means not vote for trump. Not necessarily. Im not suggesting they shouldnt vote for donald trump, what i am saying is they had a twopart obligation under the constitution, one is to afford a moral certainty hamiltons words, not mine that none but the most qualified would assume the office. And the second was to ensure that whoever became president could keep could gain and maintain again, hamiltons words the esteem and confidence of the nation. Donald trump won 26 of the votes of eligible voters. Im not comparing him to mrs. Clinton. The last time a president during his tenure had the approval of that low a percentage of the country was the summer of 1974 in weeks before Richard Nixon resigned. I think the constitutional duty of the electors is not to vote against donald trump, it is to make sure that our institutions perform their twopart functions. Okay, i understand and you have 20, need 17 more to go. The vote is in four days. General, larry lessig, rj lyman, thank you so much. Thank you very much. Thanks, brooke. Coming up next here, the man who confessed to killing nine church goers in charleston. He decided not to testify in his own murder trial just hours ago. Well discuss the chances that he could ultimately receive the Death Penalty. Plus we are keeping our eye on a News Conference from fed chairwoman janet yellen who Just Announced an Interest Rate hike. What that means for you, your credit cards, your home. Well have that whole conversation coming up. See me. See me. Dont stare at me. See me. See me. See me to know that psoriasis is just something that i have. Im not contagious. See me to know that. I wont stop until i find what works. Discover cosentyx, a different kind of medicine for moderate to severe plaque psoriasis. Proven to help the majority of people find clear or almost clear skin. 8 out of 10 people saw 75 skin clearance at 3 months. While the majority saw 90 clearance. Do not use if you are allergic to cosentyx. Before starting, you should be tested for tuberculosis. An increased risk of infections and lowered ability to fight them may occur. Tell your doctor if you have an infection or symptoms. Such as fever, sweats, chills, muscle aches or cough. Or if you have received a vaccine or plan to. If you have inflammatory bowel disease, tell your doctor if symptoms develop or worsen. Serious allergic reactions may occur. See me. See me. See me. On my way. Find clear skin. And a clearer path forward. For a different kind of medicine, ask your dermatologist about cosentyx. Jury deliberations could begin as early as tomorrow in the Death Penalty trial of a man accused of brutally killing nine black parishioners including the pastor inside of charlestons historic mother Emanuel Ame Church. Both sides have rested over the graphic testimony of what happened last year. The one lone survivor who the shooter said he would not kill, polly shepherd, the nurse testified she was praying outloud during the massacre. She says she dialed 911 all the while hiding under a table begging police to hurry and stop the bloodshed. The suspect refusing to testify in his own defense. Prosecutors say he cased this particular church out for more than six months, seven trips he made before the fateful day. Closing arguments begin tomorrow morning. Cnns nick valencia wraps up the trials most have dramatic moments. Well, i had to do it because somebody had to do something because black people are killing white people everyday. Reporter over a year since his confession, dylann roof is standing trial but if roof had it his way, there would be no trial at all. Before the case began, roof said he was willing to plead guilty to the charges on the condition that prosecutors remove the Death Penalty. They refused. Over the past week in federal court, prosecutors have punctuated their case by painting roof as a coldblooded, calculated killer obsessed with White Supremacy and hateful of blacks. They say roof hoped to start a race war when he walked into the historically black Emanuel Ame Church in charleston on june 17, 2015. He prayed with the Bible Study Group for nearly an hour before removing a. 45caliber glock handgun and shooting nine people, some multiple times, even after they were already dead. Evidence presented by prosecutors at the trial included video showing roof shooting target practice. Parts of a more than 2,000 word manifesto and this white sheet found into his room cut into a triangle. Investigators believe it was roofs attempt to fashion it into a kkk hood. The last week of the trial has been no doubt emotional. The first witness brought to the stand was felicia sanders, a shooting survivor, forced to take a break from recounting her gut wrenching testimony of what she saw that day in charleston. On the first day of court, ruths own mother suffered a heart attack at the beginning of lunch recess. There was also drama behind the scenes as well with roofs defense. Up until two weeks ago, the 22yearold said he wanted to represent himself. Now hes changed his mind but only for the guilt faphase of t trial. During the penalty phase hes expected to be his own defense. Its a surprise considering his attorney david bruck is a Death Penalty lawyer who may not be able to use his skills if roof keeps his current plans. For those watching the case, the horrors of what happened last july lie in the facts. Roof has sat and listened, the whole time expressionless, emotionless, showing no remorse for the massacre hes accused of. Nick valencia, cnn, atlanta. Before before the defense rested today, the lead attorney tried to Call Mental Health experts to the stand. He argued fbi testimony opened the door but the judge said no. With me now, mark omara, cnn legal analyst who represented George Zimmerman in the Trayvon Martin case. Why did the defense rest so quickly . Im surprised at that. Roof seems to be the captain of the ship when he shouldnt be, he should be listening to the lawyers but they didnt put on a lot of evidence. You would think now is an tune time to get on some of the Mental Health evidence, even if not through experts at least get it in through some facts, some information, its not a question of did he do it. The question is is he going to die for it. That will be a question presented at the mipenalty phas and presumably at the guilt phase but it wasnt. So looking to your point as to whether he will die for what he did piece, from a defense perspective, how would you argue to save his life . Map that out. Its very difficult. Very few percent of Death Penalty eligible cases are premed premeditated. This is premeditated murder. That is the exception to the rule and the presumption in most jurors minds is you kill somebody with full intent and you get the worse penalty. The only way a defense can get away from the presumption thats there for Death Penalty is to try and show that roof has been acting when theres some mental defect, some dysfunction. The problem with that argument is roof himself through his testimony, through his randings, through his manuscript and confession i think pretty much ended the possibility of some type of Mental Health defense thereby increasing the chances significantly a jury will vote for death. We know the jury went home. Well see what happens tomorrow. Mark omara, thank you so much. Sure, brooke. Next, who is the most powerful person in the world Vladimir Putin or donald trump . Forbes releasing its list with a couple surprises. Who is the most powerful person in the world . If you ask forbes magazine, its not donald trump not yet, at least. It is russias president Vladimir Putin in the top spot. Mr. Trump is at number two. Lets talk to forbes managing editor david walt. How did you come to this conclusion . Why is it putin . Well, putin is on top of the list for the fourth Straight Year in a row. We look how many people they have power over, how much money, how they use their power. This is a guy that has no real checks on his power. Whether its ees annexing the crimea, hacking democratic and Republican Party servers in the United States, he seems to get away with it. Might trump usurp putin once he puts his hand on the bible . Weve had american president s in the past. Last year barack obama was number two with putin still at number one and the thinking there is barack obama has a system of checks and balances. Theres a congress and judiciary in the United States that keeps obamatoo powerful. That system isnt in place in russia. Donald trump was pleased to be time magazines person of the year. Are you checking his twitter feed to see his thoughts for forbes . There could be a little ego bruised for not being number one but i wouldnt complain about being number two. Maybe he would. What about women . You have number three germanys angela merkel, german chancellor. The Federal Reserve chair janet yellen at number six. Had Hillary Clinton won might she have the number two spot . Talk about the ladies. A number of ladies fell off this year, one of them being Hillary Clinton. If she had won the election she probably would be number two at least. We do see janet yellen as high ranking on the list, this is a woman who really is the primary market mover in the world, meaning shes in charge of Monetary Policy and shes such a steady hand over monetary polic policy. Angela america is really the last bastion of liberalism and is the face and head of the eu. The list of the most powerful people in the world according to forbes magazine. David ewalt, thank you for swinging by. Thank you. Next, tributes are pouring in for one of americas favorite tv dads. What makes this simple salad the best simple salad ever . Heart healthy california walnuts. The best simple veggie dish ever . Heart healthy california walnuts. The best simple dinner ever . Heart healthy california walnuts. Great tasting, heart healthy california walnuts. So simple. Get the recipes at walnuts. Org. What are you doing . Watching carol flirt with some guy, and hes not bobby. Well, thats none of your what guy . I dont know, but i think hes a little weird. Why . Hes interested in carol. [ laughter ] the man who appeared in our living rooms as the dad on growing pains has passed away suddenly. 69yearold alan thicke played dr. Jason seaver on the 80s sit come. He died after reportedly stuffing a heart attack while playing hockey with his 19yearold son. The ice rink manager explained what he saw. We were worried he was having a heart attack but he was breathing, he was talking. They got him up on the gurney, they went to take him out, he gave us a thumbs up, he looked at his kid and said wait, take a picture of me, get the rink in the background. Thickes most famous son robin thicke posted a touching tribute on instagram writing my father passed away today, he was the best man i ever knew, the best friend i ever had. Lets rejoice and celebrate the joy he brought to every room he was in. We love you, alan thicke, thank you for your love. Love, your grateful son. We continue on, top of the hour. This is cnn, im brooke baldwin. 24 hours ago there was a window of hope for civilians inside of syrias largest city. With word of a ceasefire they thought there would be a chance to us scape but with the crack of artillery fire their window to freedom slammed shut. Progovernment forces said to be dropping another round of bombs in renewing a fouryearlong battle for aleppo, the future for some 50,000 people ran theed inside the city remains unclear. Heres what we do know is that after the bombs fall all thats left are the muffled cries for help be below the rubble. Some run from the chaos, others run toward it these people documented in a new film, these are the white helmets