Transcripts For CNNW New Day 20161227

We begin with president elect donald trump sparring with the man he will succeed. Donald trump firing back after a series of tweets in a new interview. The president elect also defending his Charitable Giving and dismissing the United Nations as a club for people to have a good time. 24 days away from inauguration day. We have it all covered for you. Lets begin with cnns Jessica Snyder live in beautiful palm beach, florida, where it looks really warm because she is sleeveless. Yes. Warm, sunny, a bit windy as well, don, but we know that the president elect does not hold back on twitter. Last night was no exception. Despite it seeming serene and calm right here at maralago, he lashed out and he fought back the president elect going after president obama after obama speculated he would have won a third term if it was possible using his message of hope and inclusion. Im confident if i had run again and articulated it, i think i could have mobilized a majority of the American People to rally behind it. Trump tweeting, obama thinks he would have won against me. He should say that, but i say no way. Then boasting, the world was gloomy before i won. There was no hope. Now the market is up nearly 10 and Christmas Spending is over 1 trillion. Trump seemingly overlooking obamas record of cutting unemployment to a nineyear low and taking credit for Holiday Spending figures that arent final numbers the men who died reporter trump also going after the favorite target, the media, over his charity. The president elect claiming he gave and raised millions tweeting all of which is given to charity and media wont report, but tax records show trump has not donated to his foundation since 2008. No one can confirm any other Charitable Giving since trump has not released his tax records. The Trump Foundation itself admitted to violating irs regulations and is currently under investigation by the new York Attorney general. Right now we need to have a president who is free of conflict of interest, that means dissolving the foundation, that also means President Trump selling off his business interests that create conflicts of interest making sure theres no Foreign Government money coming to his operations. Reporter trump also continuing to air diplomatic grievances on social media questioning the United Nations value following the israeli settlement resolution. Trump tweeting the u. N. Has such Great Potential but right now it is a club for people to get together, talk, have a good time. So sad. It will be back to business here at maralago. Donald trump will be holding several meetings today. Were still waiting to hear who exactly hell be meeting with. As we tick down the days towards the inauguration on january 20th, were still looking at a few more key cabinet posts that donald trump needs to fill. Were looking at director of National Intelligence that he still hasnt named his nominee for as well as secretaries for agriculture as well as veterans affairs. A bit to watch. Poppy. Keeping us on our toes. Jessica schneider. Thank you. Meantime, israel is temporarily suspending working ties with a dozen nations that voted in favor of the u. N. Resolution condemning israeli settlements. This move comes amid increased tension from Benjamin Netanyahu and president obama. Oren lieberman is live with us. Whats the latest . Reporter Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hasnt backed down at all of his criticism of president barack obama and the others. He hasnt apologized for the diplomatic actions hes taken. First netanyahus accusations against the Obama Administration. He says obama was behind the u. N. Security resolution, drafting it, writing it, pushing it. Here is his spokesman david keys leveling that accusation again. We have ironclad from sources in the arab world and internationally and were going to share that information with the Incoming Administration through the proper channels and if the new administration chooses to share that information, thats their prerogati prerogative. Reporter we have repeatedly pushed the israelis, both keys and other israelis on what that information is. We have yet to get an answer. Yet its an accusation they keep on repeating. As for diplomatic actions, he has limited working ties with the ambassadors and ministries that has little practical effect. It expresses netanyahus anger. The story may not be over yet. Don, in a couple of weeks theres an International Peace conference trying to make some progress. Israel has said they will not attend. In a few days we expect secretary of state john kerry to lay out his vision for peace. Don . Thanks very much. I appreciate that. Lets discuss with james jeffrey. He is a former ambassador to iran and turkey. He and Hillary Mann Leverett is here. She represented the u. S. In u. N. Security council deliberations. Im so glad to have both of you on. Lets get right to t. Benjamin netanyahu is suspending working ties with 12 nations that voted for the u. N. Resolution condemning israeli settlements. Ironically that doesnt include the u. S. Which abstained. What kind of message do you think he is trying to send here . This is for you, hillary . Well, i think hes trying to divert attention to how profoundly isolated this vote in the Security Council shows israel to be on the world stage, both the depth and breadth of israels isolation. Netanyahu, i think, is trying to double down on his policies to show that israel actually is in the drivers seat, its controlling its own policies, but what the u. N. Security council vote shows us is how profoundly isolated they are and how dependent israel is on its relationship with the United States and with Incoming Trump administration which i think for all of the happiness that many in israel professed for the trump the Incoming Trump administration, theres also very deep concern about how trump will handle israel and the middle east peace process. Jeffrey, why make yourself more isolated . Well, first of all, israel isnt isolated. Israel has the best relations its ever had in the arab world. It has good trading relations with china. It has in depth dialogue with russia, particularly over syria. The problem is israel is isolated in the u. N. It has always been isolated in the u. N. The difference this time is the United States allowed the u. N. Vote to go forward. Normally the u. S. Blocks it. That is the difference. Its not something new about israel and the u. N. Mr. Jeffrey, i shouldnt have called you james. Israel is upping the ante. Its calling that the u. S. Push through the resolution. Saying it has ironclad information. Take a listen to this and then well discuss. We have ironclad information from sources in the arab world and internationally, and were going to share that information with the Incoming Administration through the proper channels and if the new administration chooses to share that information, thats their prerogative. Poppy harlow interviewed him this morning just a couple of minutes ago and pressed him on that issue. Whats the evidence . Why not put that evidence out right now with the Current Administration, deal with it with the Current Administration instead of the Incoming Administration . My perspective is, again, it shows the profound isolation and in some ways desperation of the netanyahu government. They missed they really missed this coming. The u. N. Vote hit them like a train coming down the tunnel just like, you know, obamas pursuit of the nuclear deal with iran. I think what youre seeing happen is these various reactions really out of desperation, surprise and the disorientation in terms of what israel can or should do. What kind of evidence there could be is really you know, i think very speculative, but what theyre trying to do is say this is a personal problem for president obama. And somehow the Incoming Trump administration is going to take care of it. But i think the israelis are also very weary because trumps nomination, for example, for secretary of state or secretary of defense do not have stellar pro israel records. I think the israelis are concerned and acting out of desperation. James, i interviewed dr. Hasan moments ago here on cnn, Plo Executive Committee member, and asked her about the palestinian role in all of this and recognizing israel as a jewish state. Heres her response. I mean, if you want to give religion to states. This is against our principles. I dont recognize islamic states, i dont recognize jewish states. A state is a state for all of its citizens. It has to be democratic, inclusive, tolerant and has to be genuinely representative of all of its people. You cannot give added value to any people because of their religion or ethnicity. Is israel getting added value because of ethnicity or religion . Not at all. The original u. N. Resolution back in 1948 talked about an arab state and a jewish state. In fact, palestine is a member of the arab league. Arab states all over the region call themselves arab states. Theres nothing new in this. Theres a specific difference because judaism is both an ethnicity and a religion. Thats a minor difference. This is a basic issue of concern between the two sides. Hillary, whats your response . Again, you know, i think its hard for americans to understand, but around the world people, governments see the palestinians here as the victim and so her comments may not be as persuasive here in the United States as they are around the world. You know, when i served at the u. N. I was there on 9 11. It was the only time that i remember or other diplomats there remember there being a standing ovation for a resolution passing. That resolution was for the United States to use whatever force necessary to respond to 9 11. The second time that happened in my memory was when the u. N. Voted here against israel with this resolution. The anger, the disappointment, the distrust of what the israelis are doing is profound around the world. I know its hard for americans to understand, but we just got this wake up call and its going to be important for the Trump Administration to handle it soberly. Speaking of the Trump Administration or the Incoming Administration and the Obama Administration, im talking about one president at a time. Donald trump is taking a big role here with israelis going so far as to personally reach out to him. Is this a big violation of the no two president s tradition . Is it dangerous . It is what it is, first of all. It is unusual. There have been some allegations in the past. What nixon was doing in the run up to his taking power, particularly visavis vietnam, so there are some precedents. Its something that at the end of the day Everybody Knows were in a transition, that barack obama is the president but that the things that he declares, the things he does have a halflife of about 2 1 2 weeks. On the other hand, everybody else knows that the donald trump we will get as president may or may not be the donald trump that were seeing in tweets. Hillary, is it dangerous . Yeah, i agree. It is something that weve seen that weve seen for decades, but even more important i think than the israelis reaching out are the egyptians. The egyptians can read the political map very accurately, and they also reached out to donald trump. Were the first to congratulate him in a phone call. The Russian Foreign leaders trying to congratulate donald trump show how seriously theyre taking him on the world stage. Pundants who have dismissed trump and under estimate him here at home will now have to face up to that abroad where he will make a big difference, a big impact. Fascinating interview. Also this story. Youre probably seeing headlines about it this morning. Violent brawls at more than a dozen malls around the country. This sparked panic among shoppers just one day after christmas. Many of the incidents caught on cell phone video posted on social media. Sara sidner is reporting on it. Do they know what sparked all of this . Reporter yes. There are some Police Departments that say social media played a role saying something like, come to the mall and fight. They are looking into this. It is very odd that it is happening at so many different places. Very similar scenes. Lets take a look at some of what happened yesterday as people were going back to the mall as one does after christmas to kind of hand back some of the gifts you dont want. You can hear people screaming here as punches are thrown and this is inside the shops of buckland hills, a large chase ensues. Our affiliate in hartford says one of the officers was assaulted trying to break up that fight. Then we move on to fort worth, texas. That area and that mall that you see there, thats put on lockdown following a massive fight there including over 100 middle school and High School Students near the food court. Officers had to go store to store to let people out once that lockdown was lifted. Then we move on to aurora, illinois. This is the start of what evolved into a massive fight at fox valley mall. Teenagers had to sprint down the stairs trying to get away after the fight broke out. The mall forced that mall to close for the entire day after that happened. Then in ohio, this is ridiculous. You see this happening over and over again. That mall put on lockdown following unfounded reports at first of an active shooter. That all began because of a fight broken out between students. Then in chattanooga, tennessee, after police say teenagers set off fireworks there were people running and scurrying, worried that that was gunshots. It was not gunshots but several shoppers were hurt there as they tried to get out of the way. And then in aurora town mall in colorado, that mall closed as well after several fights broke out inside the mall on several levels, mind you. There are about 500 people all surrounding that area, some of whom were involved in fights. Police say it all started with a social media post promising a fight and then lastly here in fayetteville, north carolina, people also forced to evacuate after a massive fight broke out at a food court. Police are looking into it and trying to figure out if theres any connection between all of these because it is very odd that you have more than a dozen of these happening across the United States all inside malls. Theyre checking social media, right . But so far no evidence on social media . They looked at social media. They are finding out there were some instances where social media did prompt people to go to the mall and fight, but this is really odd for this all to happen at once. Theres a lot of looking into that this morning. Sarah, thank you very much. Were just hours away from history being made in hawaii. A japanese leader will visit pearl harbor to honor americans killed in the attack 75 years ago. Well take you there live. Glad forceflex. Extra strong to avoid rips and tears. Be happy, its glad. History about to be made in hawaii. The Prime Minister shinzo abe will be the first japanese leader to visit pearl harbor for a memorial ceremony. 75 years after the deadly attack. President barack obama will join him at the u. S. S. Arizona memorial. Athena jones live in honolulu with the details. It will be very interesting, athena. Reporter it is. I think were going to see some poignant moments today, don. The visit kicks off with a bilateral meeting between the president and Prime Minister followed by a wreath laying ceremony aboard the u. S. S. Arizona and later theyll deliver remarks. This visit by Prime Minister abe comes seven months after president obama visited hiroshima. Now the Prime Minister is coming to pearl harbor to do the same. These are two historic visits that are serving as book ends. It highlights the power of reconciliation that has turned these former adversaries into the closest of allies. Before making this trip the Prime Minister said it would be a visit to soothe the souls of the victims and we should never repeat the ravages of the war. We expect those to be among the themes he touches on in his speech today. We do not expect Prime Minister abe to apologize for the attack on pearl harbor. We expect his speech to be a forward looking one. Poppy . Athena, thank you so much. Live from honolulu. Lets discuss all of this with democratic congressman from california, mike honda. Thank you for getting up early for us. You as well, general. We may not know your history. In colorado. As you look back at the 75 years since the attacks on pearl harbor. Hiroshima, what are your thoughts. As a japanese american and a person whos been through the camp experience and as a policy maker, looking back at these incidents has a much broader perspective for me than most people. I look at this as symbolic to leaders going through the process of reconciliation about the act that occurred at pearl harbor. But its also symbolic that the president had visited hiroshima. Those are two main lessons i think we need to carry on. Theres another here, and that is the domestic consequences of pearl harbor that visited the 120,000 americans and japanese ancestry where our government had set aside our own constitutional rights. Jap japan, the idea that the japanese government has to really come to grips with some of the atrocities that was committed during world war ii. This sets up the scenario for those kinds of discussions. And as the president s remarks at hiroshima were very forward looking, that is what athena has reported is expected, congressman, from shinzo abe today. Not an apology but a forward looking what are relations going forward. What do you want to hear . Well, i would like to hear both sides say that in the future these kinds of acts will not be repeated. We should learn from our history and learn from the past as japan had done the atrocious acts during world war ii and asia and the United States domestically that we set aside during the times of war hisster yeah, s hy we have to watch that today. Something, of course, the u. S. Government in decades went back and apologized for and paid reparations to japanese american families. Right. I think thats an important i think thats an important aspect that in this country we did fight for that apology in 1980. President reagan signed that apology. Let me get the general in here. General hertling, the first meeting that the president elect had in office, the first meeting he had was with shinzo abe on his stop here in new york. This comes in the context of the pivot towards asia from the Obama Administration and what the president elect has said about Nuclear Weapons at one point during the campaign suggesting perhaps, you know, japan should arm themselves. Where does this next administration move forward in japanese u. S. Relations . Ill go along with congressman honda there and talk about the future versus whats happened in the past. To understand conflict and to understand your place in the world you have to also understand other nations history and their culture. Thats what Prime Minister abe is going to see today. He will be the first to visit the actual memorial site, the bridge over the arizona, and for anyone who has ever been there, poppy, that is an extremely emotional experience. There is still oil leaking from the boat. You know that there is its the tomb of over 1,000 sailors in the arizona. Those are the emotional moments that you have to combine with policymaking decisions. And when president elect trump is talking about dealing with other countries, he has to understand why japan is in the condition they are in today with their defense structure, why the u. S. Supports that defense structure, what strategic advantage it gives us to have bases in japan and to deal with other japanese not only the japanese nation but other pacific nations. So all of these things are critically important to understand the world we see ourselves in today, and its based a lot on culture and history. Absolutely. Thank you both very much. General hertling and representative honda, appreciate it. Kidnapped in 2014. Nigerian school girls whose mass kidnapping sparked International Outrage have a lot to celebrate this season. A live report on their journey next. We live in a pick and choose world. Choose. Choose. Choose. But at bedtime. Why settle for this . Enter sleep number and the lowest prices of the season. Sleepiq technology tells you how well you slept and what adjustments you can make. She likes the bed soft. Hes more hardcore. So your sleep goes from good to great to wow only at a sleep number store, right now, save 600 on our best selling i8 mattress, plus 24 month special financing. Learn more at sleepnumber. Com know better sleep with sleep number. Tomorrows the day besides video games. Every day is a gift. Especially for people with Heart Failure. But today theres entresto. A breakthrough medicine that can help make more tomorrows possible. Tomorrow, i want to see teddy bait his first hook. In the largest Heart Failure study ever, entresto was proven to help more people stay alive and out of the hospital than a leading Heart Failure medicine. Women who are pregnant must not take entresto. It can cause harm or death to an unborn baby. Dont take entresto with an ace inhibitor or aliskiren. If youve had angioedema while taking an ace or arb medicine, dont take entresto. The most serious side effects are angioedema, low blood pressure, kidney problems, or high potassium in your blood. Tomorrow, im gonna step out with my favorite girl. Ask your doctor about entresto. And help make the gift of tomorrow possible. Welcome back. New day, number one, israel temporarily suspending working ties with 12 nations. Those nations that voted in favor of the u. N. Resolution condemning israeli settlements. The move comes amid increased tension between Benjamin Netanyahu and president obama. And its an historic day in hawaii. Prime minister shinzo abe will be the first leader to attend a Memorial Service for the americans killed in the 1941 pearl harbor attack. President barack obama will join him for the service. In chicago, an uptick in gang activity. More than last year. Just one day after christmas. The balls happening from new jersey to california. They appear to be fighting for their own survival. A new study to show the last land animal. The cheetah population is just about 7,000 with most of them living in africa and advocates suggest they deserve endangered species status. For more on the five things to know, go to new day cnn. Com for the very latest. Its an important story we need to tell you about right now. 21 chubok school girls and a baby are going home. They were freed after more than two years in boko haram captivity back in the fall and just wrapped up a tenweek recovery with the nigerian government. Our own aisha sesay is on the story. She joins us now from lagos, nigeria. For you someone who has covered this personally for so long, incredibly meaningful. Reporter yeah. Hi there, don and poppy. Incredibly meaningful. Just something that will always stay with me, being able to make this journey home with these girls. This was a journey they had been longing to make. Really very much a long road home to reuniting with family and their community. After almost 2 1 2 years in boko haram captivity, at last its time to go home. Having covered the chibok girls abduction from the very beginning, im going to make the long journey with them. Youre going home. How are you feeling . Somebody tell me, what is the feeling in your heart right now . Happy. Reporter happy . For all the talk of excitement, some of these girls are also nervous. Dont be nervous. Dont be afraid, okay . Behold your faith. You hold on to your faith, okay . Okay . The same faith that kept you all those months. Reporter with the girls on the move, there are more smiles as they chant and giggle freely amongst themselves. Once we land in yola the girls are welcomed by some of the Chibok Community leaders as well as the governor. The road to chibok too dangerous to travel after dark. The girls spend the night at a local hotel. Outside a large security cordoned is put in place. Inside with their journey delayed, they gather in one room to do what they were unable to do while in boko haram captivity. I learned they were singing local christian hymns. While in captivity at this their christianity was not tolerated by the boko haram terrorists. What have you been doing since you hit nabuja. We are very grateful. We are grateful for them. When we are in abuja, we have english class. We learn how to speak english and writing. Bye. Reporter you guys look so different since i saw you in october. How are you feeling now, from that time till now . We are feeling beautiful since we came. Reporter you can tell me. You can tell me. Because you are beautiful. The next morning the military convoy escorts the girls to chibok, a place that holds the promise of longawaited family reunions and memories of a fateful night. So the convoy has stopped in a town called madamamubi which is about an hour away from chibok. The movement through these parts, a wellarmed convoy, is drawing attention from passers by. As we enter chibok town locals wave excitedly welcoming their girls home. The moment of reunion eventually arrives. The room almost vibrating with the sound of unbridled joy. For some pay thing parents, heartbreak. They thought their children were among the group who were coming home for christmas. There has been such an outpouring of grief amid the joy. The piercing screams of mothers realizing that, indeed, they are not to be reunited with their daughters on this day, which has turned what should have been an overwhelmingly happy moment into a bitter sweet one. For rebecca and her father, the nightmare is over and her father is over come with feelings of gratitude. Given all they have endured, the mental and physical abuse at the hands of their captors, the years of painful separation from their loved ones, this reunion here in chibok moves these fractured families and the community a step closer to homeless. I want to say again that these girls, indeed, are beautiful and they are amazing. After the Christmas Period the Festive Season they will head back to abuja, the capitol of nigeria in early january to continue their path towards complete recovery. Don, poppy. Isha, thank you so much for bringing us this story always and, you know, its important for the world to see. Thank you for all youve done. Yeah, absolutely. Its been five months since donald trump held his last press conference. Why wont the president elect face the media and face questions . Well get the bottom line next. Times and bad. D. At t. Rowe price. Weve helped our investors stay confident for over 75 years. Call us or your advisor. T. Rowe price. Invest with confidence. Five months ago today was the last time the president elect held a news conference. Trump repeatedly criticized Hillary Clinton for the same thing throughout the campaign. Why is he tweeting and not talking to the press . Lets get the bottom line from our senior congressional correspondent, david drucker. Hes probably doing it because he feels he doesnt have to. Heres some things. Ill get your response. The world was gloomy before i won. There was no hope. The market is up nearly 10 and Christmas Spending is over 1 trillion. Then he said, i saved the Auto Industry and i killed bin laden. That was partly sarcasm. Still, hes going around the media. Maybe he doesnt feel he has to hold a press conference. Right. He has a daily tweet conference. Thats in place of a press conference. Its interesting, right, because when donald trump started in his campaign he talked to every show, every single day. Nine interviews i think. Without reservation. Only on his terms. He would call in. I sat down with him a couple of times. Don lemon has sat down. I never talked to the guy, but if youre if you have watched the evolution, hes gone from doing all of the Mainstream Media programs on sundays, granted in his bathroom on the telephone, but he was on every week, to generally talking to right of center media only. Not even right of center media but very friendly, as he perceives it friendly right of center media, and even on those networks only hosts he feels comfortable. Not the case with chris wallace. No. No. Still friendly territory. He occasionally branches out. Chris wallace has done a very good job of trying to pin him down. Right. I think the way that trump sees it is he hasnt held a press conference in a long time. He won the election and i think voters generally dont trust us and, therefore, they will put up with him not talking to us. Can i Say Something . Thats the whole point. Thats the strategy. He cant sit down with the media because then he legitimizes the media which he rallies or rails so much against. And to dons point, i mean, look, hate us all you want, the media. Its actually you need to be responsive to the American People. Right. The people that elected you. We are that line to the people. Even the people who didnt vote for him. Outside twitter. You cannot explain complex things on twitter. No. Let me expand the point. Half of the country really likes him, they dont like us. They dont care if he ever talks to us ever. The other half of the country, they sort of dont like us for other reasons but they dont like trump and they would like him to talk to us because were the only ones that are going to ask him the very tough and complex questions. What about your charity . What about your tax returns . What about your Foreign Policy and your plans to repeal and replace the Affordable Care act . This is a president elect who has talked about changing laws. Right. Hes talked about First Amendment rights. Right. This is serious stuff. Whether or not hell follow through on attempting to change the freedom of the press, thats serious stuff. Right. Even the Republican Congress will stand in his way of metsing wi messing with the bill of rights. I will say this, i think trump in part likes to spar with us and likes to keep us as the bogey man because it works for him. The biggest point is even voters who voted against him want him to take our tough questions, they have their own problems with us. He still needs us more than we need him. Im not a news executive, but if i were, i would say i would not cover his tweets. I disagree. I would be very judicious about the tweets. You do . Yes. No. That is his way if im in your chair, i cover the tweets. You have to. From my from my chair, they come through my twitter stream and i do not touch them. But i think that i wouldnt because unless i hear it from his mouth at a press conference or representative, then i would not take it as gospel. I wouldnt cover it. Dons thinking, correct me if im wrong, if he doesnt speak directly no. To us, then if he is ignored essentially the tweets then he will have a press conference. Of course he will. He hates being ignored. Come on. All president s want be to get their message out. There was a time in history when they needed us to get their message out. Barack obama, the president , hasnt needed us to get the message out. Donald trump doesnt need us to get his message out. There will come a time when he needs to talk to the American People through us on some very complex issues. Are we out of time . I wanted to ask him one more question. Guess who will be back tomorrow . I wanted to ask you about the palestinian representative we had on this morning and what she said, real quick, that theres no twostate solution because she says she doesnt recognize it. If you dont recognize israel as a majority jewish state then you dont have a twostate solution. David keith said it has to be recognized. No matter what you call it. Guys, we have to leave it there. Im so sorry, producers in the control room. She was one of the greatest hits of 2016. Simone biles racked up the gold in rio and stole hearts around the world. She spoke to cnn about her amazing year. Thats next. She captured the hearts of americans winning five olympic medals including four gold ones at the rio games. Her gymnastics routines defied gravity and inspired Young Athletes everywhere. Joining us is olympic champion simone biles. She wraps up her amazing year in her new book courage to soar. Hi, simone. Hi. How are you doing . Im good. How are you . Im doing well. Your book is a memoir, and you deserve it because youve packed a lot into those 19 years and you you know, you reveal a lot of personal details in this book. Yes. About your life. Why did you you want to write it . I figured it would be best to hear my story. I think its pretty unique from me rather than everyone reading it online. Yes. Its nice to tell your own story certainly. Some of the things that you revisit in this book are that your biological mother struggled with drugs and alcohol. You were put into foster care at a young age and you spent time there and then you were adopted by your grandparents. Was it hard to go back and relive all of that for the book . Not necessarily because i was so young when everything happened so i dont remember a lot of the details, i just remember vague stories. But other than that, it was pretty easy. You struggle with adhd. Why did you want to talk about that . Yes. Well, i think its important for kids to know that even professional athletes have adhd and its nothing to be ashamed of. Were still normal. That is a great message. It is hard to believe this, but in your book you talk about your insecurity at times about your body. You know yes. Your body is like a specimen. I mean, perfection to most people, and yet you felt insecure about it at times. Why . Yes. Because being a leo your whole entire life, you go through puberty, your body is changing, its a little bit different. I mean, i think its important for kids to learn that, too, that at times were uncomfortable with our bodies but then we gain our confidence back but its okay. Correct me if im wrong, didnt you also have insecurity about your body before you were a gymnast when you were a little kid because you are so muscle bound but what was it . Did kids make fun of you . What was that experience like . Going to Public School nobody really had a body build that i did and i was a girl so the guys would sometimes make fun of me, but i think they were just jealous because they didnt have the muscle definition i did. So i got made fun of so i would try to hide my muscles instead of show them so i would always wear a jacket. And then when you first went to the gymnastics tud y nanasti was your reaction . I figured it was normal and we needed that body type for this sport. So whenever i was in the gym i was very comfortable with my body because all the other girls had similar body types. I also want to ask you about your faith because you said that you felt that it was important to talk about that and you wanted other kids to understand what role faith plays in your life. So tell us about that. Yes. So ive always gone to church. I go every sunday whenever im in town with my mom and my sister, and its important for kids to realize that you can like faith can help you along the way so you dont have to hide that either. Even if you want to do like a little prayer on the side, you dont have to like close your eyes and do it, you can still just stand there by yourself and like know that youre praying in that moment. Is that what you were doing during the olympics . Yeah. Like in the back i was praying a lot. Wow. Well, it worked. It did. Of course, all of your talent and skill. I know that the last time we interviewed you you shared what a phenomenal year this has been, as we said. You had this like run of successes at the olympics, but there was also a moment that you thought was the highlight of your year, and it was when you got to meet your hearthrob, zac efron. Tell us about that moment. Yes. That moment was like very crazy because i didnt think it was going to happen, but hoda was so sweet in bringing him out. It was amazing. That is a great, adorable moment. So, simone, whats next for you . Im here in l. A. Doing my book tour. I have my houston book tour at the beginning of january, and then ill take some time off. I might go on vacations and stuff. Great. Are we going to see you in 2020 at the olympics in tokyo . Yes. Thats great. Well, simone biles, thanks so much. Its a great book. I do think that it will really help young kids understand that even champions among us struggle with lots of things and its wonderful of you to share it all and to be here on new day with us. Thanks so much. Thank you. The good stuff is next. Time for the good stuff this morning. It is from connecticut where a state trooper became a delivery man, literally on christmas eve. The gentleman in the car gets out. I walk up to the car and she was in active labor. I had just barely enough time to get my gloves. Thats trooper first class gregory caps who pulled over to help a couple in distress and wound up delivering their baby. Ah. On the side of the highway. Mom and baby are doing great. Continuing the christmas theme, the babys name is, i love this, ebenezer. Not scrooge after he had gone through the whole thing. Wheres the what do you want . I liked this little setup right here. Where is the yule log. He wants a fireplace. Guys . Sit there and eat popcorn at the fireplace and watch Suzanne Malveaux in for carol costello. Good to see you guys. Imagine the kid in school, ebenezer, trying to explain his name . Thats going to be a tough one, i think. Oh. Call him ebe. Good to see you, guys. You, too,