taxpayers and fiscal responsibility and this is the first installment. >> would you call that the bully pulpit even though he isn't the president yet. using the bully pulpit to send a signal to a company? >> i think you could call it the bully pulpit on behalf of fiscal responsibility. not a message to a particular company. it's -- look, what you have -- i saw it last week in cincinnati for the thank you rally. he will be in north carolina tonight. i will be traveling with him later this week. he is someone who will go straight to the american people with his priorities. he'll go straight to the american people are our agenda. i was on capitol hill today meeting with members of the senate, and i told them that remember, as we lay out this aggressive agenda for that first 100 days on capitol hill, they're going to have, in an g inaugurated president trump. somebody who will go to the people and marshall the support of the american people to drive the agenda and "make america great again." >> michael g. flynn, the son of michael flynn, has been pushing a bunch of conspiracy theories, including one that impacted staying where you're staying right now, your local pizza place, comet pizza. an insane lie spread online that led a man to barge into the restaurant with two weapons. thankfully no one was hurt. flynn jr. was on the transition team, but a source familiar with the investigation tells me he was asked to leave and that the direct order came from president-elect trump. tell me what happened. >> well, what i can say is that we are so grateful and honored to have general flynn as our nominee for national security advisor. he brings an extraordinary wealth of experience. he is also a dedicated family man. and i said this morning that his son had no involvement in the transition, but i have talked to general flynn. his son was helping him a bit with scheduling and administrative items. but that's no longer the case. look, all of our families want to be helpful, and four weeks to the day from election day there has been an awful lot of work to do. but -- but mike flynn jr. is no long longer associated with general flynn's efforts or with the transition team and we're focused eyes forward. >> you're downplaying his role. you must be aware that the transition team put in for security clearance for michael g. flynn, the son of lieutenant general flynn. >> i am aware in talking to general flynn that his son was helping with scheduling, jake. >> but you put in for a security clearance for him. >> he was helping his dad arrange for meetings and provide meetings but that's no longer the case. >> do you need security clearance to do scheduling? >> i think that's the appropriate decision for us to move forward, avoid further d distraction. i'm confident as we continue to build the team. tonight you'll see the president-elect formally announce general mattis as the new secretary of the department of defense that the earn people will be impressed with the way that the president-elect is bringing together men and women that are -- that will make make safe again. >> i want to move on to other issues but i am afraid i didn't get an answer which is, were you aware that the transition had put in for a security clearance for michael flynn jr.? >> i have worked closely with general flynn. we've met on many occasions. i have never -- i have never seen his son present for any of those meetings -- >> you're head of the transition team, so you know who you put in for security clearances for. >> general flynn did inform him his son was helping on administrative matters. but jake, this is all the kind of distraction that, frankly, i know, with all due respect, the national media likes to chase after. i think what the american people are impressed by and it's a reason why frankly you see public opinion on the rise about the president-elect in the last four weeks, is because they're seeing the kind of decisive leadership that donald trump is bringing to this transition. it's the kind of enner jergetic leadership to focus on driving our nation forward to a stronger more prosperous agenda. >> sorry, you're not answering the question. which is were you aware that the transition team had put in for a security clearance? this is a young man who had a social media profile with all sorts of crazy conspiracy theories, all sorts of links and retweets with white supremacists. were you aware that the transition team put in for a security clearance for him? >> what i can tell you is that, in talking with general flynn today, he made me aware his son was assisting in schedding meetings -- >> you put in for the security clearance. >> what was was needed in that regard was taking place. but that's no longer the case and your viewers and the american people can be confident we're going to continue to drive forward. there is a challenging time for america's place in the world. a week ago yesterday we saw a terrorist inspired attack on the ohio state campus. we are bringing together with general mike flynn, k.t. mcfarland, with the team that will surround them and advise the president. with people who will set into motion i'm confident the policies to make america safe again. >> we saw somebody would days ago go to comet pizza because of this crazy conspiracy theory michael g. flynn put out afterwards. i'll move on. mitch mcconnell said today obamacare. they'd start the process of trying to repeal it on day one. paul ryan said it would probably take about three years to come up with a replacement. is that good enough for you? president-elect trump says repeal and replace. is repeal now and replace three years later okay? or do you want a change in the time line? >> let me say the first thing we'll do and the president-elect indicated this to the leaders of house and senate, we'll keep our promise to the american people and repeal obamacare lock, stock and barrel. we'll also work with the members of the house and senate to ensure an orderly transition. the length of time that will take will be a subject of legislative debate. and we'll fill in the substance of that. we're also prepared as i told members of the senate today, the president-elect is prepared on day one to put into effect the kind of administrative action that will ensure that that transition happens on an orderly basis. but we have got to take action. the truth is obamacare right now is scheduled to increase premiums by an average of 25% all across this country, putting an enormous weight on american families and american businesses. in arizona alone premiums are scheduled to go up an average of 116%. we're going to use the vehicle of a budget resolution right out of the box, and we're going to repeal obamacare. and we're going to set into motion the kind of orderly process that will address the health care needs of this country, harnessing the power of the free market, giving consumers more choices in health insurance. those are the ideas the president-elect talked about as a candidate. we'll keep those promises once he takes seat in the oval office. >> for those who can't afford health insurance and only have it because of the medicaid expansion and because of the stipends, what should they expect during the transition period? will their medicaid expansion stay there? >> i would anticipate that a part of what we'll do is what the president-elect has called for through the course of the campaign. and that is, while we -- while we take the mandate off every american that exists under obamacare, the threat of higher taxes against individuals and businesses, we're going to develop a plan to block grant medicaid back to the states so that states can do exactly what indiana was able to do in part by reforming medicaid. the state of indiana, which president-elect and i have talked an awful lot about, actually -- medicaid recipients can have health savings accounts. to have first-dollar benefits. they make monthly contributions to those and they're given credit for preventive medicine and wellness. these are the kind of market principles that states can innovate in medicaid and it will be part and parcel of our plan to replace obamacare. >> last question for you, sir, because i know you have a lot of meetings to do. your son is a marine. >> he is. >> you and your boss, more your boss but with your advice and consent and help, about now be in charge of the lives of our men and women in uniform. i am wondering -- this will be the first time that you play a role like this, sending troops or helping a president to send troops into battle or not send troops into battle. and you will be doing so as a dad, who has a son in the marines. i am just wondering how that might impact you. sometimes generallies, they say the biggest doves in washington are the ones with stars on their shirts because they understand it. how will it affect you? >> it will affect me the way it affects every american, when we think about those decisions. i think what people can take great comfort in, and when they see general mattis take to the stage tonight as the nominee to be the new leader at the department of defense and they think about his extraordinary background, they can be confident that they'll have a president in donald trump who is going to rebuild our military and believes firmly that we will have peace through strength. a stronger america is a safer america. a stronger america is a safer and more stable world. but i can tell you that we'll also have a commander in chief that will look at the lives of the men and women who serve in uniform as though they were his very own kids and will approach those decisions -- i know he had -- with prayer and with reflection. but the objective is to have an america strong enough, with a rebuilt military, with our soldiers, sailors, airmen, marine and coast guards able to have the resources and training to do their jobs so that we don't ever have to ask them to fight. >> vice president-elect mike pence from the great state of indiana. thank you so much. best of luck to you. >> appreciate it. let's join president obama live at macdill air force base in tampa, florida delivering the final national security plan of his presidency. >> have degraded al qaeda in the peninsula. these offensive efforts have buttressed a global effort to make it harder for terrorist networks to breach our defenses and spread their violent ideologies. working with european allies, who suffered terrible attacks, we have strengthened intelligence sharing and cut in half the flow of foreign fighters to isil. we've worked with our tech sector to support efforts to push back on terrorist messages, on social media, that motivate people to kill. a recent study shows that isil's propaganda has been cut in half. we've launched a global engagement center to empower voices that are countering isil's perversion of islam. and we're working closely with muslim majority partners from the gulf to southeast asia. this is your work. we should take great pride in the progress that we have made over the last eight years. that's the bottom line. no foreign terrorist organization has successfully planned and executed an attack on our homeland. [ applause ] and it's not because they didn't try. plots have been disrupted, terrorists have been taken off the battlefield. and we've done this even as we drew down nearly 180,000 troops in harm's way in iraq and afghanistan. today there are just 15,000. new partnerships have been built. we've respected the rule of law. we've enlisted our values in this fight. and all of this progress is due to the service of millions of americans like you, in intelligence and in law enforcement. homeland security and diplomacy, and the armed services of the united states of america. it's thanks to you. [ applause ] thanks to you. [ applause ] now, to say that we have made progress is not to say that the job is done. we know that a deadly threat persists. we know that, in some form, this violent extremism will be with us for years to come. in too many parts of the world, especially in the middle east, there has been a breakdown of order that's been building for decades. and it's unleashed forces that are going to take a generation to resolve. long-term corruption has rotted too many nation-states from within. governance is collapsing. sectarian conflicts rage. a changing climate is increasing competition for food and water. [ applause ] >> and false prophets are peddling a vision of islam that is irreconcilable with tolerance and modernity and basic science. in fact, every one of these trends is at play inside of syria today. and what complicates the challenge even more is the fact that, for all of our necessary focus on fighting terrorists overseas, the most deadly attacks on the homeland over the last eight years have not been carried out by operatives with sophisticated networks or equipment directed from abroad. they've been carried out by home-grown and largely isolated individuals who were radicalized online. these deranged killers can't inflict the sort of mass casualties that we saw on 9/11, but the pain of those who lost loved ones in boston, in san bernardino, in fort hood and in orlando, that pain continues to this day. and, in some cases, it has stirred fear in our populations and threatens to change how we think about ourselves and our lives. so while we've made it much more difficult, you have made it much more difficult, to carry out an attack approaching the scale of 9/11, the threat will endure. we will not achieve the kind of clearly defined victory comparable to those that we won in previous wars against nations. we won't have a scene of the emperor of japan and douglas macarthur in a surrender. the reason we won't have that is because technology makes it impossible to completely shield impressionable minds from violent ideologies. and somebody who is trying to kill and willing to be killed is dangerous particularly when we live in a country where it's very easy for that person to buy a very powerful weapon. so rather than offer false promises that we can eliminate terrorism by dropping more bombs or deploying more and more troops or fencing ourselves off from the rest of the world, we have to take a long view of the terrorist threat. and we have to pursue a smart strategy that can be sustained. in the time remaining let me suggest what i think should guide this approach. first of all, a sustainable counter-terrorism strategy depends on keeping the threat in perspective. the terrorist threat is real, and it is dangerous, but these terrorists want to cast themselves as the vanguard of a new world order. they are not. they are thugs and they are murderers and they should be treated that way. [ applause ] now, fascism threatened to overrun the entire world. and we had to wage total war in response. communism threatened not over -- not only to overturn a world order but threatened nuclear holocaust. we had to build armaments and alliances to contain it. today's terrorists can kill innocent people, but they don't pose an existential threat to our nation, and we must not make the mistake of elevating them as if they do. that -- that does their job for them. it makes them more important and helps them with recruitment. a second and related point is that we cannot follow the path of previous great powers who sometimes defeated themselves through overreach. by protecting our homeland while drawing down the number of troops serving in harm's way overseas, we helped save resources but, more importantly, we saved lives. i can tell you, during the course of my eight years, that i have never shied away from sending men and women into danger where necessary. it's always the hardest decision i make, but it's one that i have made where the security of the american people is at stake. and i have seen the cost. i have held the hands of our wounded warriors at walter reed. i have met the caskets of the fallen at dover. and that's why i make no apologies for only sending our troops into harm's way when there is a clear mission that is achievable and when it is absolutely necessary. number three, we need the wisdom to see that upholding our values and adhering to the rule of law is not a weakness in the long term, it is our greatest strength. [ applause ] the whole objective of these terrorists is to scare us into changing the nature of who we are and our democracy. and the fact is, people and nations do not make good decisions when they are driven by fear. these terrorists can never directly destroy our way of life. but we can do it for them if we lose track of who we are and the values that this nation was founded upon. [ applause ] and i always remind myself that, as commander in chief, i must protect our people, but i also swore an oath to defend our constitution. and over these last eight years we've demonstrated that staying true to our traditions as a nation of laws advances our security as well as our values. we prohibited torture, everywhere, at all times. and that includes tactics like water-boarding. at no time has anybody who has worked with me has told me that doing so has cost us good intelligence. [ applause ] when we do capture terrorists, despite all the political rhetoric about the need to strip terrorists of their rights, our interrogation teams have obtained valuable information from terrorists without resorting to torture, without operating outside the law. our article 3 courts have delivered justice faster than military trials, and our prisons have proven more than capable of holding the most dangerous terrorists. consider the terrorists who have been captured lawfully enter gated and prosecuted in civilian courts. shazad who tried to set off a car bomb in times square. tamerlan tsarnaev, the boston marathon bomber. the so-called underwear bomber. american juries and judges determined that none of these people will know freedom again. but we did it lawfully. and the wheels of justice right now are turning for others. terrorists like warsami an al shabaab commander and the accused leader of the benghazi attacks. we can get these terrorists and stay true to who we are. in fact, our success in dealing with terrorists through our justice system reinforces why it is past time to shut down the detention facility at guantanamo. [ applause ] >> this is not just my opinion. it's the opinion of many military leaders. during my administration, we have responsibly transferred over 175 detainees to foreign governments with safeguards to reduce the risk of them returning to the battlefield and we've cut the population in gitmo from 242 to 59. the politics of fear has led congress to prevent any detainees to be transferred to prisons in the united states, even though, as we speak, we imprison dangerous terrorists in our prisons and we have even more dangerous criminals in all of our prisons across the country. even though our allies oftentimes will not turn over a terrorist if they think that terrorist could end up in gitmo. even though groups like isil use gitmo in their propaganda. so we're wasting hundreds of millions of dollars to keep fewer than 60 people in a detention facility in cuba. that's not strength. until congress changes course, it will be judged harshly by history, and i will continue to do all that i can to remove this blot on our national honor. [ applause ] number four. we have to fight terrorists in a way that does not create more terrorists. for example, in a dangerous world, terrorists seek out places where it's often impossible to capture them or to count on local governments to do so. and that means the best option for us to get those terrorists becomes a targeted strike. so we have taken action. under my command. including with drones. to remove terrorists from the battlefield, which protects our troops and has prevented real threats to the american people. [ applause ] now, under rules that i put in place and that i made public, before any strike is taken outside of a war zone, there must be near certainty that no civilians will be killed or injured. and while nothing is certain in any strike, and we have acknowledged that there are tragic instances where innocents have been killed by our strikes, this is the highest standard that we can set. nevertheless, we still have critics who suggest that these strikes are wrong. and i say to them, you have to weigh the alternatives. drone strikes allow us to deny terrorists a safe haven without air strikes, which are less precise, or invasions that are much more likely to kill innocent civilians as well as american service members. so the actions that we've taken have saved lives. at home and abroad. but the point is that we do have to be careful to make sure that, when we take actions, we're not alienating local populations because that will serve as recruitment for new terrorists. number five. transparency and accountability serve our national security not just in times of peace but, more importantly, in times of conflict. that's why we have made public information about which terrorist organizations we are fighting and why we are fighting them. we have released assessments of non-combatants killed in our operations, taken responsibility when mistakes are made. we've declassified information about interrogation methods that were wrong, so we learn from past mistakes. and yesterday i directed our government, for the first time, to release a full description of the legal and policy frameworks that guide our military operations around the world. this public information allows for a more informed public debate, and it provides a potential check on unfettered executive power. the power of the presidency is awesome, but it is supposed to be bound by you, our citizens. [ applause ] but here is the thing. that information doesn't mean anything. it doesn't work if the people's representatives in congress don't do their jobs. [ applause ] if they're not paying attention. [ applause ] right now we are waging war under authorities provided by congress over 15 years ago. 15 years ago. i had no gray hair 15 years ago. two years ago i asked congress, let's update the authorization. provide us a new authorization for the war against isil, reflecting the changing nature of the threats. reflecting the lessons that we have learned from the last decade. so far congress has refused to take a vote. democracies should not operate in a state of permanently authorized war. that's not good for our military. [ applause ] >> it's not good for our democracy. and by the way, part of the reason that's dangerous is because today, with our outstanding, all-volunteer force, only 1% of the population is actually fighting. [ applause ] which means that you are carrying the burden. which means that it is important for us to know what it is that we're doing and have to explain what we are doing to the public, because it becomes too easy to just send 1% of the population out to do things, even if they're not well thought through. if a threat is serious enough to require the sacrifice of our men and women in uniform, then members of congress should at least have the courage to make clear where they stand, not on the sidelines. not on cable tv shows. but by fulfilling their constitutional duty and authorizing the use of force. [ applause ] against the threats that we face today. that's how democracies are supposed to work. number six. alongside our outstanding military work, we have to draw upon the strength of our diplomacy. terrorists would love to see us walk away from the type of work that builds international coalitions and ends conflicts and stops the spread of deadly weapons. it would make life easier for them. it would be a tragic mistake for us. just think about what we have done these last eight years without firing a shot. we have rolled back iran's nuclear program, that's not just my assessment. that's the assessment of israeli intelligence even though they were opposed to the deal. we secured nuclear materials around the globe, reducing the risk that they fall into the hands of terrorists. we've eliminated syria's declared chemical weapons program. all of these steps have helped keep us safe and help keep our troops safe. those are the result of diplomacy. and sustained diplomatic efforts, no matter how frustrating or difficult they sometimes appear, are going to be required to resolve the conflicts whirling in the middle east from yemen to syria to israel and palestine. and if we don't have strong efforts there, the more you will be called upon to clean up after the failure of diplomacy. similarly, any long-term strategy to reduce the threat of terrorism depends on investments that strengthen some of these fragile societies. our generals, our commanders, understand this. this is not charity. it's fundamental to our national security. a dollar spent on development is worth a lot more than a dollar spent fighting a war. [ applause ] this is -- this is how we prevent conflicts from starting in the first place. this is how we can ensure that peace is lasting. after we fought. it's how we stop people from falling prey to extremism because children are going to school and they can think for themselves, and families can feed themselves and aren't desperate. communities are not ravaged by diseases and countries are not devastated by climate changes. as americans, we have to see the value of empowering civil societies so that there are outlets for people's frustrations, and we have to support entrepreneurs who want to build businesses instead of destroying. we have to invest in young people because the areas that are generating terrorists are typically having a huge youth bulge, which makes them more dangerous. there are times where we need to help refugees who have escaped the horrors of war, in search of a better life. [ applause ] our military recognizes that these issues of governance and human dignity and development are vital to our security. it's central to our plans in places like afghanistan and iraq. let's make sure that this wisdom is reflected in our budgets as well. and finally, in this fight, we have to uphold the civil liberties that define us. terrorists want us to turn on one another. while defeating them requires us to draw upon the enormous capabilities of all of our government, we have to make sure changes in how we address terrorists are not abused. this is why, for example, we have made extensive reforms in how we gather intelligence around the world. increasing oversight, placing new restrictions on the government's ability to retain and search and use certain communications so that people trust us and, that way, they cooperate and work with us. we don't use our power to indiscriminately read e-mails or listen to phone calls, just targeted at folks who might be trying to do us harm. we use it to save lives. and by doing so, by maintaining these civil liberties, we sustain the confidence of the american people, and we get the cooperation of our allies more readily. protecting liberty, that's something we do for all americans and not just some. [ applause ] we are fighting terrorists who claim to fight on behalf of islam. but they do not speak for over a billion muslims around the world. and they do not speak for american-muslims, including many who wear the uniform of the united states of america's military. [ applause ] if we stigmatize good, patriotic muslims, that just feeds the terrorists' narrative and fuels the same false grievances that they use to motivate people to kill. if we act like this is a war between the united states and islam, we're not just going to lose more americans to terrorist attacks, but we'll also lose sight of the very principles we claim to defend. so let my final words to you, as your commander in chief, be a reminder of what it is that you are fighting for, what it is that we are fighting for. the united states of america is not a country that imposes religious tests as a price for freedom. we're a country that was founded so that people could practice their faiths as they choose. the united states of america is not a place where some citizens have to withstand greater scrutiny or carry a special i.d. card or prove that they are not an enemy from within. we are a country that has bled and struggled and sacrificed against that kind of discrimination and arbitrary rule, here in our own country and around the world. we're a nation that believes freedom can never be taken for granted and that each of us has a responsibility to sustain it. the universal right to speak your mind and to protest against authority. to live in a society that's open and free. that can criticize our president without retribution. [ applause ] a country where you're judged by the contents of your character rather than what you look like or how you worship or what your last name is or where your family came from. that's what separates us from tyrants and terrorists. we are a nation that stands for the rule of law and strengthened the laws of war. when the nazis were defeated, we put them on trial. some couldn't understand that. it had never happened before. but as one of the american lawyers who was at nuremberg says, i was trying to prove that the rule of law should govern human behavior, and by doing so, we broadened the scope and reach of justice around the world. held ourselves out as a beacon and an example for others. we are a nation that won world wars without grabbing the resources of those we defeated. we helped them rebuild. we didn't hold on to territory, other than the cemeteries where we buried our dead. our greatest generation fought and bled and died to build an international order of laws and institutions that could preserve the peace and extend prosperity and promote cooperation among nations. and for all of its imperfections, we depend on that international order to protect our own freedom. in other words, we are a nation that, at our best, has been defined by hope and not fear. a country that went through the crucible of a civil war to offer a new birth of freedom, that stormed the beaches of normandy, climbed the hills of iwo jima, that saw normal people mobilize to extend the freedom of civil rights. that's what makes us who we are. it makes us stronger than any act of terror. remember that history. remember what that flag stands for. for we depend on you. the heirs to that legacy. our men and women in uniform, and the citizens who support you, to carry forward what is best in us, that commitment to a common creed, the confidence that right makes might, not the other way around. [ applause ] that's how we can sustain this long struggle. that's how we'll protect this country. that's how we'll protect our constitution. against all threats, foreign and domestic. i trust that you will fulfill that mission, as you have fulfilled all others. it has been the greatest honor of my life to serve as your commander in chief. i thank you for all that you've done and all that you will do in the future. my god bless you. my god bless our troops and may god bless the united states of america. [ cheers and applause ] you were just listening to president obama's final planned national security speech at macdill air force base in tampa, florida. lots to talk about from the president's remarks as well as my interview with vice president-elect mike pence. my panel is joining me. karen tumuttee. amanda carpenter and margaret toluv and cnn national security correspondent jim sciutto. jim, your first thoughts on president obama's speech just lou, the last big national security address. what did you make of it? and who do you think the audience was for the speech? >> on the first question, it would be difficult to imagine a sharper disparity between the tone and the substance of this speech we just heard now and the tone and substance of president obama's successor. in the campaign and through the campaign as well in his initial comments and statements as the president-elect. look at the issues to counter terror. on guantanamo, on torture, on the iran deal. these are ones where president-elect trump and president obama differ very sharply. but also on the tone. i mean, just -- i think as a country, as journalists, throw out the idea of any nuanced or complicated discussion of an issue like terror, right? phrases like this. terrorists want us to turn on each other, get the terrorists at the same time as staying true to who we are. don't overstate their power. those kinds of points. you know how donald trump talked about this issue during the campaign and even since then things like the muslim ban, et cetera. you are not going to have these kinds of conversations right now, at least from that bully pulpit. not to say he'll follow through on all those positions but the nature and vocabulary of the conversation will change. and i think dramatically. who was the audience? >> we should point out which a lot of his supporters will like. a lot of his supporters don't like not only president obama's positions but the nuanced way in which he discusses them. >> you could say it contributed to losing the election. hillary clinton, although different on some of the issues, radical islamic terrorism, for instance, she had no issue using that term. in general the rhetoric that helped to win the campaign, you would say, is very different from the one that's just there. so that's gone. who was the audience? it's kind of hard to say. from barack obama's perspective, he -- it's kind of the public guidance that i imagine he wants to give president-elect donald trump in private, say, listen, this stuff worked for the last eight years. let's not imagine that it's all been that bad, here is why. let me give you my argument for it. i think it's a very open question as to how much, though, donald trump listens to that. >> jim sciutto, thank you. everyone else stick around. we have a lot more to discuss. we'll take a quick break and we'll be right back. eight years. we'll take a quick break and eight years. we'll take a quick break and i'm hall of famer jerry west and my life is basketball. but that doesn't stop my afib from leaving me at a higher risk of stroke. that'd be devastating. i took warfarin for over 15 years until i learned more about once-daily xarelto... a latest generation blood thinner. then i made the switch. xarelto® significantly lowers the risk of stroke in people with afib not caused by a heart valve problem. it has similar effectiveness to warfarin. warfarin interferes with vitamin k and at least six blood clotting factors. xarelto® is selective targeting one critical factor of your body's natural clotting function. for people with afib currently well managed on warfarin, there is limited information on how xarelto and warfarin compare in reducing the risk of stroke. like all blood thinners, don't stop taking xarelto without talking to your doctor, as this may increase your risk of a blood clot or stroke. while taking you may bruise more easily, and it may take longer for bleeding to stop. xarelto may increase your risk of bleeding if you take certain medicines. xarelto can cause serious, and in rare cases fatal bleeding. get help right away for unexpected bleeding, unusual bruising or tingling. if you have had spinal anesthesia while on xarelto watch for back pain or any nerve or muscle related signs or symptoms. do not take xarelto if you have an artificial heart valve or abnormal bleeding. tell your doctor before all planned medical or dental procedures. before starting xarelto tell your doctor about any conditions, such as kidney, liver or bleeding problems. to help protect yourself from a stroke, ask your doctor about xarelto. there's more to know. xarelto. welcome back to "the lead." i'm jake tapper, back with my stupendous political panel. let's talk about what we heard from vice president-elect mike pence and what we just heard from president obama. let me start with you, karen. who was the audience, do you think, for the speech by president obama in which he was talking about how great his national security strategy was and what worked and what was effective? >> i think the audience -- it was a rebuttal both to donald trump and the people who voted for him in the election. he made the argument that his strategy has worked, that it -- we should not compromise our values. he talked a lot about the politics of fear. and certainly that was all of the key themes of his -- of -- of a rebuttal to donald trump's campaign. >> and margaret, one of the things that jim sciutto pointed out on his way out just a minute ago was that there was this very nuanced credit-taking that the president made when he said something along the lines that there had been no foreign successful terrorist attack made within the homeland. you have to parse 15 different ways to make that true. >> there hasn't been another 9/11. to every isis-inspired attack. whether there was any direct, indirect involvement or just inspiration, certainly since president obama's second term, there has just been a flood of violence and fear and watching what's happening in places like belgium and in paris, and how it could come to play here. it goes to your question of who his audience was. he think he's talking for the history books. this is his last speech to mark what he believes and what his record was and the way he wants his record to be remembered. and when donald trump and mike flynn and the rest of the donald trump administration proceed to try to unpack, unroll, change course on all these policies president obama wants a marker down to say, this is what i did and why i did it. >> amanda, that's one history book being written and finished. another one is starting. i was asking vice president-elect pence about michael g. flynn, the son of the incoming national security adviser who was fired, asked to leave according to a source familiar. directly by -- the order came from president-elect trump because of these crazy tweets and pushing insane conspiracy theories, et cetera. and the vice president-elect didn't seem eager to answer my question when i asked that the government sources have told me that they put in for a security clearance for the junior flynn. take a listen to vice president-elect pence. i think this is maybe the seventh or eighth time i tried to get an answer from him. >> well, what i can tell you is that, in talking with general flynn today, he made me aware that his son was assisting him in scheduling -- >> that you would put in for a security clearance. >> whatever the appropriate paperwork was to assist him in that regard, jake, i'm sure was taking place. but that's no longer the case. >> how do you think vice president-elect pence should have answered that question? or do you think that was exactly right? >> this is a much bigger problem that the trump administration has to reckon with given how many family members are involved in the transition. this is nepotism. plain and simple. this guy had a social media profile that was horrendous. the only reason someone requested a security clearance for him is because he was the son of someone powerful. the trump administration have to recognize that, because that person was not qualified by any objective standard. so mike pence does need to take responsibility for it because one of two things happened. they either knew and looked the other way or they didn't even bother to vet this person before requesting the security clearance. and so they need to pay attention to it because, if they don't nip this in the bud now, i predict there will be many other mike flynns to follow. >> i should point out the trump team is pushing back now saying they never, quote, initiated security clearance. i don't know what they mean by initiated. >> he had access to a schedule for a very powerful person. >> i don't know the word games. government officials who know say that they put in for security clearance, period. i don't know what the initiated means. >> that, by the way, sounds very much like the language the trump transition team used after media reports, it was floated that president-elect trump was seeking a security clearance for his own son-in-law. >> it turned out that it was true, that somebody had, but they put it off later after days of denial, saying it was a low-level staffer who didn't know any better. >> this goes to sort of at least two questions. one is going to be the treatment of children of principals in the trump administration, how close to power they get, what the firewalls are, how they're scrutinized and why they want the access. that's one. the second is general flynn, the role that he is going to play both in terms of shaping policy but also in terms of sending a message. and i don't think anyone should be directly responsible for their children's actions, that's not what i am talking about at all. but the idea that his own actions in terms of the retweeting of things that turned out to be spurious or leading have also generated a lot of attention. we really haven't heard from him squarely on this issue yet or from most people who are coming into this administration, so early in the process, they're interviewing so many people. at some point, if the sort of controversy around this doesn't die down general flynn may need to make a more public statement. >> national security adviser doesn't require a a congressional confirmation so he may never talk about it. >> what's likely to be a pattern when these situations emerge which is basically vice president-elect pence said it's taken care of. we have moved on. let's talk about something else. >> thank you so much. tune in tomorrow night for a special report, the legacy of president obama. fareed zakaria sitting down with barack obama. why would people who voted for president obama twice turn around and vote for donald trump. van jones asked trump voters and he'll tell us what he found out next. as you get older increasing the risk for me, the shingles virus. i've been lurking inside you since you had chickenpox. i could surface anytime as a painful, blistering rash. one in three people get me in their lifetime, linda. will it be you? 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( ♪ ) ♪ they tell me i'm wrong ♪ ♪ to want to stand alongside my, my love ♪ ♪ whoa, talkin' 'bout my love ♪ premium like clockwork. month after month. year after year. then one night, you hydroplane into a ditch. yeah... surprise... your insurance company tells you to pay up again. why pay for insurance if you have to pay even more for using it? if you have liberty mutual deductible fund™, you could pay no deductible at all. sign up to immediately lower your deductible by $100. and keep lowering it $100 annually, until it's gone. then continue to earn that $100 every year. there's no limit to how much you can earn and this saving applies to every vehicle on your policy. call to learn more. switch to liberty mutual and you could save up to $509. call liberty mutual for a free quote today at liberty stands with you™. liberty mutual insurance. polls and pundits, reporters, sometimes it felt like the entire world doubted him. make no mistake. donald trump will become our 45th president. instead of only talking about trump supporters, cnn political commentator van jones set out on a mission to talk with trump supporters, to try to understand in a way he could not what is trump's appeal. the conversations will help drive a live town hall tonight on cnn called the messy truth. van jones joins me now with a preview. van, you are a strong supporter in barack obama. a life long democrat who voted for president obama and voted for donald trump. >> he said it was an issue of trust. he said, in a way that was so heart-breaking that even the camera guys welled up. he said she hurt us because she did not speak to the pain they were feeling with their factories closing, losing their jobs and donald trump did. he said that was it. i tell you, you think about trump supporters, lock her up, lock her up, the anger. you don't hear the pain. you don't hear the other deeper emotions of feeling left out and forgotten. we got down to that. the truth is messy. there is some nasty elements in that trump movement. we've talked about that a lot. but there are some beautiful people who are looking for some hope and some answers, and they found hope in obama in 2008. those same people found hope in trump in 2016. >> fascinating. your battleground tour was before last month's election. how were the conversations, do you think, possibly more important now that trump has won? >> i went to pennsylvania before. i went to ohio afterwards. i think it's more important now because we're just talking past each other so much. i think liberal cosmopolitan elites, especially all they hear when they think about trump are the inflammatory comments and they imagine anybody who voted for him is voting for every one of those inflammatory comments and they are very, very alarmed. what i found was he had people who were delighted by those comments, but that's a small number. most of the people i met, they found those comments distasteful but not disqualifying because they had other concerns. they didn't like it, but they had other concerns. >> van jones, you can watch the messy truth, a special live town hall with van jones tonight. that's it for "the lead." i am jake tapper. i now turn you over to one mr. wolf blitzer. he is right next-door in the situation room. thanks for watching. happening now, breaking news, tweet of the deal. donald trump uses twitter to announce what he says will be thousands more u.s. jobs. then he introduces reporters to the japanese businessman behind the deal. but are the jobs really new, or were they in the works already? air force stun. the president-elect also shocks boeing by calling for the cancelation of a deal for new jets to carry future presidents. is he cutting waste or good-paying jobs? touting his legacy. president obama visits the u.s. military central command and gives a speech defending his strategy on the -- in the war on terrorism, a strategy donal