Attacks; and, looking at the long tradition of president s pardoning a thanksgiving turkey. All that and more, on tonights pbs newshour. Major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by love me tender love me true we can like many, but we can love only a precious few. Because it is for those precious few that you have to be willing to do so very much. But you dont have to do it alone. Lincoln financial helps you provide for and protect your financial future, because this is what you do for people you love. Lincoln financial youre in charge. Bnsf railway. Xq institute. Supporting social entrepreneurs and their solutions to the worlds most pressing problems skollfoundation. Org. The lemelson foundation. Committed to improving lives through invention. In the u. S. And developing countries. On the web at lemelson. Org. Supported by the john d. And catherine t. Macarthur foundation. Committed to building a more just, verdant and peaceful world. More information at macfound. Org and with the ongoing support of these institutions this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. And by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. Thank you. Woodruff on this day before thanksgiving, new cabinet nominees from president elect trump, that send a message of diversity. He announced his choices today for United Nations ambassador and secretary of education. John yang begins our coverage. Yang during the primaries, South Carolina governor nikki haley was a frequent critic of candidate trump, instead backing marco rubio. Her state of the Union Response was seen as an indictment of mr. Trump. During anxious times, it can be tempting to follow the siren call of the angriest voices. We must resist that temptation. Yang but that was then. The daughter of indian immigrants is in her second term as governor, the first female, and first minority to hold the office. She drew praise last year for her response, after an avowed white supremacist killed nine parishioners in a black charleston church, and for leading the drive to remove the Confederate Flag from the statehouse, where it had flown for a half century. Haleys exposure to World Affairs is limited, but shes attracted Foreign Companies like volvo to South Carolina. Announcing the pick, the president elect called her a proven dealmaker. We look to be making plenty of deals. She will be a great leader representing us on the world stage. Thats a far cry from last march, when candidate trump tweeted the people of South Carolina are embarrassed by nikki haley today, though, haley said in a statement when the president believes you have a major contribution to make, that is a calling that is important to heed. Mr. Trump today also tapped michigan philanthropist betsy devos to be his nominee for education secretary. Shes never worked in public education. A big republican donor and onetime chairman of the michigan party, she is a champion for Charter Schools and school vouchers. She and her husband formed a pac to support provoucher candidates nationwide. And late today, the wall street this historic Political Campaign is now over, but now begins a Great National campaign to rebuild our country and to restore the full promise of america for all of our people. Mr. Trump and his family are for the pbs newshour, im john yang. Woodruff there were initial reports today that ben carson had agreed to become secretary of housing and urban development, but a carson spokesman said nothing has been offered, and no decision has been made. In the days other news, Hillary Clintons lead in the popular vote in this years election has passed the twomillion mark. As of today, clinton has 64. 2 million votes in the nationwide tally. President elect trump trails with 62. 2 million votes, despite winning the Electoral College. The updated totals are due largely to absentee and provisional ballots still being counted in california. That ongoing count in california has approved a ballot measure speeding up Death Penalty appeals. State officials declared tuesday that proposition 66 won 51 of the vote. Its meant to cut down on the years that convicted killers wait on the states death row, and make sure they are actually executed. France accused syria and russia today of exploiting the u. S. Political transition to launch allout attacks on syrian rebels. The french pointed to heavy bombing of eastern aleppo, with thousands there and elsewhere cut off from food and medicine, and the foreign minister called for an emergency meeting. translated france is taking an initiative to confront the strategy of total war by the regime and its allies who are taking advantage of the uncertainty in the United States to gather very quickly the group of the friends of syria in the next few days in paris. Woodruff the u. N. Special envoy for syria joined in the concern. Staffan de mistura warned that syrias military could launch a new offensive in aleppo before president elect trump takes office. New clashes between indian and Pakistani Forces erupted today in disputed kashmir. Tensions have been rising in the region since militants killed 17 soldiers at an indian army base there in september. Today, indian units opened fire along the dividing line, hitting a passenger bus and killing ten civilians. The pakistanis said they fired back and killed seven indian soldiers. In britain, a jury convicted a white supremacist of murdering Labour Party Lawmaker jo cox. She was shot and stabbed to death a week before britain voted to leave the European Union in june. Prosecutors said thomas mairs home was full of nazi literature. Back in this country, the long thanksgiving travel weekend has begun, and its expected to be the busiest in nearly a decade. Airports, railways and roads filled today. A. A. A. Predicted nearly 49 Million People will venture at least 50 miles from homes, due in part to recordlow gas prices. But police urged patience theres just so many motorists that are going to be traveling. And oftentimes we see where operators get nervous or they get upset, or road rage kicks in because theyre not getting to their destinations quick enough. Dont be that driver. Woodruff heavy rain and snow caused delays in some places today, but for the most part, the weather was not an issue. The rate of abortions in the u. S. Has fallen to its lowest point in decades. The centers of Disease Control reports the rate in 2013 was down 50 from 1980. The c. D. C. Cites the sharp decline in teen pregnancies and expanded contraception coverage as likely factors. Theres word that social media giant facebook has built software to censor material seen by users in china. The New York Times reports its part of an effort to gain reentry to the country after a sevenyear ban. A facebook spokesman told the times there have no specific decisions, but she said we have long said that we are interested in china. On wall street, two new records on a day of light trading. The Dow Jones Industrial average gained 59 points to close at 19,083 a new high. The nasdaq fell five points, and the s p 500 rose a point, also reaching a new record. And archaeologists think theyve solved a longtime mystery the exact spot in plymouth where the pilgrims first lived, after they arrived in 1620. Scientists from the university of massachusettsboston found calfs bones, musket balls and ceramics at a spot known as burial hill. The artifacts were discovered during a dig this past summer. Still to come on the newshour why the president elects business past could create problems for his president ial future; how life on the Mexican Border might change under a Trump Presidency; using counseling instead of prison time to deradicalize convicted terrorists, and much more. Woodruff a deeper look now into one of president elect trumps key cabinet picks today. And again, to john yang. Yang one of those choices that immediately drew a lot of attention was his pick for education secretary, besty devos. It does send a number of signals about what mr. Trump intends to do with his education policy, but raises questions, too. Alyson klein of Education Week joins me now. Thanks for coming. Betsy devos, not necessarily well known nationwide. Who is she and what does she say or what does her pick say about trump on education. On the campaign trail trump talked about School Choice and betsy devos is a longtime School Choice advocate. So we can expect the administration will make School Choice a huge priority. Yang what can the federal government do on School Choice . A great question. On the campaign trail donald trump proposed taking 20 billion in federal funding by is almost a third of the u. S. Department of educations budget and using that for a School Choice program. Its unclear if a proposal like that could actually pass congress. Senator alexander who will preside over Betsy Devos Confirmation hearing put forth a similar proposal last year and it didnt get the votes to clear procedural hurls. So having somebody like betsy devos talking about School Choice from the bully pulpit of the department of education could really give lift to the issue in states and districts. Yang another thing mr. Trump spoke a lot about on the campaign trail is common core. He doesnt like it. What do we know about betsy devos position on common core . Shes clarified her position on common core today saying she thinks its a federal boondoggle. Shes also said shes in favor of accountability and local control. Some School Choice advocates actually worried about devos as a common core supporter because shes on the board of governor jeb bushs organization and obviously jeb bush is quite a supporter of common core and she made it clear today she stands with mr. Trump in opposing the standards. Yang how does her battleground compare . She was a philanthropist, a chairman of the Michigan Republican party. How does her battleground and experience compare with previous education secretaries . Its unusual battleground. Our last couple of education secretaries, had both worked in School Districts. John cane was the state chief of new york. Arne duncan was the state School Superintendent in chicago. Other School Sectors actually have been governors. So its unusual to have someone who has been an advocate. Yang shes never worked in education, never run a big bureaucracy or organization, is that what youre saying . Yes, thats correct a. Yang whats her reaction to being named as a nominee . The advocates are excited to have one of their champions headed to the department of education. Teachers are unhappy and picked up on she doesnt have a battleground in a School District and are opposed to vouchers which they say siphon off money for public schools. Yang thats been an issue for some time in public education. Absolutely, the idea of creating a Choice Program is something republicans have wanted for a long time. The closest is the voucher in the district of columbia. Yang will she have any chance getting confirmed . I expect not. Senator alexander made out a supportive statement on her confirmation. Shes certainly donated to a lot of republicans and they may look upon her appointment favorably. Yang alyson klein helping us understand who betsy devos is. Thanks so much for soming in. Thanks for having me. Woodruff one area of uncharted territory under a Trump Presidency centers on potential conflicts of interests with his businesses. Yesterday, the president elect told the New York Times, the law is totally on my side. But recent meetings with some current and potential Foreign Investors have raised new questions. We explore those with richard painter, a university of minnesota law professor who was president george w. Bushs top ethics attorney in the white house; and kenneth gross, hes an ethics law expert who advised new york mayor Michael Bloomberg when he went from businessman to public official. And we welcome both of you to the newshour. Ill start with you richard painter. When donald trump says the president cant have a conflict of interest, is he right about that . Well, no. Of course, the president can have a conflict of interest. I mean, think about where we would be today if president roosevelt owned the buildings in germany in years leading up to the world and deutsche banc. You can have conflicts of interest that would be detrimental to the american people. You need a president who will stand up to foreign dictators and who will focus on the needs of the United States, the need of peace in the world and strength. These conflicts of interest are real. Whether or not a specific criminal statute applies to the president , which it doesnt, even though it applies to every other executive branch employee, but there are other rules that do apply to the president including the clause in the constitution which says president cannot receive payments from Foreign Governments, and thats something that the Trump Organization needs to deal with because they have outstanding loans from the bank of china which is controlled by the government of china and have foreign diplomats checking into their hotels and renting their expensive suites and that needs to be dealt with, so the law does apply to the president and he can have conflict of interest and eneeds to get rid of them. Woodruff keneth gross, how clear are the rules and the laws that apply to the president . Well, whats clear is that the domestic conflict of interest side was not apply to the president , thats the letter of the law. What the ethics surrounding a president and what the conventions say he should be doing is a very different thing. The emole youments clause which is the gift provision in the constitution is alive and well and does apply but the application of that is not so clear. You know, what sort of Foreign Corporations would come into play . Are they owned by a Foreign Government and is what an emollument . Is it a payment or is it a commercial transaction . There are issues of interpretation as well. Woodruff richard painter, what do you say donald trump needing to do in order to remove any question of a conflict of interest, given his significant and widespread holdings . Well, i think the first step to make sure that he complies with the constitution, and he does need to address the emoluments issue, and i suggested to his Transition Team that they ought to have an assignment over to the United States government, an assignment of any and all payments from Foreign Governments that are covered by the emoluments clause. That is an answer to a problem of a different Foreign Government. You can give it to the United States government. He could do that today with a simple of assignment of those payments plus an audit that would take place every year to make sure we swept them all out. Thats the bare minimum and i think the Electoral College should insist on that before voting, just as they would want to see a birth certificate if that were at issue or anything else. Thats important constitutionally. Woodruff richard painter, let me stop you right there because i want to make sure what everybody understands what this emolument business is. Anything that would benefit Donald Trumps businesses, being sure that doesnt interfere in any way with the u. S. Government. As well as i can define this no, no, thats too broad. Thats too broad. Okay. So what we have here is a provision in the constitution that says you cannot receive a present, meaning a gift. Then there is this question of emolument. It clearly applies to someone who works in the National Institute of health that wants to work for a Foreign Government because hes providing a service and if he gets a payment for that, at the raise as question under emoluments and has to be dealt with. If a Foreign Government se paying into a place theyre renting owned by mr. Trump, the president of the United States, i have not seen the emolument provision apply in that. Its not a service, its a commercial transaction. Transaction. Woodruff in the minutes we have, richard painter, again, what are you saying that mr. Trump needs to do . If they are above market rents or below market Interest Rate loans from the bank of china, i think those are presents like any other present. But the point is he could now assign over to the United States