[Berman:] The breaking news this morning, word that President-elect Donald Trump has selected Nikki Haley. He will nominate Nikki Haley to be his ambassador to the United Nations. Nikki Haley is the popular governor of South Carolina. This is the first woman or minority that Donald Trump has decided to bring in to his inner circle. While that's going on, Donald Trump sat down with "The New York Times" yesterday for an hour, and talked about a wide range of issues, talked about his positions on a wide range of issues. For reaction to all this, I want to bring in the CEO of the Heritage Foundation's political arm, Heritage Action. Michael Needham joins us. Mike, if you read the articles, the Heritage Foundation right now is key in helping Donald Trump through this transition process. So, we assume you are big on making all the decisions or you made them all yourself. What do you make of the Nikki Haley decision?
[Michael Needham, Ceo, Heritage Action For America, Heritage Foundation:] Donald Trump is making all the decisions. We are trying to help him and offer our expertise as desired. Nikki Haley has been a phenomenal governor, she created jobs, did ethics reform down there, she's bright, a quick learner. She will be a fantastic representative of the United States.
[Berman:] Do you need foreign policy experience to be ambassador to the United Nations?
[Needham:] I think, as the governor of a state, you have foreign policy experience. She went overseas over a dozen times but she's also been an incredible governor.
[Berman:] Would you say foreign policy is her main area of expertise?
[Needham:] I think that running an administration has been her main area of expertise in South Carolina. And now as the president's representative at the United Nations, she will be involved in the exact same types of skills that she has been using running a state, interacting with people, and representing interests.
[Berman:] We were talking during the break, and we were talking about Donald Trump's interview with "The New York Times" yesterday, the hour-long sit-down. You suggested it shows that he will stand up for the conservative principles that are so important to Heritage. Well, the flipside of that, a lot of people are reading this thing and noticing that in this sit-down with "The New York Times," he seemed to be open to at least not seemed to be open to the idea that climate change, the Paris Accord would stick. He seemed to be open to the idea that he would not waterboard. He seemed to be open to the idea of maybe not doing infrastructure spending he said before. It's hard to know where he is on the positions.
[Needham:] I read the actual transcript of this thing. If you look at what he says on climate change, it's pretty much what we would have said at Heritage. He said there are questions that need to be looked at, there's research on both sides of the issue, this is not settled science the way some people on the left want to say. Once you figure out what exactly is going on with climate change, we need to have a conversation about what is man's role in it. Most importantly, what is the public policy response and does it cause more harm or
[Berman:] Do you anticipate he will withdraw from the Paris Accords?
[Needham:] He should. And I think when you look
[Berman:] Will you be disappointed if he doesn't?
[Needham:] Sure. I think when he looks at it, as he says in the interview, he will look at the merits, listen to a lot of people, and you will find the damage done to the economy by the Paris Accords does not in any way
[Berman:] Do you think Donald Trump, the president-elect, has conservative convictions?
[Needham:] I do. I think that, especially reading that interview with "The New York Times," you see and I don't know where his convictions were ten years ago, or five years ago. I think certainly over the course of this campaign, the experience of going around the country has made him more conservative. In virtually every single answer in that "New York Times" interview yesterday, I thought that his initial answer was something that shows a kind of deep understanding of conservative instincts.
[Berman:] Is it conservative to not separate your business interests from the business of government?
[Needham:] I think it's kind of a cheap shot on Donald Trump. This is the first businessman who has ever been in there. He has an incredibly complicated business. And it's a difficult business to sell off. As he said to "The New York Times," this is not just some stalk that he can go out there and sell. I think that what he's trying to do, it seems, is figure out what is the right way to take a complicated business, to kind of distance himself in a realistic way. It's just not realistic to sell.
[Berman:] Does Heritage think he should create some distance between his private business and the business of government?
[Needham:] I don't think Heritage has a position on that. What we think is that ending cronyism in Washington, D.C., is absolutely important.
[Berman:] Does cronyism count for having your business profit while you're president? Because people could look at that and say that's cronyism.
[Needham:] I think he's trying to figure out is he trying to figure out the right way to do this? It seems to me he is. We go forward, if this becomes a kind of cronyist administration, we are not going to be hesitant to criticize that. I think realistically if anybody has suggestions as to what he should be doing, that are kind of realistic to his circumstances, I would expect him to take them up. If he doesn't, they have a real issue. I'm not sure what he could be doing. I'm not sure what his critics are asking him to do that he's not currently doing.
[Berman:] Michael Needham, from Heritage, great to have you here with us. Come on back. Interesting discussion.
[Needham:] Appreciate it.
[Berman:] Besides Michael Needham, we are talking about someone else now. He's young, rich, handsome, successful and normally quiet. We are talking about the son-in-law of Donald Trump, who is credited by many with helping him win this campaign. Now Jared Kushner, who says he doesn't talk, is talking. Hear what he has said about the campaign, everything from Chris Christie to McDonald's. Plus, I won. I have a countdown clock right now. You can see it there on the bottom of the screen. Three hours and two minutes until President Obama's final turkey pardon. Which turkey will he choose? Will it be Tater, will it be Tot? Three hours and two minutes until the turkey learns its fate. Stay with us.