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Fear of Trump Results in Protests Across the Country; Trump and Obama Meet in Oval Office. Aired 3-3:30p ET

Aired November 10, 2016 - 15:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[15:00:33]

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: And we're live here in Washington, D.C., beautiful pictures. Happy to be here for the week here overlooking the White House, the Washington Monument. My goodness, what a day, what a week it has been.

I'm Brooke Baldwin. Thank you so much for being with me here on this day after day after Election Day. So much happening in this town today, Donald Trump getting his first up-close look at the presidency. He and his wife, soon-to-be-first-lady Melania Trump, just met with Republican leaders of the Senate. We just saw him there with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell earlier in the day.

The Trumps and vice president-elect Mike Pence met with House Speaker Paul Ryan. He ushered them out to the balcony for just a view of the city and to walk them through exactly where he will be for the all- important inauguration.

But before president-elect Trump's trip to Capitol Hill came, one of the most significant and perhaps most uncomfortable meetings this nation perhaps has seen, Barack Obama and Donald Trump, the president and president-elect, meeting in the Oval Office for 90 minutes, the first step in this great American hallmark, the peaceful transfer of power.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Well, I just had the opportunity to have an excellent conversation with president-elect Trump. It was wide-ranging. We talked about some of the organizational issues in setting up a White House. We talked about foreign policy. We talked about domestic policy.

And, as I said last night, my number one priority in the coming two months is to try to facilitate a transition that ensures our president-elect is successful.

And I have been very encouraged by the, I think, interest in president-elect Trump's wanting to work with my team around many of the issues that this great country faces. And I believe that it is important for all of us, regardless of party and regardless of political preferences, to now come together, work together to deal with the many challenges that we face. And most of all, I want to emphasize to you, Mr. President-elect, that we now are going to want to do everything we can to help you succeed, because, if you succeed, then the country succeeds.

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENT-ELECT: Well, thank you very much, President Obama.

This was a meeting that was going to last for maybe 10 or 15 minutes, and we were just going to get to know each other. We had never met each other. I have great respect.

The meeting lasted for almost an hour-and-a-half. And it could have -- as far as I'm concerned, it could have gone on for a lot longer. We really -- we discussed a lot of different situations, some wonderful and some difficulties.

I very much look forward to dealing with the president in the future, including counsel. He has explained some of the difficulties, some of the high-flying assets, and some of the really great things that have been achieved.

So, Mr. President, it was a great honor being with you. And I look forward to being with you many, many more times in the future.

Thank you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Talk about a sacred space there in the Oval Office and how words and body language and tone matters. The world is watching.

Let me bring in a number of voices. We can walk through exactly what we have seeing today in Washington,

Karen Tumulty is the national political correspondent for "The Washington Post." Mark Preston is here. He's a CNN politics editor. And David Catanese, senior politics writer for "U.S. News & World Report."

So, great to see all of you. Not a dull moment in this town this week or even today.

But just first beginning with, Karen, the pictures, the two men sitting there, the president-elect. It is a nation divided. For every person who is bummed out this week, someone is elated. Do you feel hopeful after watching that?

[15:05:00]

KAREN TUMULTY, NATIONAL POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT, "TIME": Well, I think the thing that was most heartening is that these two men, that the outgoing and incoming president had their attention exactly where it should be, which is on the continuity of government, on as smooth a transition as possible.

President Obama knows that he owes a lot to George W. Bush's team for making that transition as easy as president for him. And, you know, again, I think that the healing of the differences of the country is something that is going to have to happen. It's going to take a long time, but right now these two men have something very important and very urgent right in front of them.

BALDWIN: I appreciated president-elect Trump saying, I thought this would last 15 minutes and it lasted some 90 minutes. That has to be a good sign.

I'm wondering, beyond chatting in the Oval, did President Obama give him a tour? Do we know any more about the visit?

MARK PRESTON, CNN POLITICAL EDITOR: We don't have specific details, and I suspect we will see those in the coming hours, probably not as much as we would like.

But a couple things. One is, Donald Trump said that he expects to be talking to him several more times before he actually takes office. And you have got to wonder what exactly -- what was the conversation? Did President Obama say to him, listen, I understand you want to get rid of Obamacare? Here are some things that could be fixed on Obamacare.

Gloria was talking about this last hour. And it's true. Did he say, give him the advice of don't think you have this mandate where you can go in and absolutely change everything, because, if you go like that, you are going to be a failure. There's no such thing as a mandate anymore in American politics. It's an overused word.

And the fact is that Donald Trump won, and he won decisively, and he should have the respect of the office, but the fact is, here in Washington, D.C., it's divided government, we are a divided nation, and while they're not always going to agree on things, is that you have to agree on some things.

BALDWIN: As we're talking about the two, the president and the president-elect, David Catanese, to you on, we know at some point very shortly the vice president and the vice president-elect will be having a conversation.

And Donald Trump has never spent a day in his life -- yes, he's a businessman, but he's never pent a day of his life working in politics and government. So how integral will Governor Pence, or I should say vice president-elect Pence, be?

DAVID CATANESE, "U.S. NEWS & WORLD REPORT": He could go down as the most powerful vice president in history, even more a powerful vice president than Dick Cheney.

I mean, Donald Trump won on a populist movement on people's fears, on change, but he doesn't understand the levers of government, the way this town works day in and day out. Mike Pence was a House member. He was a governor. He understands the mechanics of government, how you put together a budget. That will be a big deal, Donald Trump's first budget, presenting that to Congress. Mike Pence can go up there and direct him on who you need to talk to,

the committee chairmen, the staffers. Pence has those relationships. I think he continued to forge those relationships in the campaign when things were going wayward for Trump.

So I just can't underestimate -- or overestimate, I should say, how important Pence is going to be to Trump to guide his legislative agenda through.

BALDWIN: So, in addition to all of at, here, we're looking at pictures.

Tim Naftali, I know I have you now. We're watching Speaker Ryan with both Donald Trump and Melania Trump, who, as we watched, walked holding hands through the halls of Congress, along with Mike Pence and we know we saw Senator Mitch McConnell.

But, Tim, when you look at these pictures -- and I think when we were eavesdropping earlier, he was sort of saying this is where you will be inaugurated, and this is the view from my office. What do you make of all of this?

TIM NAFTALI, CNN PRESIDENTIAL HISTORIAN: Well, first of all, it's real, it's going to happen, and President Obama made a decision almost immediately to raise absolutely no doubt.

BALDWIN: Forgive. Let me jump away.

Ohio Governor John Kasich at the White House.

(JOINED IN PROGRESS)

GOV. JOHN KASICH (R), OHIO: And, frankly, every Sunday in the church where I go, they pray both for the president and for the governor. And I happen to be the governor, but whether I am or not.

And when I leave that office, they will still be praying for the governor. And today I said my prayers on the plane for the success of Donald Trump. And I think, as Americans, we all need to come together, because it's the lives of our children, my daughters here, that a president of the United States could really have success.

We know there are a lot of people in this country that struggle, a lot of people in this country now who are hopeful that things will be fixed. Well, they won't be fixed overnight, but what we can all do as Americans is join hands, join arms, say a few prayers for the success of the next president of the United States.

I want to also compliment the president himself, President Obama, and also Secretary Clinton, who I think were -- well, really, they were inspirational in the way in which they embraced the outcome of the election.

[15:10:00]

So, for those who are in the streets, I just want you to think about the fact that America works best when America is united. America doesn't work best when we are divided. That's been my message and it will continue to be my message as we move forward in this new time.

So, thank you all.

BALDWIN: OK, let me back up two steps, because I know you're thinking -- actually, here's Donald Trump, president-elect Trump -- forgive me -- still on Capitol Hill walking alongside his wife, the first lady to be. Let's listen.

TRUMP: We have a lot to do. We're going to work very strongly on immigration, the border. We're going to work very strongly health care. And we're looking at jobs, big league jobs.

(CROSSTALK)

TRUMP: Thank you, everyone.

BALDWIN: OK, here's what I made out. And hopefully Manu Raju was sitting there. And he can hit this precisely.

I think I heard something about health care and jobs. Perhaps there was a question on banning Muslims, and that's when the president-elect Trump said, "Thank you," and he walked away.

So, Tim Naftali -- actually, let me just remind all of you, let's back up a step here. Why was Ohio Governor John Kasich at the White House today? Good question. It's because he came with the champions the Cleveland Cavaliers, of course, their big win a couple of months ago in basketball.

And so it's also significant. This a man who within his own state refused to go to the Republican National Convention because he so did not want to see what is now reality, a president-elect Donald Trump.

Tim Naftali, back to you. Just listening to Governor Kasich's words, though, a message that has reverberated through this town from Republicans and Democrats, a message of unity.

NAFTALI: Nobody wants a return to 1952, when president-elect Dwight Eisenhower and President Truman didn't talk to each other, when after a bitter election campaign, these two men refused to show in their actions the kind of unity the country needed.

Clearly, President Obama put aside what personal feelings he must have to move forward with Donald Trump.

I wanted to mention one other point. I believe just by listening to Donald Trump today that he got an intelligence briefing from the president. He mentioned at one point the capabilities -- he stopped himself. He is going to have to learn about how to do that. But I suspect that the president laid out for him the incredible intelligence...

BALDWIN: So, just total transparency. It's tough. We catch some of these quick gaggles. We know reporters are waiting for these -- for the president-elect or the Senate majority leader to stop by, so we just caught the tail end of that.

Sorry, Tim, for cutting you off constantly. But this is live television. What were you saying?

NAFTALI: Those people have power. It doesn't matter. Cut me off.

(LAUGHTER)

NAFTALI: The point was, let's listen to what Donald Trump said. I suspect that the president laid out for him the immense capabilities that the U.S. has in intelligence, so that he understood that what he was receiving now, because he's getting a full presidential briefing now, is based on really superb information.

I think the president was trying to encourage him to be more empirical and reality-based. I'm guessing at that. But listen again to what Trump said. I believe the president-elect did get an intelligence briefing from the president of the United States today.

BALDWIN: I can't confirm that. I know that he could have starting yesterday began getting these classified security briefings, as he is now officially the president-elect.

Karen, just turning to you and watching all of these pictures, watching all of these powerful men and some women walking around the halls of Congress, perhaps this is the Trump motorcade and we can catch a glimpse of him hopping in the SUV, but how are you feeling? What are you thinking?

TUMULTY: Well, I am going to be just fascinated to see what style of transition this is.

We have seen -- for instance, President Clinton's transition was very chaotic. He was very anxious to -- he focused a lot on his Cabinet, because he wanted to send out the symbolic message his that his Cabinet was going to look like America. In retrospect, he didn't focus enough on his White House staff, so he had a very chaotic first year.

By comparison, President Obama did the opposite. They really built the White House staff meticulously during that transition. Donald Trump, as he told us during the campaign, really didn't have much focus on this question. He was too busy trying to win the race. So, I am going to see -- I think that, in the way he manages his transition, we are going to get some hints as to how he's going to approach the presidency.

[15:15:08]

BALDWIN: I know you wanted to jump in on this. Your dark horse pick for the Trump administration?

PRESTON: Right. Right. So, a couple things, right?

When we're talking about Donald Trump and his campaign, and how small it was, he doesn't have Washington behind him, right? He didn't have his party behind him. Had it been Hillary Clinton who had won, it would have been just a seamless transition. Many people probably would have stayed in similar roles, perhaps not at the Cabinet level, but in roles below.

But he is going to need people that understand how to work with Capitol Hill. And David talked about how the vice president was a leader on Capitol Hill. He was a governor. He understands it.

But here's one name to keep in mind. A lot of people don't know who it is.

His name is David Urban. David Urban was Arlen Specter's chief of staff. He went through impeachment with Arlen Specter. He went through the 50-50 Senate, which I know that was a long time ago. But I can tell you, talk about a chaotic time in Washington. And David Urban is well-known by the Democrats and liberals, and they trust him.

He's also a decorated war hero from Desert Storm and a West Point guy. So, when we're talking about who is going to be the chief of staff or who are they going to put in there to actually try to get things done, this is going to be the type of person that they need.

And, quite frankly, I know the Trumps like him. He won Pennsylvania for them. So let's look at the people that are actually going to be doing the work, Pence, in many ways. As Karen says, let's see how the transition goes. Who from the Republican Party establishment gets behind Donald Trump now and wants to fill these voids? And this is one of these people I think they're going to be looking at.

BALDWIN: All right, thank you all so much.

Coming up next, we will talk about the fear many people across this country are feeling. It's real, it's raw. We will go there, hearing from all sides.

Plus, the man who helped George W. Bush transition into the White House joins me live on what is going to happen behind the scenes in preparation for the Trump administration.

I'm Brooke Baldwin in Washington and you're watching CNN's special live coverage.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:20:48]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm not an angry white old man. I just feel that have been through -- well, I have been alive for 65 years, and I have seen a lot go on. So, and I just thought that there's -- this may be the first time I have seen something that we can actually change.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A lot of people kept quiet about a lot of things as to what the government was doing. They wouldn't open their mouth or say anything about it. And they were tired of being pushed too far. And they decided to make a change in their lives and to vote for Donald.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Two Donald Trump voters explaining there why they think he is the man America needs in the White House. A lot of people seem him as an agent of change who will usher in a new era here in Washington.

But when you talk to other people in this country, they truly fear what president-elect Trump could represent. We have seen the fear manifested in multiple protests across this country, including one actually happening right now in San Francisco.

Dan Simon is actually there walking with some of these young demonstrators.

Dan, why are they there? What is their message?

DAN SIMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Brooke.

We are here on Van Ness Avenue. If you know San Francisco, it's a major thoroughfare. I would say we have approximately 1,000 high school student who have essentially skipped class and decided to get together and march towards city hall.

Many of these people who here, they are not even old enough to vote, but, as you hear them chant anti-slogans, they are disgusted by what happened in the election.

I'm joined here by a couple of the organizers. This is Victoria (ph) and Maley (ph).

Victoria, let me start with you. You are a high school senior. What does a Donald Trump presidency mean to you?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It means a lot to me right now, because a lot of my family, a lot of my friends are undocumented. And it's not fair. It's really not fear that he said that he will deport every Mexican, every Central American.

And he said that basically Mexicans are drug dealers. And that's not true. It's very not true. We are a working class. We are struggling in this city. And it's very hard, especially with the house prices and everything else. And so this really means a lot to me right now.

SIMON: What do you feel you can accomplish by having a rally like this?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Having our voices out here, out here with the public media, having here, telling Mayor Ed Lee to help us out, at least something, you know? And because having our voices out on social medias, in Snapchat and Instagram and also televisions.

SIMON: All right, Victoria, thank you very much. Thank you, guys, very much. I appreciate it.

This is a very peaceful protest, Brooke. These are people who just wanted to make their voices heard loud and clear. Some of tell me that when they woke up Wednesday morning, this is a country that they didn't recognize. They feel like strangers in their own country. And they wanted to express their outrage over what happened. And so you're seeing this here on the streets of San Francisco. And, of course, we saw it last night in a number of cities around the country. And I suspect we will see it again tonight.

BALDWIN: Thank you for that young woman's voice. We're hearing from all sides here in America. Dan Simon, appreciate it in San Francisco.

Let's have a big conversation about all of this. This is important for everyone.

Angela Rye is here, a CNN political commentator and the former executive director of the Congressional Black Caucus. Steve Cortes, a member of Trump's National Hispanic Advisory Council, Paris Dennard, a CNN political commentator and Trump supporter, and Aymann Ismail, who just wrote an article for Slate called "I'm Muslim and I'm Afraid and I Can't Afford to Show It."

But, Aymann, before I go to you, quickly, Angela, was that young woman making you emotional?

ANGELA RYE, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yes.

I grew up in a house with an activist, Brooke. And, as an African- American, I was very privileged to grow in Seattle, where there really was a Jesse Jackson Rainbow Coalition.

[15:25:03]

One of my mother's -- she's a former college administrator. One of her colleagues was a Native American man who I got to learn firsthand from what it meant to be a part of a country that took so much from you.

And to hear this woman talk about borders that we have established that didn't used to exist at one point, it's just -- it's heart- wrenching.

I think about the man who drove me home election night and talked about being a Muslim American in this country and saying to me -- I just -- honestly, like now, I was sobbing in the car as the results came in.

BALDWIN: Why?

RYE: Because I was shocked and so disappointed.

It wasn't even about Hillary. It was about -- it wasn't even about partisanship. All the rhetoric that Donald Trump used this campaign that was so anti-American, so the opposite of what this country is supposed to represent, and he said to me, "Is there another pathway, because I'm Muslim?"

And I broke down in tears again. It's like, I said I don't know how to console you in this moment because I don't see a pathway.

Now, the Donald Trump that showed up today, perhaps that's who he will be as the commander in chief. And one can only hope. But the fact that we're not sure is, I think, the most dangerous thing, period.

BALDWIN: I'm listening to you, and I also just want to make sure I listen to the other side.

Steve, you heard that young woman, that young demonstrator with Dan. What did you hear? How would you respond to her?

STEVE CORTES, TRUMP SURROGATE: Well, you know, I want to say a couple things.

First of all, I represented the campaign. But since that's done, I want to be clear to the viewers that I'm not representing the transition team now. So, I'm just speaking as a supporter of Donald Trump and as a Latino conservative.

I would tell you this. I think one thing Trump did in this campaign and the reason he's so hugely outperformed, by the way, among Latino voters, massive surprise, on election night, I think one of the reasons is that he spoke to the American people and said that the media and the left have this twisted.

They want to act like people who are here illegally are the victims. And that's simply not the case. The victims are legal Americans, many of them, by the way, Latino themselves, who have to deal on the front lines with the pressures that are brought by so much illegal immigration, particularly wage pressure, because they have to compete with them in the labor market.

In some cases, they have to deal with violent people who we refuse to deport because they live in sanctuary cities. And he said they're not the victims. The American people here are the victims. And, by the way, for all Americans, Latinos, people of every color, of every creed, what we need from Muslims, what we need is economic growth.

That's why there's so much anxiety and anger out there in the country. I think he tapped into that, but not just exploiting it, offering solutions. This is the way forward.

And, today, I thought he did a wonderful job of -- he and President Obama, two men who have disparaged each other quite a lot in recent months, both of them acting gracious and presidential.

BALDWIN: I think, though, so much of this -- and I'm listening to you very closely -- is just emotion. This is still very raw for a lot of people. For every one person who is elated, the other person is crushed.

And, Aymann, you wrote this piece in Slate, "I'm Muslim and I'm Afraid and I Can't Afford to Show It."

Explain that to me. Explain how you're feeling.

AYMANN ISMAIL, SLATE: I just want to say first quickly that I'm not here to complain about my feelings.

I do believe that we elected someone who does not understand that his words can have consequences. And just in the past two days since he's claimed victory, we have had violent attacks against Muslims on college campuses and other places.

In Louisiana, a woman was beaten up by two Trump supporters, one of those wearing a Trump hat. So I do want to separate the emotion bit from the danger bit as well, because this could be very dangerous. And this is what we're actually afraid of.

We're afraid of the Trump supporters more than we are of his rhetoric.

BALDWIN: So, why are you -- why do you say you're afraid and you can't afford to show it?

ISMAIL: The reason why I said that I can't afford to show it is because we need to be strong for each other.

At the end of the piece, I came to the conclusion that we can no longer depend on people in positions of power to come and help Muslims and make us feel more comfortable or to call off people who might resent Muslims and want to act on it.

We can't depend on that anymore. We have had -- how can we trust someone who spoke to Anderson Cooper on this network and said, "I think Islam hates us"?

And that kind of language is very dangerous. And it puts American lives at risk, Muslim American lives at risk. And we just can't depend on that. We need to depend on each other. We need to be strong for each other.

BALDWIN: Paris, let me just turn to you. And we have talked multiple times. And you say this loud and proud: I'm an African-American man who supports Donald Trump.

Can you also appreciate the fears from the young woman or from Angela or the Muslim man who drove her on Election Day? And you're also not Donald Trump, so you can't respond for him, but what can he say to the country in this precious time to say, I will unify?

PARIS DENNARD, NATIONAL DIVERSITY COALITION: Yes, I think it's important to point out a few things.

One, as an African-American Trump supporter, I have had death threats. People have called me out of my name and things that I couldn't even repeat. My mother called me and said, "Paris, don't look at your Facebook page, the things that they're putting on there." She goes, "It makes me sad."