Return to Transcripts main page

Wolf

Reid Releases Stern Message to Trump; Trump's Chief of Staff Pick Will Indicate Direction of Cabinet Picks; Trump Vows to Repeal Obamacare; Obama Gives Veteran's Day Ceremony Final Address; Democratic Leaders Plan Major Overhaul of DNC. Aired 1:30-2p ET

Aired November 11, 2016 - 13:30   ET

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


(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:30:00] WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: The Senate minority leader, Harry Reid, wrapping up a 30-year Stay in the U.S. Senate offered a stern message for Washington newcomer, President-elect Donald Trump. Harry Reid saying -- let me quote him. Very, very tough words - quote, "White nationalist Vladimir Putin and ISIS are celebrating Donald Trump's victory while innocent law-abiding Americans Are wracked with fear, especially African-Americans, Hispanic-Americans, Muslin-Americans, LGBT-Americans and Asian-Americans. Watching white nationalists celebrate while innocent Americans cry tears of fear does not feel like America. If this is going to be a time for healing, we must first put the responsibility for healing where it belongs, at the feet of Trump, a sexual predator, who lost a popular vote and fueled his campaign with bigotry and hate."

Very strong words.

Let's bring in our panel. Manu Raju is joining us, our CNN political reporter; CNN chief political analyst, Gloria Borger; and CNN political analyst, David Gregory, the author of "How's Your Faith"; and Jay Newton-Small, a contributor to "Time" magazine, and author of "Raw Influence."

And, Gloria, ever seen a statement Like this from the leader of on Opposition in the U.S. Senate to the incoming President-elect of The United States?

GLORIA BORGER, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL ANALYST: After a legitimate election, No. I don't think we have. I think at this moment in the Country when you have protestors and everything else, you would Think that a leader of Congress Would kin of try and put a lid on it and say, this is a Transition period. We disagree. We're going to disagree in the Legislature. We're going to -- we're going To, you know, do what we need to Do, and then we're going to elect Democrats next time Around, and this is our fight. Instead, I think he's Delegitimizing him to a great Degree and that is exactly what Democrats were complaining that Republicans were trying to do Before the election.

WOLF: It's in marked contrast to What we heard from the president Of the United States, right Behind us. A marked contrast to what we Heard from Hillary Clinton. Both of whom were very gracious in their words upon the defeat.

MANU RAJU, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL REPORTER: I walked to one senior aide Right after the statement and he Said that Harry Reid is alarmed at its rush to normalize Donald Trump which is the one reason Why he's putting out this very, Very aggressive statement. Of course, Harry Reid not known for one to pull punches, visually attacks Donald Trump for months and months. Hard for him to turn around and Say that everything is OK. Clearly, Reid speaks to - a lot of Democrats that probably privately feel this way. Reid, the fact he's retiring, can say these things. A lot of elected officials, like chuck Schumer, the president, also leaving office, and Nancy Pelosi, they're not saying these things. Politically, it's not good for them. They want to look like they're going to work with the new president.

WOLF: And Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer, who will be the new minority leader, in the Senate, they were very gracious as well.

DAVID GREGORY, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Not that they are going to Look like they're work wig the President-elect. But believe in the democracy and Intend to work with the President so government can be as effective as it can be.

The contrast is striking. What you heard from the president and Hillary Clinton was a real love of our democratic institutions. Even After such a crude and divisive Election, that they could say, look, we've got to come Together, we've got to van open Mind. It's important. On the other side, there's no Question that Donald Trump has to be accountable for the kind of campaign he ran, what he Contributed to, to devolve and Debase political discourse. He does have accountability now r the President-elect to speak to those elements of society, who Are afraid, who are not just in disagreement Ideologically but fear the consequences of him are. Looking at exit poll data seeing People who voted for him felt he Wasn't fit or qualified is something to really get your Head around. He's got obligations. And I think That he been trying to do that in some of the things he'd said.

WOLF: Certainly, when he was in the Oval Office with the president, he was very generous to the president of the United States. You think, in this public statements, he'll do more of that now to try to heal the country?

JAY NEWTON-SMALL, CONTRIBUTOR, TIME MAGAZINE: Certainly. that's the task Before him. He's being magnanimous, showing we can come together, Work together. And Harry Reid, a Famous pugilist, a boxer in College, who loves throwing punches, he's playing the bad cop. Letting the Democrats still in Office, still being elected, still need to work with Donald Trump, say, OK, we'll extend and olive branch. Harry Reid saying there's a huge amount of work here. A long way to go to Going to be good at working with us and actually be sincere and Sending an olive branch. You've got a lot of work, buddy.

(CROSSTALK)

GREGORY: And the tweeting he did. On one hand, Donald Trump said it's great they have passion, we'll turn this around - WOLF: The protesters.

GREGORY: Yeah, the protestors. I'm Sorry. He said they're professional protestors. Very unfair. Two different messages.

Kellyanne Conway, when she was on CNN last night, said, look, I understand they're protesting. I hope they'll keep an open mind. That's strikes me as the right balance for these -

(CROSSTALK)

BORGER: Right. I think she got ahold of his Twitter feed later.

(CROSSTALK)

(LAUGHTER)

[13:35:10] BORGER: If you're a leading Democrat now and you're the leader in the opposition and it's your obligation to say this is what we're going to try to protect, this is what we're going to try and do. Maybe we can work with Donald Trump on something like transportation and we can rebuild our bridges and our roads. But we're going to protect Obamacare. We're going to make sure people keep their coverage for [re-existing condition and keep Their older kids on Obamacare, but this just kind of -- I understand why Harry Reid did it. He feels strongly, living in an Alternate universe right now. But there was an election, and You have to respect that.

GREGORY: Right. It wasn't a military coup.

BORGER: Exactly.

WOLF: The whole notion of early appointments that the president-elect will make -- usually in a transition, they announce who the White House chief of staff is going to be. Critically important job. We're going to get an indication from Donald Trump about his direction once he makes that announcement.

RAJU: Right. And the people under consideration will give a big Indication what direction he Wants to take his presidency. If He chooses a Steve Bannon, of course, tied to "Breitbart," which has so aggressively attacking all sorts of people, including Republican leaders here in Washington, if he went that route, it could cause a lot of problems Within his own party. Reince Priebus, seen as a Leading candidate, yes, that Could help with people in Washington and maybe Democrats, too. What about Donald Trump thing, being an outsider, draining the swamp, having the RNC head as chief of staff, a big question there, or maybe a Newt Gingrich, for instance, someone with a lot of relationships with Republicans on the Hill but who is polarizing among Democrats.

WOLF: What are you hearing?

BORGER: The people I talk to are putting bets On Reince Priebus, and that -

WOLF: Chair of the Republican National Committee.

BORGER: And might be Out of their own self-interests, quite honestly, because think they'll be able to deal with him.

Think back to the campaign when Donald Trump wanted to pick Newt Gingrich as his vice-presidential pick. His family had to do an intervention say, no, no, no, it should be Mike Pence. Don't pick Newt Gingrich, and they prevailed. I think that is not unlike what is going on now. However, I do believe the one question that Donald Trump has about Reince Priebus is, who's his loyalty to? Is it to Paul Ryan? Or is it to me? And I think that's a big Question.

GREGORY: He's going to have a big inside/outside game. He's the ultimate outsider. But I think Trump wants to be careful about now appearing disorganized in starting the government. It's OK to be a little disorganized and pull it off in the campaign. Here he's running the government and wants to be organized and is the ultimate change agent and an outside.

WOLF: They're meeting now in Trump Tower. We should know fairly soon -- I'm guessing within days -- the White House chief of staff. And then the cabinet will come into play as well.

Everybody stay with us.

Turning now to one of Donald Trump promises, repealing and replacing Obamacare. More than 100,000 Americans signed up under the Affordable Care Act on Wednesday right after Donald Trump was elected president of the United States. That's the most in one day since Open enrollment kicked off earlier this month. President-elect Trump has said many times that among his first Initiatives would be to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act shortly after he assumes office.

Our chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, joins us.

Sanjay, how many are enrolled in Obamacare, the Affordable Care Act, and what would happen to them if it were to be repealed and replaced?

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: The first part of that question is easier than the second part to answer. The first part, if you look at strict number, probably around 17 million people or so through who, through the exchanges, now have health care Insurance. Probably a few million more who are young people, for example, who stayed on their parents' insurance now up to age 26. So, the number 21 million really is what people attribute to the Affordable Care Act. Obviously, people also have gotten insurance because of states that have expanded Medicaid programs.

The second part of the question, Wolf, is harder to answer. You could say, well, it's that number of people who would be at risk of losing their health care insurance, but it's more nuanced than that. As you were talking about with your panel, people who got health care insurance and otherwise couldn't have because of a pre-existing condition. That's a big group of people who would Be in jeopardy as well if Something like this was repealed. [13:39:32] WOLF: And he's promising he's going to take steps quickly

on this Affordable Care Act, Obamacare. We'll watch it closely. There's lots at stake across the board.

Sanjay, thanks very much.

Coming up, after a bruising Loss this week, Democratic Leaders plan a major overhaul of the Democratic National Committee. We discuss with Congressman Steve Israel of New York. You see him. Got lots to say on this sensitive issue, right after This.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WOLF: Today, the Hillary Clinton campaign acknowledging why it believes Hillary Clinton lost the presidential election, saying in large part, it's because of the FBI. A quote now: "We didn't blame everyone but ourselves, but we acknowledged a lot of challenges we faced. Plenty of mistakes made along the way. Some challenges we weren't able to overcome." The statement goes on to say, "What changed in the last week that made his turnout go up and ours go down, the only thing apparent was Comey." The FBI Director James Comey. "It was one thing too many. Could not overcome it."

Let's discuss this and more. I'm joined by the -- by retiring Democratic Congressman Steve Israel, of New York. He has often been a major player in the House Democratic leadership.

Congressman, thanks for joining us.

[11:45:04] REP. STEVE ISRAEL, (D), NEW YORK: Thank you, Wolf. Thanks for having me on.

WOLF: You think it's fair to place a lot of the blame, the last 10, 11, 12 days, on the FBI Director Comey's announcement that he would take another look at Hillary Clinton e-mail server issue?

ISRAEL: Well, I think he bears some of the responsibility. I was at Clinton headquarter a few days before the election, looking at data that Was very favorable. The Comey announcement had kind of turned that data in a different direction. I can tell you specific congressional districts where Hillary Clinton was ahead of Donald Trump. After the Comey announcement, Donald Trump went ahead of Hillary Clinton. Lots of factors. and I think Comey was one of them. The most important factor in my view, a serious conversation we to have with one another, is this -- how do we tap in to the historic, the acute, intense conversions of anxieties on middle class and working class voters, and how do we do it constructively so that Republicans don't continue do that destructively? One of several serious conversations that we have to have as Democrats about our future, and about winning elections again.

WOLF: CNN reporters, talked to Trump voter about why they voted the way they did. Listen to two of them then we'll discuss.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My health insurance alone, just for me, you're looking at almost 360 buck month.

UNIDENTIFIEF MALE: I've been around for 65 years, and I've seen a lot go on, and so I just thought that there's this -- maybe the first time I've seen something we can actually change.

Got a notice the other day saying my Social Security's going up $3.65. Oh, boy. I can get a loaf of bread now. I worked all those year, all that money went into Social Security and I'm not benefiting really from it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WOLF: You understand their concern, their anger, their frustration, and as a result, why they voted for the outsider, Donald Trump?

ISRAEL: Absolutely, Wolf. What you just heard says it all. We are witnessing a perfect storm. Convergence of anxieties I mentioned earlier. The economy is changing dramatically in front of their eyes, local supermarkets disappearing, complete and historic breakdown in all institutions not just government but sports and religion and wall street, personal concern about people's safety, beheadings, what happens at the local movie theater and a sense that democracy has sold Out the American people. You put that all together and it should be no surprise we witnessed the kind of anxieties That played out in this election.

I remind people Hillary Clinton still won the popular vote and we had record-low turnout. So, a majority of Americans do not Agree with Donald Trump's Agenda. He tapped into that anxiety in a very effective and destructive way. We've got to tap into that anxiety. We have to listen to it, understand it, and then we've got to have specific and proactive solutions for the two voters that you Just heard from.

WOLF: Would you like to be chairman Of the Democratic National Committee?

ISRAEL: Would I like to be chair Of the Democratic National Committee? Wolf, I was the chairman of the Democratic Congressional Committee four years and grew about 4,000 new gray hairs.

Look, we've got a bunch of people who are jumping into This. Here's what I think we need to do. We need to take a deep breath and do some deep thinking. We need to think about how we're going to resonate with those middle class and working-class Americans. Also, we need have a conversation about how we pivot back to local elections. We have to learn how to win again in state and local elections. And do what the Republicans did. They invested in local elections, seized control of state houses and gubernatorial elections, seized control of redistricting maps, built a 10-year redistricting firewall. We have got to play by that playbook. And those are the conversations to have before we decide who the DNC chair is. We've got to decide what are our strategic imperatives. Those two things, middle class economics and long-term redistricting, can unify moderates and progressives in our party. That's what we should be focused on that.

WOLF: Are you open to being the chairman of the DNC?

ISRAEL: I want to focus -- look, I want to help my party. I'm retiring from Congress as a Democratic congressman. Not retiring as Democrat. I want to continue to have a voice on those issues, make my contribution. I haven't decided where or how or when I'll make it. But I intend to be very active in the national Democratic Party, talking about the issues I just enunciated.

WOLF: Steve Israel, congressman From New York, retiring. Thanks so much for joining us.

ISRAEL: Thank you, Wolf.

[13:49:55] WOLF: Up next, President Obama spending this Veteran's Day here in the United States honoring those who served. His final message to our Nation's veterans as president of the United States.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WOLF: President Obama visiting Arlington National Cemetery on this Veteran's Day here in the United States, laying a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknowns before delivering his final address to the nation's veterans and their families as president Of the United States.

UNIDENTIFIED MILITARY SERVICEMEMBER: Present --

UNIDENTIFIED MILITARY SERVICEMEMBER: Present.

UNIDENTIFIED MILITARY SERVICEMEMBER: -- arms!

(MUSIC)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: On Veteran's Day, we acknowledge, humbly, that we can never serve our veterans in quite the same way that they served us, but we can try. We can practice kindness, we can pay it forward, we can volunteer, we can serve, we can respect one another. Wherever the world makes you cynical, whenever you seek true humility and selflessness, look to a veteran.

May God bless all who served and still do. And may God bless the United States of America.

(MUSIC)

UNIDENTIFIED MILITARY SERVICEMEMBER: (INAUDIBLE).

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[13:55:27] WOLF: President-elect Donald Trump tweeting this -- let me put it up there: "Today, we express our deepest gratitude to all those who are is served in our armed forces, #thankavet."

To any veterans and their Families watching us right now, let me add my voice, thank you for your service, thank you for Your sacrifice. That's it for me. Thanks very much for watching. I'll be back at

5:00 p.m. eastern in "The Situation Room."

The news continues right here on CNN right after a quick break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)