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Some Worry Obama Too Positive on Trump Presidency; Paul Ryan Re-Elected House Speaker; Pelosi Could Lose House Leadership Position; Protesters Storm Chuck Schumer's Office; "Dilbert" Cartoonist Predicted Trump Win. Aired 2:30-3p ET

Aired November 15, 2016 - 14:30   ET

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

[14:30:00] BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: The president did issue a warning against divisive politics, a dire warning in an "us versus them" way of thinking but his middle-of-the-road tone may be too much for some. Many Democrats are concerned the president is being too positive about a Trump administration.

Here with me, Bill Press, CNN political commentator and former supporters of Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton.

Bill Press, nice to see you.

BILL PRESS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTTOR: Hello, Brooke.

BALDWIN: What do you make of the criticism that the president is being too positive, too -- shouldn't be giving him a chance the way he is? How do you feel about it?

PRESS: I'm one of his critics. There's a difference between accepting the results of the election, which I believe all Americans have to do, accepting Donald Trump, like it or not, as our next president which I think all Americans have to do and then backing off and not being willing to criticize some of the appointments he has made.

I was disappointed in two things. Number one, when the president said we have to all hope that Donald Trump succeeds. I don't hope Donald Trump succeeds. I hope he feels at all the things he promised to do. And if he follows through with throwing 12 million immigrants out of the country or putting a religious test for Muslims into this country or getting rid of the Paris Accord, on down the list, if Donald Trump succeeds, America fails. So, I think the president was too soft --

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: Hang on, Bill. Let me jump in. I hear you. And I know what is near and dear to you as far as issues. You want President- elect Trump to fail on what you just outlined.

As the leader of the free world, do you want him to fail?

PRESS: On his agenda, the things he promised to do. Again, foreign policy, bombing the hell out of ISIS, scuttling the Iran nuclear deal. All of those would be a disaster for the United States. I want him to fail at what he promised to do.

BALDWIN: I understand. I understand.

PRESS: Now the second point is on, President Obama. He disappointed me yesterday when he failed on the opportunity to criticize the appointment of Steve Bannon as an advisor of President Trump. He was right that I can't criticize everybody but he could have said, well, let me put it this way, this is not somebody I would appoint or this is not somebody with those values that I believe belongs in the Oval Office.

BALDWIN: But he choice not to. He chose not to. President Obama --

PRESS: I know he did.

BALDWIN: -- is a smart man and he knew to dodge, and he dodged. And he dodged when he was asked a couple of other questions. He talked about himself and I'm wondering if you heard this as a jab at Hillary Clinton because he said - he was talking about when he was running for president and he went to Iowa not because the demographics dictated that I would win Iowa, he said, it was because I spent 87 days going to every small town and fair and fish fry and VFW hall. So, he points this out, and there's been much ado about Hillary Clinton not going to, say, Wisconsin, like at all. Was that a jab?

PRESS: I think it was.

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: Was it a fair jab?

PRESS: Yes, I think it was a fair jab. What the president didn't say but was alluding to was something a lot of us feel, that this campaign made a horrific mistake in no focusing on the working middle-class Americans across the Rustbelt. And it was exemplified by Hillary Clinton never going to Wisconsin. They spent more money in Omaha, Nebraska, trying to win one electoral vote than they did trying to win 26 electoral votes in Michigan and Wisconsin combined. So clearly there was a lack of focus. I think the president was saying you can't do that. You have to be there, everywhere, every time.

BALDWIN: Let's talk about the future of the Democratic Party.

And I have a voice I'd love to bring in as well. Yong Jung Cho is a protester that was arrested after storming in Senator Chuck Schumer's office yesterday.

Thank you so much for joining me.

Tell me why you wanted to be there in Senator Schumer's office. Why you were leading the protests the day after election day. What's this about to you for Democrats?

YONG JUNG CHO, PROTESTER: So, two days ago, my mom texted me saying how scared she was and I got text messages from my friends and family. And I know I'm not the only one. Through the last year and a half, Donald Trump has said racist, sexist, hateful things throughout his entire campaign. And some Democrats are saying, you know what, we need to wait and see. But we've waited --

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: Some Democrats, including, by the way, President Obama. we were just asking a discussion about how he is being positive and is criticized for that. Continue.

CHO: But when we say wait and see, and Steve Bannon, a white nationalist from "Breitbart," get appointed to chief strategist. And when Donald Trump says he's going to deport two to three million people in his first year in office, great, that's the ends of your chance. So, all Democrats need to take the stand and say I'm going to refuse to negotiate with Donald Trump's racist and fascist agenda.

[14:35:17] BALDWIN: What about Hillary Clinton? Richard Cohen wrote an opinion piece in "The Washington Post," and he said, "I think Hillary Clinton has been too submissive. She has to understand she didn't lose the election, we did." He goes on to say Clinton should not have been so civilized.

CHO: You know, Hillary Clinton won the popular vote so I think there are more Americans who voted for Hillary Clinton than for Donald Trump.

I realize what is at stake for our lives, for our country and for our democracy. I want to add that the establishment Democrats have failed the American people. The establishment Democrats failed to stop Donald Trump.

Donald Trump won the campaign by talking about this false populism, scapegoating immigrants and people of color and saying immigrants and people of color are at fault for the nation's economic insecurity but we kw it's Wall Street and the corrupt billionaires --

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: But he won.

Let's function forward with the fact that he won. He will be our next president. So, to your point about Democrats and the Democrat establishment, the reason why you were arrested in Senator Schumer's office, what is your message to Democrats in Washington?

CHO: So there were 40 young people inside Chuck Schumer's office. 17 of us were arrested. Democrats must refuse to negotiate with Donald Trump's racist and fascist agenda. I think right now we are fighting for the soul of the American country and Democrats must choose, they're either with Trump or with us.

PRESS: Brooke?

BALDWIN: Bill Press? Bill Press?

(CROSSTALK) PRESS: Can we just -

BALDWIN: Let me ask -

PRESS: Yeah, go ahead.

BALDWIN: I want you to say, say what you want, but on Nancy Pelosi, we know that vote has been put off. Should there be a new leader on your side?

PRESS: Well, that's a lot all at once. First of all, I have to say I salute these protesters. It's great they are out there. These are peaceful protests, they're happening all over the country and people like our guests here are not saying they don't accept the results of the election, they're just saying they don't like it and we can do better.

On the Democratic Party, I could not agree more. They need a shakeup from top to bottom in terms of focus, message, tactics, in terms of whom they're talking to and what their message is, absolutely.

And I think that's what reflected, Brooke, to your question in this delay of a couple weeks in picking a new speaker of the House of representatives. It's not necessarily anti-Nancy Pelosi. They're saying, wait a minute, we screwed up. We lost an election. We should never have lost to somebody who is unfit to be president. We better examine everything from top to bottom before we move forward blindly and do things the way we've done them in the past. And that's way overdue.

BALDWIN: On the House minority leader, not speaker. We know Paul Ryan, that's a lock.

PRESS: I'm sorry, yes.

BALDWIN: I know. I know. It's OK.

PRESS: I still think of her as speaker.

BALDWIN: We're all lacking sleep after everything.

Bill Press, thank you so much.

Yong Cho, thank you so much for your voice as well.

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: On the Republican side, Paul Ryan, as we were just talking, keeps his job. Seems giddy over the state of the Republican party. What a difference a week makes. We'll take you live to the Hill.

Plus, President George W. Bush speaking out for the first time since this historic presidential election. Hear what he has just said about Donald Trump and the people who voted for him.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [14:43:05] BALDWIN: Let's talk about Capitol Hill now. House Republicans meeting behind closed doors. They have voted to keep Paul Ryan as speaker.

Let's go to Manu Raju on the Hill for us.

Manu, with this vote, it was unanimous, was it not?

MANU RAJU, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: It was a voice vote which basically means a unanimous vote, this was such a different scene than what we expected a few weeks ago when at that time conservatives were concerned happening in the election. They thought they were going to lose, they wanted to look for a scalp and that turned out to be Paul Ryan. At the end of the campaign, Paul Ryan unified behind Donald Trump even though he expressed reservations about him throughout the course of the campaign and they ended up winning so this party, this conference showing a sense of unity a sense they want to work together and don't want to devolve into a messy leadership fight. Earlier, Paul Ryan speaking to reporters about his optimism about the Trump administration. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. PAUL RYAN, (R-WI), SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: This will be a government focused on turning President-elect Trump's victory into real progress for the American people. Our team is very excited and we cannot wait to get to work. If we are going to put our country back on the right track, we have got to be bold and we have to go big. This country is expecting absolutely no less.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: Now, unlike in the campaign when Paul Ryan criticized Donald Trump whether it was his comments about Judge Curiel, the Trump's ban on Muslims entering the country, Paul Ryan went to lengths to avoid criticizing Donald Trump. Was asked about the election of Steve Bannon to be a member of Donald Trump's White House, he didn't criticize him. He said, "We'll worry about results, not his aides." And I asked Paul Ryan about the idea of Donald Trump's kids getting a security clearance and ruining Trump businesses while also Trump being president, if there was concerns about a conflict of interest. Paul Ryan said he didn't have any concerns, down played that as well, trying to showcase they're going to align and not get into a squabble with the incoming president even though we saw that happen time and again throughout the campaign - Brook?

[14:45:34] BALDWIN: I'm fascinated by what's happening on the Hill on the Democratic side. This vote delay what's the story? Might Nancy Pelosi's job be in jeopardy?

RAJU: It's much different on the Democratic side, much -- a lot of division, a lot of concern, a lot of turmoil after what happened last Tuesday. There was a successful push by Democrats on the House side to delay Thursday's leadership election in which Nancy Pelosi was expected to be reelected as the House Democratic leader. The reason why is some folks want more time to reassess what happened and whether there needs. There's discussion about a possible challenge, from Ohio Democrat Tim Ryan, who's weighing whether or not to run against Nancy Pelosi. And there are concerns about maybe it's time for fresh blood after what happened here. But Pelosi has support within her caucus so it will be difficult to unseat her -- Brooke?

BALDWIN: Manu, thank you. Manu on Capitol Hill.

Meantime, breaking news. There are reports of a shooting at the airport in Oklahoma City. Here's what we know. Police say one person has been shot. They're advising everyone to stay put, shelter in place. No word on the victim. No word on the suspect.

Stay right here.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:50:50] BALDWIN: With so many questions swirling around Donald Trump, add this: How did a cartoonist get it so right when pollsters and pundits got it so wrong.

Scott Adams is the creator of "Dilbert" and he predicted Donald Trump would be the 45th president.

Scott, welcome back.

SCOTT ADAMS, CARTOONIST: Thanks for having me.

BALDWIN: So I think everything you - you blog about it, fascinating, as a student of persuasion and linguistics. You mapped out these stills that Donald Trump has used masterfully. You talk about his linguistic judo, the linguistic kill shot, insults or compliments. Now that we know he won, which do you think was his strongest?

ADAMS: His strongest skill? Well, I predicted based on my own background in hypnosis and persuasion last year that the biggest variable would be his persuasion skills and that there would be lots of ups and downs and lots of scandals and stuff but the big thing would be persuasion. In the end, some of the scandals anticipated and there were more of them. So, between the "Access Hollywood" tape and the Comey revelations, those probably canceled each other out. I think at this point the persuasion was the biggest factor.

BALDWIN: You point out, though, his vagueness, whether it's intentional vagueness, I just want to play sound. This is when he sat down with les Lesley Stahl on "60 Minutes." I want your opinion.

ADAMS: OK.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LESLEY STAHL, CO-HOST, 60 MINUTES: Will you appoint, are you looking to appoint a justice who wants to overturn Roe v. Wade?

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT-ELECT OF THE UNITED STATES: Here's what's going to happen. I'm pro-life. The judges will be pro-life. If it ever were overturned and go back to the states. (CROSSTALK)

TRUMP: So it would go back to the states.

STAHL: Then some women won't be able to get an abortion.

TRUMP: No, it will go back to the states.

STAHL: No, some women won't -

(CROSSTALK)

TRUMP: Perhaps, they have to -- they'll perhaps have to go to another state.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Did he answer her question?

ADAMS: Well in this case, there's no perfect answer because after of the country will be angry at you no matter what you say. So, the answer that is acceptable to enough people is to say he'll leave it to the states so it's dodging the question more than addressing it. That's one of the situations where there isn't a ton you can do persuasion-wise because people are locked into their opinion on that topic

BALDWIN: You talk about the linguistic kill shot. Part of that when he would call Jeb Bush "Low Energy Jeb" and we heard over again "Crooked Hillary," "Crooked Hillary." Of all the words, "crooked," did that stick? How much do you think that helped him?

ADAMS: I think it helped him a lot because what he did with his linguistic kill shots, as I called them, or insults as other people called them, is they were design so that confirmation bias made them stronger over time. So "Lyin' Ted" was a good one because there was a good chance that Ted Cruz was going to say something that sounded like a lie to you and that would reinforce the label. But Ted also had a physicality about him that looked squinty eyed and a bit like a liar. If you were going to cast him in a movie, you'd say, oh, he looks like a liar.

(LAUGHTER)

That has nothing to do with his inner thought. Just his physicality matched it. And "crooked" worked as a physicality play as well because Clinton didn't look so healthy and she had help getting upstairs and stuff, so you can imagine her body being crooked.

But you were guaranteed that there would be confirmation bias in the future. There would be stories leaking out, WikiLeaks and such, that would make it look like she was more crooked than you thought, even if it was just confirmation bias, so it was a perfect nickname that way.

BALDWIN: What do you make of how he criticized the media. Can you, Scott, deconstruct what his criticisms of the media were about? What was he trying to achieve?

ADAMS: There's a bigger factor than just his criticism of the media. You notice Trump always does this: When somebody's good to him, he praises them effusively, and that's a good day for that person. If somebody criticizes him, no matter who it is, he goes after them, and he goes after them hard, even if it's 3:00 in the morning and he's tweeting. So, he's consistent. He makes the biggest possible gap between pleasing him and not pleasing him.

And sometimes it has to do with the topic at hand. But the bigger play is any time you deal with Trump in the future about anything, in your head, there's a recording that says, if I please him, this will be a good day for me, and if I don't, he'll come after me hard. And that helps him in all future activities. Even though it seems silly, in any particular case, it helps him because it primes the public for being good to him and it sets him up to win no matter what happens.

[14:55:55] BALDWIN: Scott Adams, come back any time. I could listen to you for quite a while.

Scott, thank you so much.

Coming up next, former President George W. Bush is speaking out for the first time since the election. Hear what he has just said about Donald Trump and about the Americans who voted for him. Do not miss that.

Also, new word that Rudy Giuliani's bid for secretary of state hit roadblocks. Hear why Team Trump is concerned about something in his past. Those details ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)