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Trump Rails Against Reports of Turmoil; Walkouts Expected on Dozens of College Campuses; How the Country Can Unite Post-Election. Aired 10-10:30a ET

Aired November 16, 2016 - 10:00   ET

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


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[10:00:16]

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. I'm Carol Costello. Thank you so much for joining me. Donald Trump launches a flurry of Twitter attacks to push back against reports that his all-important transition team is in turmoil. Here's one. Attacking the "New York Times" it was tweeted out just a couple hours ago, Trump says the transition is going so smoothly. Minutes ago I asked Trump's communications director about that Twitter outburst. He downplayed it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JASON MILLER, COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR TRUMP TRANSITION TEAM: I would describe it as this is the president-elect setting the record straight. And I think this is a part of the reason why he received such great support last week and why he won the election, because he's not this typical politician. He's not going to be confined by the media norms. When he sees something that's incorrect he's not afraid to stand up and set the record straight.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: But Trump's latest firing, adding to the concerns of establishment Republicans. Mike Rogers, the former chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, was booted from Trump's transition team. Rogers telling CNN, he was among several recent dismissals, all with ties to recently fired, Chris Christie. And sources say, Trump's son- in-law, Jared Kushner is at the center of all the infighting. All of this unfolding just 65 days away from Trump's inauguration.

CNN's Sunlen Serfaty is outside Trump Tower where the president- elect is back at work today at his transition headquarters. Good morning, Sunlen.

SUNLEN SERFATY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning too, Carol. Lot of pushback coming from Trump transition officials disputing the notion that this last week for them has been a turbulent time for their transition and joining in that chorus this morning is President- elect Donald Trump himself, taking to Twitter to tweet out this, "Very organized process," in talking about the transition, "taking place as I decide on Cabinet and many other positions. I am the only one who knows who the finalists are!"

And as the process continues today here at Trump Tower, the team potentially zeroing in and making some final decisions on some of these top Cabinet posts, Eric Trump, Donald Trump's son, just entered Trump Tower a few minutes ago and spoke briefly with the press.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SERFATY (ph): Eric, what are you expecting for today? What do you guys have planned?

ERIC TRUMP, PRESIDENT-ELECT'S SON: Good day.

SERFATY (ph): Good day? Are you guys planning on any more positions today?

TRUMP: Likely.

SERFATY (ph): Likely, anyone in particular? What are you going to be working on today?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Eric, how was dinner?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SERFATY: Now, as many on Trump's team are very -- trying very hard to project calmness and steadiness amid all these reports, there has been turnover behind the scenes. Multiple sources -- I believe that we have, by the way, live pictures of Sen. Jeff Sessions arriving now at Trump Tower. He was also here for many hours yesterday.

But back to the turnover, there are multiple sources that say that Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner is really at the center of much of this infighting going on. That he has really been pushing to purge many of the transition members that are closely aligned with former transition head Chris Christie and one of those who has been shown the door yesterday, was former Congressman, CNN contributor Mike Rogers, who was closely aligned with Chris Christie. Here's what he told Anderson Cooper.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MIKE ROGERS, FORMER MEMBER OF TRUMP TRANSITION TEAM: Sometimes in politics, you know, in the palace intrigue there are people who are in and people who are out. And the people who have been asked to move on have some relationship with Chris Christie. In my case I was hired by him. And so there's a whole series of about five of them that fit that criteria that were asked to leave in the last few days. And you know what, that's the absolutely the campaign's prerogative. I think there is some confusion going on about a chain of command coming out of New York. Hopefully they will get that settled pretty soon. I think they're going to need to do it because as this clock ticks, all of these decisions become more important.

(END VIDEO CLIP) SERFATY: And that word, Carol, confusion really caught my ear,

because here we are a week -- a full week after Election Day and they are, you know, constantly plagued by the stories of infighting and turnover, certainly not the sort of image that you want to project at a time where you need to be making these big decisions. Carol?

COSTELLO: Yes and as I watch Sen. Jeff Sessions at the elevator, about to go up to meet Mr. Trump. Eric Trump said there might be some -- somebody named today to a cabinet position. Then we know that Sen. Sessions is up for attorney general. He is also being considered for Secretary of Defense. So, if you look into your crystal ball, Sunlen, do you see Jeff Sessions being named to a position sometime today?

SERFATY: I really believe that there potentially could be some announcements coming up, potentially as soon as today. I know you talked to Jason Miller in the past hour and he didn't really show his hand but made clear that the final decision, of course, rests with Donald Trump. -- Sen. Sessions was here at Trump Tower for many, many hours yesterday. And as you noted, his name has been bandied about for a plethora

[10:05:16] of positions including Defense Department and attorney general. There seems to be a feeling within the transition team that he can play in many positions, potentially someone that could be easily conformable given that he is a senator well liked on Capitol Hill. So, we will see what position he potentially gets. Carol?

COSTELLO: All right. Sunlen Serfaty, I'll let you get back to it. Thank you so much. So let's talk about all of this. Larry Sabato is here. He's the director for the University of Virginia, Center for Politics. David Catanese joins me. He's a senior politics writer at "U.S. News & World Report." Patricia Murphy is here. She's a columnist for "The Daily Beast" and for "Roll Call." Welcome to all of you, so much to talk about this morning.

So, Larry, Mr. Trump went on a sort of tweet storm this morning, pushing back against the "New York Times" reporting that his transition team is in turmoil. What do you make of that?

LARRY SABATO, DIRECTOR UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA CENTER FOR POLITICS: Well, there'll be a lot of (INAUDIBLE). We can be sure of that. And something here is wrong.

COSTELLO: OK. So Larry, we will go on and we'll ask Patricia that question. So while Larry fixes his Skype, what do you think about Trump's tweeting this morning? He tweeted at least four times.

PATRICIA MURPHY, COLUMNIST "THE DAILY BEAST" AND "ROLL CALL": Well, it feels a lot like candidate Trump. It doesn't feel like a future President Trump. And I think what is so unusual about this transition process besides the infighting which you know, of course can occur, the information flow out of this process has been so bizarre. The fact the only information we are getting about the transition is from Eric Trump just shouting across Trump Tower lobby, from Donald Trump tweeting early in the morning, and then from unnamed transition officials and everybody else who got booted off. So it doesn't feel like there's transparency. It doesn't feel organized. It doesn't feel like they even had any of this in place before they won. It's just so unusual. And I feel like it does send a message that this is a group that didn't have their act together and wasn't ready to become the president. I think they need to certainly kind of button it up and it will be very helpful for members of the media to have a regular information flow.

COSTELLO: Yes. Good luck with that. I did talk to Jason Miller, however, this morning. He's Mr. Trump's senior communications director. And he told me there's no turmoil within the transition team. It's just a bunch of people who are kind of bitter about not being named to White House positions. So, let's listen to that.

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MILLER: Well, I think it's important to keep in mind that he's actually putting this team together. He's working with the vice president-elect, with the executive director of the transition team. They have a very structured plan and are going through this methodically to make sure they get it right. And that's the important thing I think that people need to know is they have the plan in place, they're going to go through. They're going to do the due diligence to make sure they check people's backgrounds and make sure they are on the up and up and we have a very good team put together. And then, once he's inaugurated we're going to do some very exciting things. But there's a clear structure in place. I think some of this palace intrigue, really where I think this comes from usually -- as folks who either aren't up for jobs who maybe a little bit bitter or some people who are just maybe bitter that the election didn't go their way last week.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: So David, might this all be coming from people who are bitter and want to say bad things about Mr. Trump because they are petty?

DAVID CATANESE, SENIOR POLITICS WRITER "U.S. NEWS & WORLD REPORT": Yes, there's probably some of that. That goes on all the time in politics. It is not abnormal to have warring factions within campaigns, within administrations. That is actually pretty normal. I think the difference here with the Trump campaign is the outsized role of his family. I don't know if there's ever been a comparison where you have his family members, his sons, his son-in-law, his daughter, who are playing such an important role. I mean, you would have to go back to probably the Kennedys to make that comparison. And go to Jared Kushner, who obviously has a real problem with Chris Christie. Remember, Chris Christie put Jared Kushner's father in prison years ago. So he clearly doesn't like the guy. He's gotten involved in the vice presidential process in blocking Christie from ever having a real shot at that. Now he has ousted the Christie faction in the transition. So I just think we can, you know, underestimate the power of Jared Kushner and he's been a pivotal player through the Trump campaign. He's going to be a pivotal player through the transition and probably once Trump is in the White House. COSTELLO: Well, here are two things that Jason Miller told me

about Jared Kushner. And Larry, you can address this after I inform our viewers what he said last hour to me. He said that Jared Kushner is not behind the supposed bloodbath within the transition team. He's just trying to help out Mr. Trump in the best way possible. I asked him if a security clearance was requested for Jared Kushner and Jason Miller told me no. So -- it's unclear that Jared Kushner will have any role at least at this point going on down the line and according to Jason Miller he's not behind the bloodbath or the infighting or whatever.

SABATO: Well, we really don't know

[10:10:16] one way or the other, but in listening to Mr. Miller and seeing President-elect Trump's tweet about how things are going so smoothly, I would hate to see what chaos is if this is smooth. And this is the easy part. The tough part is governing that begins January 20th. So look, people have all kinds of varying sources but it's pretty obvious from statements made by people like your contributor, Mike Rogers, the former Congressman, and others who have been involved in the process, that something's happening and basically the response of the Trump people is who are you going to believe, me or your lying eyes. Well, I will take the lying eyes, thank you.

COSTELLO: So Patricia, so there's a little chaos maybe within the Trump transition team, but as long as he's named important positions by the time he needs to, what difference does it make?

MURPHY: Well, I think it makes a difference. It is sending a signal both to the American people as well as to people around the world, allies, what kind of a president, Trump is going to be. It's very, very important how he's going to run his administration. It's very important who he names to these posts. And it's really important how he names them. Is this a transparent process? Is this a process that's organized? Is it a process that's professional? Is it out of control? Is it run by rumors? Is it run by his family? So far were getting a lot of the latter, not a lot of the former because Donald Trump has so little experience because we don't know what kind of a person he's going to be in government. All of these are going to tell us what kind of a president we can expect. And so far it's not going well. He can certainly turn it around. He can professionalize it. He can start to have regular flow of information. But so far it's been a really bad week for them.

COSTELLO: All right. I have to leave it there. Larry Sabato, David Catanese, Patricia Murphy, thanks to all of you.

Still to come in the "Newsroom," they're not just angry. They are fearful. Up next, we'll tell you about a new wave of anti-Trump protests expected today.

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[10:16:16] COSTELLO: There is something happening across the country since Donald Trump's election. I know you feel it. Some call it a movement, others turmoil. Some pointless, some examples, dozens of college campuses, students expected to stage walkouts today in protest of Trump's election, declaring the school's sanctuary campuses. Three NBA teams say they will no longer stay in Trump's properties when they're traveling. And Twitter has now suspended accounts linked to the so-called Alt-Right movement. All of this happening as one Trump supporter in New York says he was attacked on the subway because he was wearing his make America great again hat.

So let's talk about how America can unite. Is it possible? Were we ever united? So I'm joined by "SiriusXM Radio" host and "The Daily Beast" columnist, Dean Obeidallah, along with three of our CNN political commentators, "New York Daily News" columnist S.E. Cupp, top radio host John Phillips and former Bernie Sanders press secretary Symone Sanders. Welcome to all of you.

OK. So I'm really excited to have this conversation because I do think this sort of conversation will be happening across the country at Thanksgiving Day tables everywhere. And S.E. Cupp, I just asked you about that. And you're going to have a rule already in place.

SYMONE SANDERS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR AND FORMER PRESS SECRETARY BERNIE SANDERS FOR PRESIDENT: Not in my house.

COSTELLO: No talk?

S.E. CUPP, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR AND COLUMNIST "NEW YORK DAILY NEWS": Look, we just went through this really difficult -- whatever side of the aisle you were on, whatever outcome you were hoping, this was difficult. This was tiresome. I would encourage other families to have those conversations at Thanksgiving, just not my family. I need a break.

COSTELLO: That's not very courageous of you, S.E.

CUPP: It's not, but I just - I need a pause. I'm still -- we are all still trying to unpack this and I just, I need my family Thanksgiving to be a safe space.

COSTELLO: On the other hand, Dean, in the subway, you force people to talk about this -- on how America can unite.

DEAN OBEIDALLAH, HOST "THE DEAN OBEIDALLAH SHOW" AND COLUMNIST "THE DAILY BEAST": I force everyone to talk about Trump. I'm like talk to me about Trump. It's like, what's wrong with you. I'm obsessed with it. I need an intervention, there's no doubt. It is shortening my life expectancy, this Trump election. I thought we were going to be done with it, frankly, because the polls told us we're going to be done with it. We are not. We are living through a very difficult time. I am so glad to see the peaceful protesters, just the peaceful ones, doing democracy at its core, grassroots, saying we don't like this leader. We don't like someone who trafficked in sexism and bigotry and racism and bragged about sexually assaulting women. There's nothing wrong with them for calling that out. They are doing a great job. You should be calling that out, as long as it's peaceful.

COSTELLO: So John, why is -- why are there protests across the country? Why are young people coming out in droves and saying they are frightened of a Trump presidency when the election is over and how can we convince them not to be so fearful?

JOHN PHILLIPS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR AND TALK RADIO HOST: Well first, I'm looking forward to Thanksgiving because then we're going to get a whole bunch of new things to fight over. Someone's going to burn the yams. Someone's going to show up with a boyfriend that's got piercings all over their face and then we can just move on and fight about those things. But look, it was a tough election. It was a close election. And there are a lot of hurt feelings. We had that both in the primary and the general election. But thankfully, the American people are tough people. We survived the Civil War. We survived the great depression. We survived the Kennedy assassination, The Vietnamese war. We'll get through this, too.

COSTELLO: Yes but Symone, you have one faction, you know, I talked to Jason Miller, Trump's spokesperson, he said you know what, these are just a few protesters, it will die down. It's a whole bunch of nothing. And then you have the other side saying we are really fearful because minorities are going to be under attack. So how do you draw the two sides together?

SANDERS: I think the Trump folks have to come to realize that these protests aren't just some fringe thing happening and that there is still real unrest in the country. And once folks realize that, I think we can better come to terms about how to address it and what to do about it. I mean, I have said from the beginning if Mr. Trump would just use those Twitter fingers that he's used to attack "The New York Times" and everybody else to speak directly to people on both sides but especially those folks that are stoking this hate, these hate crimes that have been going on out there. But I also think it's really important that we

[10:20:16] stress that violence on any side is not OK. But we have to first acknowledge that this exists. First step is to acknowledge that you have a problem. Trump folks acknowledge that you have a problem.

COSTELLO: OK, so the four of you have very different views. And that's why I invited the four of you. You all like each other, right? So how are you getting along? Like, what's your secret?

CUPP: Dean and I actually were on a panel last night in New York facing some very upset liberals who wanted us to sort of explain how this happened. And as -- happens so often during this election, we actually agreed quite a bit on what happened, how we got here, you know, what the future holds. We actually think this could be an exciting time for democracy. There is some optimism. -- There is some optimism.

OBEIDALLAH: I didn't say that, but yes. I just hope I'm not deported. That's what I'm hoping for, as a Muslim that I can stay in America. - No, there is so much common ground we can find. And the biggest thing, I think, the point was, was listening to the other side. I think S.E. made that point really well last night. Empathy gap in this country is so great that if someone is a conservative and I'm a progressive, we don't view each other as fellow Americans with different views. We view each other as the enemy. And we're going to fight and we use terms instantly instead of trying to talk to each other. And I think we have to talk to each other, to the followers. Donald Trump, though, frankly, you point Steve Bannon and today I hear Frank Gaffney, to this transition team, one of the leading anti-Muslim bigots in the country according to Southern Poverty Law Center. A guy who said - Muslim brotherhood infiltrated every rank of government and called Keith Ellison Islamic supremacist two days ago. That's what you bringing to your administration? That sends a message to me as a Muslim and many people of color, you really don't want us.

COSTELLO: OK but you guys can also talk about it rationally. So Symone and John, you two also can talk about things rationally. And you have very divergent viewpoints. So, how is it possible for you guys?

PHILLIPS: Well, I can say this. Symone is cool as hell and is impossible to dislike. I don't know how she puts up with me, thought.

SANDERS: I like John Phillips. But I think what's important is that, you know, we come on to television and we talk about our different views but we remember that we are all people, that this is -- there's something outside and past politics. But I think a lot of this rhetoric has gone too far. And so when you have the president- elect who has said things like you know, Mexicans are rapists and Mexico is sending their worst here when he has questioned whether someone can do their job because of their heritage, you know, when he just basically said, disparaged everybody from people from Muslims to black people to the disabled community. That rhetoric has gone too far. So when you've got this extreme rhetoric, it's hard for people to come to the table. So that's why I really think that John and I get along because John's not going to disrespect me and I'm not going to disrespect John Phillips. -- But Donald Trump has disrespected the American people. We have to come to terms with that. And he needs to address the --

COSTELLO: Hold that thought for a second. I want to take our viewers out to Roth Hill, Maryland because high school students have just walked out of classes in protest of a Trump presidency. So this is the kind of thing that's still happening across the nation, S.E.?

CUPP: You know I want to separate what's happening with students and what's happening with grown-ups, with adults. I think students are doing a little something different. And when you are on a college campus that has told you that you need safe spaces to exercise free speech, I think it sends a really kind of chilling message and I think students are acting out that way. That doesn't mean that there isn't very real fear around the country but -

COSTELLO: Well, no, on the other hand, I think what students at universities are saying is there are undocumented immigrants who go to school there. They don't want those undocumented immigrants sent out of the country or they don't want the INS to come and arrest them. -- They want universities to be a safe space for them. That's what they are protesting across the country today. CUPP: Sure. I mean, look, I've talked about this before. There

are very real fears. I don't diminish those fears at all. But I think the college campus safe space thing has gone way too far. There aren't safe spaces in the real world. We've got to sort of learn how in college to deal with offensive things. But I just wrote a column in "The Daily News" talking about what Trump needs to say, to Symone's point, to people who might be immigrants, legal and otherwise, who might be foreign, who might be Muslim, who might be minority, he needs to say very clearly immigration, legal immigration is a good thing. Diversity is not a bad word. Living next door to someone who doesn't look like you is what makes us great. Short of saying all of those things and denouncing white nationalism outright, I think you're going to continue to have a lot of this distrust, a lot of this suspicion and skepticism that he can actually bridge a very divided country now.

COSTELLO: So John, you have long been a Trump supporter. Does Mr. Trump need to say this, so that we all can continue to have rational conversations in the country?

[10:25:16] PHILLIPS: The primary was a very, very, very bitter primary. And I think a lot of people would say there is zero chance that Trump is going to bring these disparate groups in the Republican Party that sided with Ted Cruz and John Kasich and Jeb Bush, back into the tent. Well, guess what, when you look at the eggs at polling, when you look at results of what happened on November 8th, he did bring these people back into the tent. These people did show up in droves -

COSTELLO: But these are politicians, we're just talking about ordinary Americans, some of whom are fearful. That's who we're talking about. Like --

CUPP: And not Republicans.

COSTELLO: And not just Republicans. So does Mr. Trump need to do something to ease the fears of some Americans?

PHILLIPS: Yes, he's a charmer. Look, give him a chance. We are eight days after the election right now. So we are still in the very beginning stages of what's going on. The American people, I believe are fundamentally very fair people. And what is going to define the Trump presidency is not what we are seeing play out on television right now. It's going to be some unforeseen event. It was 9/11 for George W. Bush in his first term and Hurricane Katrina in his second term. How Trump responds to that unforeseen event is what's going to dominate and define his presidency. It's not this. This is just the very beginning stages of people that are upset about the results of the election.

SANDERS: I think that unforeseen event was Donald Trump being elected President of the United States. He didn't see it coming, neither did we, so now is the time, Donald Trump. Don't wait. I know he's watching.

COSTELLO: All right. I've got to leave it there. Thanks to all of you for coming in and talking about a very important issue. Dean Obeidallah, S.E. Cupp, John Phillips and Symone Sanders, thanks so much.

All right, we have a bit of breaking news to pass along. Sen. Mitch McConnell has just been re-elected as the Senate Majority Leader. No big surprise there, right, no, S.E. Cupp?

CUPP: No. We all saw that coming.

COSTELLO: All right, so Paul Ryan is again the Speaker of the House and Mitch McConnell is again the Senate Majority Leader. I'll be right back.

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