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Trump Transition Turmoil; Megyn Kelly's Trump Tell-All. Aired 12-1a ET

Aired November 16, 2016 - 00:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[00:00:18] JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: This is CNN NEWSROOM live from Los Angeles. Ahead this hour --

ISHA SESAY, CNN ANCHOR: Transition turmoil at Trump Tower. The President-Elect's son-in-law said to be at the center of the infighting, one insider calls it a knife fight.

Renegotiate, revoke or rip up? What will Donald Trump do with the Iran nuclear deal? World leaders are weighing in.

Plus TV anchor Megyn Kelly's Trump tell-all. What it's like behind the scenes when you cross the man who is now President-Elect.

VAUSE: Hello, everybody. Great to have you with us. I'm John Vause.

SESAY: And I'm Isha Sesay. NEWSROOM L.A. starts right now.

There are new signs of turmoil in Trump Tower as President-Elect Donald Trump works to build his transition team.

VAUSE: He has been meeting with Vice President-Elect Mike Pence and others around the clock. Sources tell CNN of infighting over some top level cabinet posts.

SESAY: Sources tell CNN Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner is at the center of the controversy. He has been described as rubbing allies the wrong way.

VAUSE: Joining us now for more on this, Ethan Bearman is a nationally syndicated talk radio host and Harmeet Dillon is vice chair of the California Republican Party and a Donald Trump supporter. I guess they all are now Donald Trump supporter now that he has won.

Ok. We have heard from Donald Trump in the last hour or so in very Trump style. He took to Twitter. And this is what he posted. "Very organized process taking place as I decide on cabinet and many other positions. I am the only one who knows who the finalists are."

Ok. Apart from making this sound like the grand finale of "The Apprentice", Harmeet, that doesn't really seem to square with what we've been seeing play out at Trump Tower over the last few days.

HARMEET DILLON, VICE CHAIR, CALIFORNIA REPUBLICAN PARTY: Well, look, it's a process. And frankly, he was working flat-out over the last several months to win the election. So I think it's natural that there are going to be, you know, some process going on at New York at the Trump Tower to make sure that all the different voices in the party are heard. The people who are the best for the job are considered. And so I think it's -- I'm not alarmed as a supporter to see that there's a process and that it isn't just a bunch of insiders slotted into jobs in a preexisting way.

SESAY: I mean Ethan, how do you view these reports of what's going on inside Trump Tower. I mean should people be worried and see it as a foreshadowing?

ETHAN BEARMAN, RADIO HOST: It sounds like insanity to me. There's a reality show. This is he is playing "The Apprentice" out as President-Elect. That's absolutely not what I want to hear from the new administration.

VAUSE: Ok. One of the victims -- one what is being described as a Stalinist purge is Congressman Mike Rogers. He's the former chair of the House Intelligence Committee. He spoke to CNN a short time ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MIKE ROGERS (R), FORMER MICHIGAN REPRESENTATIVE: 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 is 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 absolutely the campaign's prerogative.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Ok. Christie is out of favor with Trump's son-in-law, amongst other things, because apparently Christie prosecuted Jared Kushner's father, sent him to jail for tax evasion for a couple of years.

But Harmeet, Rogers is seen as a steady, experienced hand in national security. Are you worried about what message this might be sending?

DILLON: Not at all. I mean, you know, I think liberals would be upset with Mr. Christie, Governor Christie staying on the transition team because of the recent scandal. So it's damned if you do and damned if you don't.

From my point of view, there is a plethora of experts on national security who are close to the Trump campaign. There are numerous candidates who are very highly qualified for secretary of state and all of the other top defense posts. And so that doesn't concern me at all. There are plenty to replace him.

SESAY: Ethan, I'm really intrigued about Jared Kushner who is at the center according to CNN reporting of a lot of this infighting. When you look at this, what is his agenda here? What are you able to make of the role he is taking and his actions as we know of them?

BEARMAN: Well, I mean, with his background, right, in Wall Street, among other places, this is an opportunity for him to raise his own profile and have influence on the President of the United States of America. I mean if my father-in-law was running for president and was the elect, I think that would be a great opportunity for me to raise my own profile as well.

And that is what is a little concerning about it though, too. What are the motives?

[00:04:58] VAUSE: Harmeet, we understand that Jared Kushner will probably get top level security clearance. He may stay on as an adviser to his father. But you've got this sort of conflict of influence, if you like, or conflict of interest rather, with the Trump children who will be running the business and then Jared Kushner who will get top level security. If there isn't a conflict of interest, at least there is the appearance, perhaps?

DILLON: Well, I think it's early to be jumping to conclusions like that. It's one thing to be involved in the transition at an intimate level which I think is natural for adult children of a president who is an outsider.

I think it remains to be seen what role any of them are going to play in an ongoing basis in the White House. And, you know, at that point I think it is appropriate to have discussions about conflicts between business interests and what's going on in Washington.

Frankly, one of the key agenda items of the new president is going to be transparency and accountability and honesty in the government. So I would expect all of his followers to hold him accountable on these issues as well. But transition is different than administration.

VAUSE: Ok. Well, one of the other issues was national security which is why many are concerned that Mike Rogers will not be there. He was touted at one point as maybe being a possible CIA director.

We have actually heard from Bashar al Assad today, the dictator of Syria. A major offensive has also begun on Aleppo. This is what Assad said about Trump. "We are very cautious in judging him, especially as he wasn't in a political position before. So we cannot tell anything about what he is going to do. But if, let's say, if he is going to fight the terrorists, of course we are going to be ally -- natural ally in that regard with the Russian, with the Iranian, and with many countries who wanted to defeat the terrorists."

Ethan, is this where we're heading next with the administration -- allies with Bashar al Assad?

BEARMAN: That is a very uncomfortable place, right? I mean we obviously want to defeat the terrorists. And I do hope that the President-Elect will make more progress against ISIS and the rest in the Middle East who want to hurt us in the West and hate our way of life. But Bashar al Assad a strong man who has murdered hundreds of thousands of his own citizens now in this civil war. That is a scary and a dangerous proposition. I think we need to be very careful who we ally with moving forward.

SESAY: Speaking of allies, Harmeet, President Obama has been doing his best to reassure America's NATO allies. Take a listen to what he has to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Even as we see a transition of governments in the United States, across Democratic and Republican administrations, there is a recognition that the NATO alliance is absolutely vital and the transatlantic relationship is the cornerstone of our mutual security as well as prosperity.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SESAY: Harmeet, is President Obama sticking his neck out there by making such assurances?

DILLON: No. I mean, what he said is fairly obvious and noncontroversial. I don't see anything that the President is sticking his neck out here. And I have not heard anything from the President- Elect to contradict what the President just said.

Obviously, we have a long relationship with Europe. We have some close allies, we have common interests. And I think that you can expect all of those to continue.

Now, obviously, there is going to be some tweaking around the edges there is some concerns about, you know, immigrant crises that are going on in Europe, and possibly some of the folks there coming to the United States. So there are a number of issues that have to be looked at through the lens of the new initiatives of the new president.

But I don't think it's controversial to say that we're going to continue to have a strong relationship with NATO and with European nations.

BEARMAN: But Harmeet, I mean that's absolutely not what Donald Trump said during the campaign, which was well, we're not going to necessarily make sure to back up our friends on the eastern front against Russia. And we need to reanalyze our NATO alliance and whether or not people are paying their bills. I mean, so there is an inconsistency there.

And I think that President Obama did something that was necessary, which is to assure our NATO allies that the alliance is not going to collapse. I think this is very important.

DILLON: Well, I don't see those as inconsistent at all. I think there is nothing wrong with a new presidency. And we need to look at what's going on with our partners. Are they honoring their obligations? That's legitimate and that's legitimate and I would expect and I would really expect any new president, I would have expected Hillary Clinton to do the same. You have to look at what is on the ground. Are people honoring their obligations?

BEARMAN: Yes. But he said the Baltic States -- we weren't necessarily going to back up the Baltic States if they get attacked. He said that during the campaign. That's very different from saying let's reanalyze our NATO alliance.

Look, I want the NATO allies to pay their fair share as well. But when he said he wouldn't necessarily back up those Baltic States, that is something very different.

DILLON: Well, I think it would be irresponsible for him to come in to talk on the campaign trail as to what is going to happen after January 20th. I think we'll wait and see what happens then. I mean, you know, the world is going to be very difficult.

I think already we're seeing even the Assad comment that you mentioned obviously, you know, that's a very troubling regime. But the fact that people around the world are paying new attention to the United States and taking us seriously is going to change a lot of dynamics. So we're looking at a different world on January 20th than the one we have today.

[00:10:05] SESAY: All right. Well, let's look at names closer to home. Let's talk Mexico now.

We heard former Mexican President Vicente Fox who is no fan of candidate Trump and certainly appears to be loving President-Elect Trump even less. Take a listen to what he had to say some time ago on Tuesday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VICENTE FOX, FORMER PRESIDENT OF MEXICO: I consider that he is a liar, that he cheated all the people that voted for him because they voted for him under an assumption that he would carry on with what he promised. And now he is backing up. And I know he is going to back up further.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SESAY: Ethan, you hear, former President Vicente Fox there calling President-Elect Trump a liar. Where is the U.S.-Mexico relationship heading in your view?

BEARMAN: Well, I don't think it's heading anywhere positive right now. And I would actually support what President Fox said because Donald Trump said he was going to build this big, beautiful wall. And we hear over the weekend already, well, maybe we're going to build a fence in part. So it's going to be a big beautiful fence. It's going to be so big and amazing, it's going to be Fenway style.

We don't know. And this is what is very disconcerting right now. What you heard Trump say on the campaign trail versus what is already coming out now that he has been elected. I don't know where the guy stands on a whole slew of issues.

VAUSE: There is a lot of confusion, a lot of uncertainty out there. We also heard from another former president today, this one former George W. Bush. He has been very silent for the last couple of month, the last couple of years it always seems. He did actually have some advice for Donald Trump.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I understand anger. And some people might have been angry when I was president. But anger shouldn't drive policy. What needs to drive policy is what is best for the people who are angry.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: I just wonder how many Democrats are listening to George W. Bush right now. But Harmeet, is that good advice for Donald Trump?

DILLON: It's great advice. And I think frankly he has already heard that advice and he is already implementing it. I think his tone as the President-Elect, president-designate if you will, is different. And it's a more conciliatory tone. I'm seeing him listen to a lot of different people. Some people call it a weakness. I think it's a great strength.

And so, you know, the Trump supporters, let me tell you, are not concerned about whether it's partially a fence and partially a wall and partially monitoring. They're concerned about securing the borders, period. That's really what they care about.

And so long as our new president keeps that promise, he is going to be getting the very warm support of his supporters who voted for him.

BEARMAN: Well, I mean, this is fascinating how during the campaign the issue with Donald Trump is going to get rid of all of the illegal immigrants, now it's just going to be the criminal immigrants. Maybe that's two million. Maybe that's three million. We're going to build a wall.

I agree actually, securing the border is something that is important. But we don't know who this guy is versus who he was a week ago before he was elected president because he is already radically changing position.

Now some of that I think is for the better. But I don't know what that is going to look like in January once he is sworn in. And that is frankly, disconcerting.

VAUSE: One reporter says that Trump supporters --

DILLON: Well, actually what --

VAUSE: Sorry, go on -- Harmeet.

DILLON: What he said was he was going to start with the criminal illegal aliens. He didn't say that's where he was going to end. And I think it's a great start. But it's not the end of the conversation.

VAUSE: Ok. Let's end that conversation just for now. Come back next hour because we have a lot to get to.

SESAY: Round two.

VAUSE: Harmeet -- thank you for being with us there in San Francisco. Ethan -- thank you for being here in Los Angeles.

SESAY: Ethan -- thank you.

DILLON: My pleasure.

VAUSE: And we will take a short break and when we come back, the future of the landmark Iran nuclear deal. Candidate Trump promised to scrap it. What will President Trump do once he takes office?

SESAY: A Fox News anchor speaking out about her feud with Donald Trump. Just ahead, the stunning new claim from Megyn Kelly.

[00:14:03] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SESAY: Megyn Kelly says U.S. President-Elect Donald Trump was even more menacing to her in private than during their public feud.

VAUSE: The Fox News anchors tough questions to Trump prompted a long lasting backlash during the primaries.

CNN's Brian Todd has details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: New allegations of a personal vendetta from President-Elect Trump and a threat against one of the biggest stars in TV news. Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly says just days before she moderated the first presidential debate, Donald Trump called her. Kelly told Dr. Phil the candidate was not happy about one of her interviews.

MEGYN KELLY, FOX NEWS HOST: He called me up and threatened me and made very clear to me that he was extremely displeased. He started screaming at me. He hung up the phone.

TODD: Trump was angry over Kelly's interview with an author who had discussed court testimony from Trump's first wife that Trump had raped her. Ivana Trump a later said the allegation wasn't true.

What was Trump's threat to Kelly? In her new book Kelly writes that Trump said quote, "I almost unleash my beautiful Twitter account against you, and I still may."

ERIK WEMPLE, MEDIA CRITIC, WASHINGTON POST: You might not think oh, that's not bad. But it's what happens with the followers that is really, really nasty and that can really, really hurt you and make you scared.

TODD: A few days after Trump's alleged threat, Kelly asked the candidate one of the most explosive questions in debate history.

KELLY: You've called women you don't like fat pigs, dogs, slobs, and disgusting animals. Does that sound to you like the temperament of a man we should elect as president?

DONALD TRUMP (R), U.S. PRESIDENT-ELECT: What I say is what I say. And honestly, Megyn, if you don't like it, I'm sorry.

TODD: after that, Trump did unleash his Twitter account at Kelly, calling her a "lightweight, overrated, crazy". Kelly says by doing that, Trump flipped a switch with his followers who called her worse names, she says, and threatened her. She spoke to ABC about it.

KELLY: It definitely poses challenges when he was coming after me so relentlessly and causing security issues in my life and the life of my family. He came after me like a dog with a bone for nine months.

TODD: Kelly writes that at one point her young daughter told her she was scared of Donald Trump, quote, "He wants to hurt me."

RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: The questions about Donald Trump's temperament were the single biggest headwind that he faced in the election. What the exit poll told us it those concerns, those fears, those anxieties remained remarkably widespread even among many people who voted for him.

TODD: Kelly says when she met Trump at his Manhattan home earlier this year, they got past their feud.

KELLY: He has a magnanimous piece of him. He has a charming piece to him as well.

TODD: In the book, Kelly also has strong allegations against her former boss, Roger Ailes. She says the then-Fox News chairman sexually harassed her repeatedly starting in 2005. Ailes who served as an adviser to the Trump campaign vehemently denies the allegation.

We reached out repeatedly to the President-Elect Trump's transition team in calls, texts and e-mail for their response to Megyn Kelly's claims that Donald Trump threatened her. We haven't heard back.

Brian Todd, CNN -- Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SESAY: For more we're joined by Stephen Battaglio. He is a TV and media reporter for the "Los Angeles Times". Stephen -- thank you so much for being with us.

Now you've already gotten your hands on a copy of "Settle for More". Megyn Kelly is already seen as a strong, mentally-talented journalist -- one of the biggest stars at Fox News. Does this book go behind the curtain and show us a different side of her?

STEPHEN BATTAGLIO, "LOS ANGELES TIMES": When she signed the deal to do this book, I think she didn't know two things. She didn't know that Donald Trump would become the President, and I also think that she didn't believe that Roger Ailes would no longer be the head of Fox News and would have been ousted over allegations of sexual harassment.

[00:20:10] And on the latter, she added a chapter to the book which described her own experience of being harassed by Roger Ailes and her decision to participate in the investigation at Fox News which led to his ouster.

It's a really important chapter in the book. It's a very nuanced explanation of her reasoning behind what happened describing the sexual harassment that she was faced with earlier in her career.

SESAY: What do you mean by that Stephen -- nuanced? What do you mean by that?

BATTAGLIO: Well, she -- you know, I don't think that -- Megyn Kelly does not call herself a feminist. In fact, she refuses to be called a feminist. But she was in employment law -- she definitely has feminist views, they just do not come out of the tradition of liberal politics that feminism was born out of.

So it makes her a very interesting figure. In the media and really in the culture in that she is able to talk about this in a very nonpolitical way. And she describes her reasons for why she decided to describe this incident that happened to her ten years ago when Roger Ailes not only made -- allegedly made inappropriate remarks to her, but tried to kiss her and made sexual advances towards her in return for advancement in her career.

Now she reported it. She put a stop to it. And he continued to -- Roger Ailes treated her well during the rest of her time at Fox News. She was promoted while she was pregnant. She wasn't subjected to any other type of harassment. And she has been very praiseworthy of Roger as a big supporter over the years.

And I think it shows you the complexity of sexual harassment. That just because you're being harassed doesn't mean you might not actually like your boss. It takes you into that world and into the mind-set of how these things happen, the subtlety of it. It's not a black and white issue. And I think that she presents that in an extremely eloquent way in this book.

SESAY: What is her play here? I mean I'm wondering whether you have been able to kind of figure it out as you read the book and had time to digest it. What is her play here by releasing this book at this point in time with her contract being up at Fox News in 2017? How do you read it?

BATTAGLIO: Well she -- this is an opportunity for her to leave Fox, maybe go to a broadcast network, maybe go to an American morning show. And become much bigger than a star than she is on Fox right now although she is one of the biggest stars that they have.

The question is can she work outside of that Fox format. I think people go to her. I think a lot of viewers with conservative viewpoints like her because of the skepticism that she brings to a lot of liberal orthodoxy. And I think that's why the network is popular.

But is that what she wants to do for the rest of her career? She is 45 years old. She is very hot at the moment, and she is certainly very well paid.

Does she want to do something bigger and broader? Does she want to be able to interview celebrities as well, or do other types of programs rather than just talking about the political topics of the day? This is her opportunity to do that.

And I think that the book sort of makes a -- tries to add some dimensions to who she is besides who you see in that very tightly- formatted hour on Fox News. Can she work at another network in the same way because the Fox audience is very loyal? They know where to find her.

To put her somewhere else, you don't know how that's going to go, whether the viewers are going to respond to her in the same way say on a morning show. Will her very hard-edge style work in that type of format?

That's a question that a lot of networks are asking as they consider whether to make her an offer or not. And it's a very big offer too. Fox News will certainly pay her more money than any other network.

SESAY: It certainly sounds like a very interesting read. Stephen Battaglio -- we really appreciate it. Thank you so much for joining us and to share your insights. Thank you.

BATTAGLIO: Thanks for having me.

VAUSE: Fellow Fox News anchor Bill O'Reilly is weighing in on Megyn Kelly's claims of sexual harassment against Roger Ailes. During an interview with CBS Tuesday he suggested Kelly was making the network look bad, and he doubled down on that on his show, "The O'Reilly Factor".

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[00:24:56] BILL O'REILLY, FOX NEWS HOST: So here is the deal. If somebody is paying you a wage, you owe that person or company allegiance. If you don't like what is happening in the workplace, go to human resources or leave. I've done that. And then take the action you need to take afterward if you feel aggrieved. There are labor lawyers in this country. But don't run down the concern that supports you by trying to undermine it.

Factor tip of the day: loyalty is good.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Wow. Better left unsaid.

SESAY: Yes.

VAUSE: With that we'll take a short break. When we come back, it was a foreign policy triumph for President

Obama. But this is what Donald Trump had to say about the Iran nuclear deal during the campaign.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: That horrible, disgusting absolutely incompetent deal with Iran where they get $150 billion.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SESAY: At times, Trump promised to tear up the agreement. Coming up, we'll hear from both sides on the issue.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VAUSE: Welcome back, everybody. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM live from Los Angeles. I'm John Vause.

SESAY: And I'm Isha Sesay.

The headlines this hour.

Heavy air strikes pounded neighborhoods in eastern Aleppo Tuesday for the first time in weeks. The Syrian military is renewing its assault against rebels there. Activists say a barrel bomb killed at least at least one woman and wounded five people. Residents received text messages Sunday warning them to leave before the bombing began.

VAUSE: U.S.-led coalition forces say they have hit ISIS with 4,000 bombs, artillery strikes and missiles since the Iraqi-led offensive to retake the city of Mosul began a month ago. They've also destroyed dozens of vehicle bombs and tunnels and killed hundreds of ISIS fighters.

[00:29:59] SESAY: U.S. President Barack Obama will spend the morning in Greece visiting the Acropolis. He'll also address the Greek people with a focus on democratic values. He'll head to Berlin later in the day for the second leg of his final overseas trip as President.

VAUSE: Well, there are many unknowns of the incoming --

[00:30:00] ISHA SESAY, CNN ANCHOR: U.S. President Barack Obama will spend the morning in Greece visiting the Acropolis. He'll also address the Greek people with a focus on democratic values. He'll head to Berlin later in the day for the second leg of his final overseas trip as president.

JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: One of the many unknowns of the incoming Trump administration is the fate of the Iran nuclear deal. Candidate Donald Trump called it a foreign policy disaster.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT-ELECT OF THE UNITED STATES: It's very tough to do when you say rip up a deal. I would police that contract so tough that they don't have a chance, as bad as the contract is, I will be so tough on that contract.

We have a horrible contract. But we do have a contract.

My number one priority is to dismantle the disastrous deal with Iran.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: The deal was signed last year. Iran agreed to reduce its stockpile of nuclear material, ban enrichment at key facilities and limit uranium research in return for an end to some economic sanctions and the release of tens of billions of dollars in frozen Iranian assets.

And many world leaders are now urging President-elect Donald Trump to keep the agreement.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FRANCOIS HOLLANDE, PRESIDENT OF FRANCE (through translator): This accord gives us all security to allow for this evaluation by France of the agreement. Could the U.S. with Donald Trump put into question this agreement? I don't think so.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): He said he will tear up the agreement.

HOLLANDE: I won't comment on what he might have said during the campaign, but there is a principle of reality, and this deal gives us guarantees. The absence of an agreement would be very serious.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Much will depend on Trump's yet to be named foreign policy team. But could the new president on day one rip up the Iran deal? Could he renegotiate or revoke it?

For more, we go to Washington. Michael Pregent, former intelligence adviser to General David Petraeus is there. Trita Parsi, president of the National Iranian American Council.

And, first, I want you both to hear from President Obama who believes President-elect Trump will not dismantle the agreement. This is what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Iran is a good example of the gap I think between some of the rhetoric in this town, not unique to the president-elect and the reality.

My suspicion is that when the president-elect comes in, and he's consulting with his Republican colleagues on The Hill, that they will look at the facts. Because to unravel a deal that is working and preventing Iran from pursuing a nuclear weapon would be hard to explain.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: So Michael, to you. If this deal is working as the president says, why not leave it in place?

MICHAEL PREGENT, FORMER INTELLIGENCE ADVISER TO GEN. DAVID PETRAEUS: Well, it's not a matter of whether it's working or not working. It's simply a matter of the administration is not enforcing existing U.N. Security Council resolutions.

All President-elect Trump has to do day one is simply enforce sanctions on Iran, reinforce that we're going to deny Iran access to the U.S. banking system and end the secret side deals and I believe Iran would walk away. The best way to kill the deal is simply to enforce existing sanctions and Iran will find a reason to walk away.

VAUSE: Trita, do you agree with that? Do you think the Iranians could walk away from this deal?

TRITA PARSI, PRESIDENT OF THE NATIONAL IRANIAN AMERICAN COUNCIL: Well, first of all, it actually is very much about whether the deal is working or not not. I would guess that you have not had any sections or segments in the last year or so debating as to whether the U.S. will bomb Iran, whether Israel will bomb Iran, or whether the Iranians are getting closer to a bomb precisely because the deal, because the path to a nuclear weapon in Iran has been closed and because there is absolutely no need for any military action. That is a deal working.

And as a result of that, there is going to be a tremendous amount of political cost for the next president to do such a thing. And I want to be very clear about one thing. Some advisers around Trump may think that this is a fight they would pick with Iran, but it's really not. This is a fight that Donald Trump or the United States of America would be picking with France, with Britain, with Germany, with Russia, and with China and with many other countries that have been strongly backing this deal. This would be a profoundly deep strategic mistake for any administration to commit.

Now are there ways that the United States could start cheating on the deal and then hoping the Iranians would walk out?

PREGENT: Cheating on the deal?

PARSI: Actually, it would be cheating on it because these sanctions have been lifted. There is a segment in the JCPOA that says that the United States has to make sure that the permitted trade can take place. Right now actually isn't taking place because there is problem with not -- with the Iranians are doing so much as with the sanctions relief.

But even in that scenario, rest assured, the only person who have said that they would be against it --

(CROSSTALK)

PREGENT: Here is the deal. You're listening to a lobbyist, and I'm a former intelligence officer.

PARSI: I'm not a lobbyist. You know that very well.

PREGENT: You're the director of Nyack. You're a lobbyist. You've got 60 days to do something before the new administration gets in, or you're going to lose your donor base. You're not going to have any influence with this new administration.

[00:35:12] PARSI: This is the problem with some of the people coming in. They can't debate issues so right away without any they go on personal attacks and false accusations.

(CROSSTALK)

PREGENT: No, you're the director of Nyack, a lobbying group --

(CROSSTALK)

PARSI: Which is not a lobbying group. You should have done a little bit more opposition research before you went on CNN.

PREGENT: Anyway --

PARSI: OK.

PREGENT: So let's get back to the facts here. OK, Iran currently is in violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions with its ballistic missile program. Notice I didn't say violation of the JCPOA. The administration is against enforcing those sanctions. Iran is also in violation of existing U.N. Security Council resolutions supporting terrorism. The Obama administration is not for enforcing those sanctions.

And if the Trump administration simply enforces the sanctions against ballistic missiles and Iran's support of terrorism, Iran would tie it all together as the U.S. cheating with the JCPOA and they will walk away, forcing the international community to put pressure on Iran to comply as opposed to putting pressure on the United States.

VAUSE: OK, at that point, guys, let's just take a short break, because we'll keep this discussion going in just a moment. For the meantime, I short commercial break. We'll be back in a moment. You're watching CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VAUSE: Back now with more on the fate of the Iran nuclear deal with the incoming Trump administration. I'm joined in Washington by Michael Pregent, former intelligence to Gen. David Petraeus. Also, Trita Parsi, the president of the National Iranian American Council.

And, Trita, I just want you to pick up on that point that Michael was making before the break, essentially that there are so many sanctions violations being carried out by Iran right now, that that would be enough to bring this deal to an end. PARSI: Actually, when it comes to the missile defense, the language in the Security Council is that it calls on Iran not to do so. That was a deliberate negotiation between everyone in the P5+1 that was negotiating this in which they agreed not to put in stronger language. So one could definitely say that the Iranians are acting against the spirit of the Security Council resolution, but to go out and say it is a violation in which you can convince the other countries in the P5+1 that new sanctions need to be enforced, I would really, really doubt that the Trump administration would even try to make that argument.

I know many people around Trump would like him to go in that direction. But I think there is another thing that is also really important here. You have President-elect Trump now say on several occasions that his number one priority is to fight ISIS.

Now we have seen that some of his other very close advisers have started to walk back a little bit what they would do on the Iran deal. And I think it's very much because of realization that now once they actually have to run the show, that if you want to fight ISIS, you cannot afford to have a mayor conflict with the Russians, and you cannot afford to be able to try to get out of the JCPOA because you're not going to be able to get what you want on ISIS unless you have at least a decent degree of collaboration between them.

PREGENT: On that note, Iran is not an ally.

Sorry, John. Go ahead.

[00:45:06] VAUSE: Sorry. I do get to the point where Iran's foreign minister believes that this deal is in everyone's interests. He spoke about this shortly after the election of Donald Trump. But he did add this caveat. Just listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MOHAMMAD JAVAD ZARIF, IRANIAN FOREIGN MINISTER: We believe that JCPOA is a reasonable agreement, good for everybody. That's our preference. It doesn't mean that we do not have other options. Iran wants to remain committed to JCPOA, provided that everybody else is prepared to do the same.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: And, Trita, exactly what are the options that Iran's foreign minister is talking about here?

PARSI: Well, I think one of the things that they may be thinking about is that if the Trump administration doesn't do what Michael is suggesting, which is to do something that would force the Iranians out, but actually goes head-on and tries to get out of this deal, that the Iranians would then try to use that in order to isolate the United States and get the Europeans and the others to really commit to -- to recommit to the deal and bring in much more trade and investments in order to make sure that the Iranians were to stay inside of the deal.

I think that is probably one of the things that they're referring -- yes, go ahead.

VAUSE: Sorry. I just want to get Michael to respond to that.

Michael, do you believe that there could be a situation that the United States is left isolated if it does walk away from this Iran deal?

PREGENT: Well, I want to take on the argument that Iran is somehow an ally in the fight against ISIS. Iran has actually made the situation worse in Iraq and Syria by simply resetting the conditions that led ISIS to begin with. Sunni populations are more distrustful of the Iranian influence government of Baghdad and Damascus. So Iran is only making the situation worse.

Iran is not an ally. There is no one in the intelligence community or who wears this uniform, wears the uniform of the United States to somehow thinks that enforcing the Iran deal by simply calling them out when they're violating the sanctions will somehow hurt us in the war against ISIS.

VAUSE: OK.

PREGENT: Yes, it just doesn't make any sense.

VAUSE: I didn't mean to cut you off there, Michael, but we are out of time. So we shall leave it there.

Michael Pregent and Trita Parsi there, we appreciate you, guys, coming in. Of course, a very complicated stuff.

PARSI: Thank you.

PREGENT: Thanks for having me. I appreciate it.

SESAY: To much lighter fare now. Holiday releases are starting to hit the big screen. A film linked to the magical "Harry Potter" franchise. Fans lined the blue carpet at the London premiere of "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them" on Tuesday. It's a spin-off of the Potter series and features a whole new cast of characters and creatures from the mind of J.K. Rowling. There will be five films in this new series. "Fantastic Beasts" opens in theaters worldwide, Friday.

Jeremy Clarkson and his Grand Tour crashing some of the world's biggest cities. The former BBC top gear host is promoting his new show by leaving cars that look like they have been crashed in London, Berlin and right here in L.A. (INAUDIBLE) Clarkson to worldwide fame, but he was fired last year after punching a member of the show's production team. The Grand Tour will air on Amazon Prime starting Friday.

VAUSE: I'm looking forward to that. I've missed "Top Gear."

SESAY: I'm not a fan.

VAUSE: OK. SESAY: Thank you for watching CNN NEWSROOM live from Los Angeles. I'm Isha Sesay.

VAUSE: I'm John Vause. "World Sport" is up next. And we'll be back with another hour of news from all around the world. You're watching CNN.