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Trump Picking "Finalists" for Cabinet; In-fighting Amongst Trump's Inner Circle; Democrats Slam Steve Bannon Pick. Aired 1-2a ET
Aired November 16, 2016 - 01:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[01:00:00] ISHA SESAY, CNN ANCHOR: You're watching CNN NEWSROOM live from Los Angeles.
JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: Ahead this hour, one source calls it a knife fight. There is chaos and turmoil as Donald Trump picks his White House team.
SESAY: Plus, Barack Obama heads to Europe, hoping to calm fears about the shocking U.S. election results.
VAUSE: And later, warplanes pound Aleppo. The first airstrikes in the Syrian battleground in weeks.
SESAY: Hello, and thank you for joining us. I'm Isha Sesay.
VAUSE: And I'm John Vause. We're into the second hour of NEWSROOM L.A.
VAUSE: It seems to me like an episode of White House Celebrity Apprentice at Trump tower. President-elect Donald Trump is picking his cabinet and says only he knows who the finalists are.
SESAY: But sources tell CNN the process is riddled with disagreement and infighting.
CNN's Senior White House Correspondent, Jim Acosta reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JIM ACOSTA, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE COORESPONDENT: Don't tell Mike Pence vice presidents don't have much power. The new chair of Donald Trump's transition team now has a critical mission, to end the infighting over who will snatch up some of the most powerful positions inside the new administration.
Among the front-runners for key cabinet spots, Senator Jeff Sessions for Attorney General, Senator Tom Cotton for defense, Trump campaign finance chair Steven Mnuchin and Congressman Jeff Hensarling for treasury and former UN ambassador John Bolton and Rudy Giuliani for Secretary of State. Giuliani is publically jockeying to become the nation's top diplomat.
RUDY GIULIANI, FORMER NEW YORK CITY MAYOR: John would be a very good choice.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is there anybody better?
GIULIANI: Maybe me. I don't know.
ACOSTA: But Giuliani may not be a lock as some transition officials worry about his past business dealings overseas and Bolton could put Trump in an odd position. Bolton was a strong supporter of the Iraq war which Trump insisted he opposed.
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT-ELECT OF THE UNITED STATES: Does everybody believe me I was against going into Iraq.
SEN. RAND PAUL (R), KENTUCKY: You want to have a diplomat in charge of diplomacy. You don't want a bomb thrower.
ACOSTA: Inside the transition team, one source describes a knife fight as high-level adviser former congressman and CNN contributor Mike Rogers has stepped down, along with a slew of officials who worked for the team's ousted chairman New Jersey governor Chris Christie.
One former Bush administration official tweeted after his own exchange with the Trump transition team that, "Applicants should stay away, they're angry, arrogant, screaming you lost, will be ugly."
Sources says Christie may be blocked from the cabinet altogether, and Trump surrogate, Dr. Ben Carson says he is also out.
BEN CARSON (R), FMR. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE (via telephone): I've had lots of offers. But, you know, I don't particularly want to work inside the government.
ACOSTA: Another headache, democrats are howling over Trump's selection of Breitbart News executive, Steve Bannon as Chief Strategist, accusing the president-elect of putting a white nationalist in the west wing.
SEN. ELIZABETH WARREN (D), MASSACHUSETTS: I just want to underline something that every one of you know. Bigotry is bad for business.
ACOSTA: After once criticizing Trump for using racist language during the campaign, House Speaker Paul Ryan is defending Bannon.
REP. PAUL RYAN (R-WI), HOUSE SPEAKER: This is a person who helped him win an incredible victory and an incredible campaign. The president is being to be judged on the results of this administration.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ACOSTA: But appears to be sensitive to critics who point out he'll become the fifth president to have lost the popular vote. After once slamming the Electoral College, Trump has changed his tune, tweeting, "The Electoral College is actually genius in that it brings all states, including the smaller ones into play."
"Campaigning is much different. And if the election were based on total popular vote, I would have campaigned in New York, Florida and California and won even bigger and more easily."
One victory Trump can point to, he appears to now have much of the GOP on board.
REP. STEVE SCALISE (R-LA), MAJORITY WHIP: We got these hats at conference today. And it's not just a great slogan, but inside the tag you see made in the USA.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ACOSTA: Another sign of dysfunction inside the Trump transition team, the president-elect went out to dinner after the news media was told he was staying in for the night that is a break in protocol as the press is typically kept aware of all the president-elect's movements.
Jim Acosta, CNN, New York.
VAUSE: Joining us now, Ethan Bearman is a nationally syndicated talk radio host and Harmeet Dhillon, is the RNC National Committeewoman for California. Thank you guys for coming back for another hour.
I just want to pick up on the last point that Jim Acosta made in his report about Donald Trump giving the press the slip. He went out to dinner with his family. On the surface, it doesn't seem like a big deal. But this is protocol.
The presidential protocols apply to the presidential-elect protocol. And it is raising concern among some people, mostly journalists I guess that maybe, you know, at this stage, Donald Trump doesn't understand the importance of the job and what's involved in being president.
Harmeet?
HARMEET DHILLON, RNC NATIONAL COMMITTEEWOMAN FOR CALIFORNIA: oh, I mean, it's only raising concern amongst journalists to be honest with you. In fact, when I looked back at some reports about what happened in the original -- last administration and President Obama did the same thing in 2008.
And so, these are human beings. It is a transition period. And, you know, the press is obviously hungry for news. I understand that. That's their job.
But it doesn't seem like the end of the world or frankly even something to waste news print over to me.
SESAY: Ethan?
ETHAN BEARMAN, NATIONALLY SYNDICATED TALK RADIO HOST: Yeah, I totally disagree. I agree that in 2008 President Obama did that. The difference is the relationship that president-elect Trump has with the press. It is antagonistic.
He doesn't want to participate in what is a very old process here in the United States. That's why the press has talked about in our first amendment. They are the gatekeepers of keeping an eye on our politicians, because every individual American citizen is not capable of doing that.
This to me doesn't bode well that he's continuing this process.
SESAY: And let me throw this in there.
On Tuesday evening, President-elect Trump put out a tweet in which he seemed to undercut the reporting we have that there is all this infighting going on in terms of the transition, in terms of cabinet picks.
I mean, does that give you any concern that he may be going into the Oval Office and still using social media in this way to kind of bypass traditional media and to bypass news organizations to run his own messaging?
BEARMAN: Well, we just elected - we just elected a erality TV star to be our president who has no political experience. And he is continuing that right now, Isha, where I mean, this is amazing.
We're entering new territory where we are becoming the 2005 Mike Judge movie "Idiocracy." Where it is reality TV - it's a great movie - but it was supposed to be a documentary. It wasn't even supposed to be (INAUDIBLE). And here we are living it 10 years later. It's amazing new territory. I do wish the best and I hope he behaves like a president in the office.
VAUSE: Harmeet, I get you to respond to that. Do you think that, you know, there is some concerns here?
DHILLON: Well, look, obviously the media is concerned, because for the first time we have a President-elect and a future president who doesn't have to go through the media and the media filter to talk to the people. He is talking directly to the people. And that's the genius that actually got him elected.
So yes, I think there's a traditional process. And probably you're going to see President Trump tweeting less. He's already said that, he said that on "60 Minutes."
But for now, the occasional tweets I've seen, today's tweets, I think they're great. I think that they're dispelling a lot of the hype, the knife fight comment that you mentioned is from POLITICO.
POLITICO is not the favored press organ of the Trump campaign or the new Trump administration. So, correcting misinformation is a good thing surely.
BEARMAN: Yes, but come on, the preferred press organization, great. We've got Steve Bannon now who has the close ear of the president. He's going to be in the White House. The "Alt-right" oriented "Breitbart" is the preferred media outlet.
Now granted the "Alt-right" is not the exclusive and only place that "Breitbart" talks to. But they are a percentage of it. And they are a fair percentage of those people, white nationals, xenophobic, anti- Jewish, misogynistic. That's the preferred media outlet?
I mean, this is something that we should be concerned about. And the American people do rely not necessarily on all media outlets, but we need them to help keep an eye and investigative journalists on people like the president and the people surrounding him.
It is an important role that isn't just done on Twitter.
DHILLON: Well, I think that's a -
VAUSE: Excellent point.
DHILLON: That's a series of awful smears that I just heard. And, you know, somebody as respected as Alan Dershowitz has refuted the awful comments calling Steve Bannon an anti-Semites.
BEARMAN: I never said he was anti-Semitic.
DHILLON: You did say that.
BEARMAN: I said "Breitbart --
DHILLON: Yeah. Well, it's the same thing.
BEARMAN: Which Steve Bannon, himself -
DHILLON: It's outrageous.
BEARMAN: -- has said it is home for the "Alt-right." That's a totally different thing. I've never --
(CROSSTALK)
DHILLON: Well, you're calling it a number of - that's a lot of baggage you added to that. I think we all heard what you said. So --
BEARMAN: OK. Well, I didn't use those words. So if you're listening, that's not what I said.
VAUSE: I mean, the argument is that Steve Bannon oversaw a Web site which has been condemned by the ADL, by the Southern Poverty Law Center, by various groups because of the headlines and the stories that it's run.
DHILLON: That is not in dispute.
VAUSE: And that's on dispute. I mean, the argument is, you know, where does Steve Bannon stand on all of that. And there are reports out there of, you know, previous incidents which we're not going to get into here.
But as for the knife fight comment, we also got that one as well, Harmeet. So, you know, there are people who are saying that this is what is happening within the transition of the Trump team. And, you know, transitions, you know, sometimes they go smoothly, sometimes they don't. But this one does seem to be having its fair share of chaos and disarray very early and much more so than other transitions have had in the past, Harmeet.
DHILLON: Well, OK. So, Bill Clinton actually had a pretty awful first six weeks. It was a chaotic transition as well. I think he turned out to do pretty well in the eight years as president.
So, I think there's a lot of hype here. I think frankly the media had a particularly different series of stories planned for this week. I think most of the media thought that Mrs. Clinton was going to win this election.
So I think - I think there's a lot of hype here. I think frankly, the media had a particularly different series of stories planned for this weekend. I think most of the media thought that Mrs. Clinton was going to win this election. So, I think we're in a vacuum right now. These are not news stories in my opinion.
And a little bit of change of control there? Sure. There's a change between Mike Pence's comment and his mission is getting rid of all the lobbyists. So, you know, people are upset. The lobbyists who are losing that battle are going to be screaming bloody murder over it. But that's a good thing.
BEARMAN: Well, Harmeet, I love this, that we can agree on at least two key points you just said.
First off, Bill Clinton was a good president. I agree with you on that. Secondly, I do look forward to people like Mike Pence kicking the lobbyists out of the White House that was one of the appealing things about Donald Trump is this idea of drain the swamp. And if Pence really is going to get the lobbyists out of the White House, that is something I can support.
SESAY: Let me jump in there. As we talk about lobbyists and people having undue influence, let me ask you, Harmeet, about Jared Kushner and President-elect -- the President-elect's son-in-law. Do you have any concerns about the front and center role he's taken in all of this?
He seems to be according to our poll, reporting the person involved in a lot of the disagreements. They're seeking, you know, security clearance for him. Does it concern you at all?
DHILLON: Well, look, it is a fact that it's been a long time since there's been an adult, you know, children or adult son-in-law having any kind of a role in the White House. So that's novel.
It doesn't concern me per se the fact of it. Obviously, if I saw some evidence of some bad decisions being made as a result of that influence, that would be a subject for discussion. But the fact that family members are involved in a transition period, does not cause me concern.
If they continue to be close advisers and supplanting the opinions and advice of learned counselors during an administration, I think that would be a legitimate subject for commentary. VAUSE: Well, one of the learned counselors who may be a victim of
Jared Kushner is the Congressman Mike Rogers who is the former Chairman of the House Intelligence Committee. He was in the running for the CIA position. He was on the transition team.
But he either resigned or he got kicked off, out of the transition team early today. And he spoke to CNN about exactly, you kow -- he was very guarded. But he spoke to CNN what is going on inside Trump Tower.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MIKE ROGERS, FORMER UNITED STATES 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: And Ethan, the back story here is that Chris Christie apparently, you know, prosecuted Jared Kushner's father for tax evasion. Kushner's father spent two years in jail.
And so this is being seen maybe not as, you know, a reasoned decision why Rogers is no longer there, but purely revenge and loyalty.
BEARMAN: Yes. And this is what we're seeing with Donald Trump. Loyalty trumps everything else. And if somebody has shown loyalty, that's what matters.
What's so sad in this case is Chris Christie was very loyal to Donald Trump throughout all of this. I mean, let's not forget that press conference where Chris Christie looked like he was being held hostage, of course.
But now, Jared Kushner comes in and subverts that whole process. Chris Christie is out, all of his allies are out. We're going to see more of these wars, I think, happen before January 20th.
SESAY: Harmeet?
DHILLON: Well, I mean, this is hilarious. I mean, you know If he had let Christie continue to preside over his transition team, then we would hear the same critics saying how awful it was to let somebody close to a recent scandal and a couple of convictions be in charge of the White House transition.
So, you know, I think a wise move was made to let the very well respected vice presidential candidate-elect to manage this process. And with the mandate of cleaning the swamp and draining the swamp and having discipline around that. So, I understand today that Mike Pence went and signed a number of the
agreements that are required to start receiving information from the different government offices in Washington. There are offices being set up by the - by the transition offices in Washington.
And all of that is moving smoothly. It's only less than seven days since the election was called for Donald Trump. So I think this is a lot of hysteria about nothing in my opinion.
VAUSE: A lot of people raise the question how is it draining the swamp when people like, you know, Rudy Giuliani and Newt Gingrich and John Bolton, you know, who have been sort of your Washington or political insiders for quite some time are the ones who are lining up for these key jobs.
DHILLON: Oh, let's talk about that. So I mentioned that I thought Bill Clinton was a good president. And I know that's going to raise some eyebrows because I am a republican. But he actually worked very well with insiders in the Republican Party.
And Newt Gingrich was a consummate dealmaker, and I think that's a good thing. And I think we have a new presidential regime here that is willing to work with a broader spectrum of people than perhaps some of the republicans who ran on a strict conservative platform.
And I think that's a good thing. Our country has been very divided over the last eight years. And I think it's refreshing to see some leaders, some mature people. Rudy Giuliani as somebody who is a republican mayor of a blue town, New York, and I live there during that time. And I think, again, he was able to bring people together and be a very, very effective mayor for a city that was very troubled when he took office.
And so, these are not troubling at all. These are people who can reach across the aisle, people who know how things are done and people who can get things done in Washington. The new president needs that.
BEARMAN: If he - if he really wants to bring the country together, though, Harmeet, when -- where are the apologies going to come regarding the misogyny, regarding the xenophobia, regarding the fear and the hatred that was spewed during the campaign. I know Reince Priebus wants to walk that back and say look at the new policies that are coming out.
The words that were spoken, they were repeated over and over and over. And if he really wants to solve this division, I agree reaching across the aisle is a great thing to do. But, we're also looking for him to reach out to the American people to create some peace that he created the division in during the campaign.
SESAY: Well, let's turn the conversation to a man of peace, the pope, who put out this statement. Let's put it up on our screens for our viewers. The pope said this.
"A great challenge is to create a culture of encounter which encourages individuals and groups to share the richness of the traditions and experiences, to break down walls and to build bridges. The church in America, as elsewhere, is called to go out from its comfort zone and be a leaven of communion."
Now, having said everything you've just said, Ethan. How does the pope's message square with the Trump administration's doctrine of American class?
BEARMAN: I mean, they don't. And I think the pope says some great words there. I am not catholic, but I totally agree with what he said.
We need bridges built. We need to reach out. We need to work together. I think the idea of reaching across the aisle is one thing. But I think bringing American people back together without these divisions of -- the comments that were made about Mexicans, Mexican judge, et cetera, the misogyny that was repeated, that needs to be resolved.
Apologies need to be made. He needs to reach out to these different groups. And I think, you know, the pope has a great message in what he said.
SESAY: Harmeet?
SESAY: Yes. I think all of those things need to happen, I agree. And I think campaigns are fractious on both sides.
I heard myself and other Americans called a "basket of deplorables" by the head of the Democratic Party in this process. And so, you know, that was troubling and offensive to me. And I agree that now we need to come together.
We've had eight years of racial division in this country. And hopefully we're going to see this new president pick a number of people to fill his administration who are people who are respected across the aisle and across a number of different walks of life. We need leaders in civil rights.
Our president-elect won more votes from the Latino and the African American communities than the last two republican presidential candidates. That's a promising sign.
I'm sure we're going to see some leaders from those communities. I hope we see some leaders from communities of faith taking positions in civil rights and other places in the administration. And I fully expect to see that happen.
VAUSE: Well, it's nice that the pope and Donald Trump are mending their relationship, because we do know they had words during the campaign. Just one of the many people who had words with Donald Trump.
Harmeet, thank you so much for being with us.
SESAY: Yes. Thank you.
VAUSE: And Ethan, thank you as well. It was great. We appreciate you coming in.
DHILLON: Yeah. Thanks for the great conversation. Happy to be here.
SESAY: All right. Now, Barack Obama is on his last overseas trip as U.S. President.
VAUSE: But much of the attention is on Donald Trump. Michelle Kosinski has international reaction to the president-elect.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MICHELLE KOSINSKI, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: For a year, he's been reassuring allies that a Trump presidency would not happen, that his policies would continue. Now President Obama offers reassurance in a much different form.
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Time will now tell --
KOSINSKI: As the world react, the Greek Prime Minister, who could call what Donald Trump represents evil, today didn't want to criticize.
ALEXIS TSIPRAS, GREECE PRIME MINISTER (through translator): To be honest, I know very little of Donald Trump. Not much is going to change in the relation.
KOSINSKSI: Others no so reticent. The French Ambassador to the U.S. tweeted then deleted, "A world is collapsing before our eyes. Vertigo."
Iran warns that the U.S. should keep the nuclear deal.
Here in Europe, one poll showed that only nine percent of people feel Donald Trump will do the right thing in world affairs. And in China, it was 22 percent.
But just as President Obama has been expressing resignation, even optimism, other world leaders offer congratulations and tenuous hopes.
Mexico's president who compared Trump to Hitler and Mussolini. Now talks about opening new paths of cooperation.
Trudeau of Canada, who called for a ban on Trump as long as he expressed, quote, "racist views" now says --
JUSTIN TRUDEAU, CANADA'S PRIME MINISTER: I'm going to work with President-elect Trump's administration as we move forward in a positive way.
KOSINSKI: South Korea now says it believes Donald Trump will pressure North Korea over its nuclear program.
And Benjamin Netanyahu called Trump a true friend of the State of Israel.
Britain's Foreign Minister Boris Johnson, the Brexit's most vocal supporter even criticized the complainers.
BORIS JOHNSON, UK SECRETARY OF STATE FOR FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS: It's time we snapped out of the general doom and gloom about the result of this election and the collective win drama.
KOSINSKI: China says it wants to keep close contact, build a good working relationship, and meet with Trump soon, which Trump echoed, even though he had threatened a trade war during the campaign.
But perhaps none are so welcoming as Russia. Parliament cheered when Trump's win was announced, and Vladimir Putin's government has been in touch with Trump's people during the campaign.
VLADIMIR PUTIN, PRESIDENT OF RUSSIA: But Russia is ready and wants to restore the full-fledged relations with the United States.
KOSINSKI: For now, publicly, the insults of the past are put aside, despite some deep concerns in private. Michelle Kosinski, CNN, Athens.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SESAY: Next on NEWSROOM L.A., which undocumented immigrants Donald Trump is interested in deporting from the U.S. first?
VAUSE: Also, Trump gets a look at the Oval Office and the overwhelming job ahead of him. But what is his body language telling us?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(WORLD SPORTS)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[01:25:00] VAUSE: Welcome back, everybody.
Throughout his presidential campaign, Donald Trump pledged to deport undocumented immigrants and build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.
SESAY: Well, now that the election is over, he is still repeating those promises. But it's focused on deporting those who have committed crimes in the U.S. first.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LESLEY STAHL, CBS HOST, "60 MINUTES"" Are you really going to build a wall?
TRUMP: Yes.
STAHL: They're talking about a fence in the republican congress. Would you accept a fence?
TRUMP: For certain areas, I would.
STAHL: What about the pledge to deport millions and millions of undocumented immigrants?
TRUMP: What we are going to do is get the people that are criminal land have criminal records, gang members, drug dealers, we have a lot of these people. Probably two million, it could be even three million.
We're getting them out of our country or we're going to incarcerate.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Well, for more on Trump's immigration plan, we're joined by Attorney Nelson Castillo. OK. Let's talk about how this is all going to work out.
And one of the things I hear a lot is a concern about DACA, the Deferred Action program for Childhood Arrivals, the dream is the kids who were brought here by their parents. You know, because of the executive order by Obama, they put their hands up. They were given work permits. Now, the government has their names.
There what -- 800,000 of them. They know where they are, and these are the people who are especially worried that they're the ones who will be deported.
NELSON CASTILLO, IMMIGRATION ATTORNEY: I don't think so. I think it will be politically suicide for the president-elect to do so.
They raising their hand, they're giving their information. And technically, if you look at the law currently and how it was structured, that information should have been given to the government, unless, of course, you start being a target of investigations, criminal or otherwise.
I don't believe that the majority of DACA, if not all of the DACA recipients are criminals. And they are people who have been here for many, many years who have for the most part contributing, if not all of them have been contributing successfully to the United States.
SESAY: You're saying you don't believe that that's the road President Trump will go down. Nonetheless, is there anything President Obama can do before he leaves office to protect DACA recipients?
CASTILLO: It's an executive order. So we are grateful to President Obama for having done it. However, president Trump -- President-elect Trump, when he becomes president, can undo with another executive order to say no more DACA, and create a hopefully an alternative program.
They've talked about it. Let's remind ourselves as to why DACA was created. DACA was created because of a paralysis in congress that nothing is being done. And they've been claiming that well, we should act. However, they never acted.
And now, they have control -- total control of the house of congress. They have the unique ability if they now want to act, they can certainly act and create whatever program. There is a need to not only the border security, but also there is a great need to create paths of legalization for individuals who have been here for a long, long time.
VAUSE: OK. The L.A. Police Department says they will not cooperate with these immigration plans put forward by President-elect Donald Trump. There is a long-standing policy in L.A. prohibiting police officers simply to target individuals based on their immigration status.
This is what the LAPD Chief says. Essentially that program or that policy will continue.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHARLIE BECK LOS ANGELES POLICE CHIEF: There is a much heavier police presence in our communities that are adversely affected by crime. And so, you know, it's important to hear people's point of views. But it's also important to put forward that, you know, the vast majority of police officers, Los Angeles Police Officers do their job to the best of their ability every day free from bias and free from influence, you know. And when we find circumstance where that is not true, then we deal with it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: OK. So, L.A. to Newark, New York, Seattle, Chicago, Providence, Denver, Philadelphia, all cities which say they will resist Trump's plans. Can they do that legally? And what impact could that have?
CASTILLO: They can certainly do it. Would it be smart for them to do it? Depending how they go about implementing it.
As you know, we're a very divided country at this moment. The president-elect has clearly stated until recently that he is focused on deporting criminal individuals.
If you - if you're saying the sanctuary series is going to be a sanctuary for individuals who are criminal aliens, you're going to have a very tough time selling that to the American public.
And how do you find a balance between not having a police department become an arm of immigration which I totally agree that they shouldn't just go out there and become immigration agents. But at the same time is when a criminal alien, if that's what the focus is going to be comes into the system, is there going to be total sanctuary? Is there going to be total protection? Is that the message? I don't believe that's the message that the police are saying. I don't believe that is.
ISHA SESAY, CNN "NEWSROOOM" CO-ANCHOR: Nelson, to broaden out the conversation on immigration. Reuters News Agency is reporting that someone that they have interviewed who is in contact with the Trump policy advisers has told them that they're actually discussing a proposal to reinstate a registry for immigrants from Muslim countries. Just, you know, hearing that, you know, just first reaction, what kind of legal obstacles, hurdles would that have to overcome to become a reality?
CASTILLO: Those are policies have been discredited. They tried. They did it. Unfortunately for 9/11, we already know what happened. And it shouldn't happen.
There is an incredible opportunity at this particular moment with this Congress, just like the Democrats had it some years back to finally sit down and hammer out an effective immigration plan that will not target individuals, that will create the programs that we need, not only have border security, but also paths for individuals for businesses to bring in workers that are need.
SESAY: Nelson ...
JOHN VAUSE, CNN "NEWSROOOM" CO-ANCHOR: Nelson, we'll leave it there.
SESAY: ... we have to leave it there.
VAUSE: Thank you so much.
CASTILLO: Thank you so much.
SESAY: Thank you. Appreciate it.
CASTILLO: Thank you.
VAUSE: Well, next on "Newsroom" L.A., warplanes are bombing East Aleppo again for the first time in weeks. The latest on serious offenses to be taken.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VAUSE: Welcome back everybody. You're watching CNN "Newsroom" live from Los Angeles, I'm John Vause.
[01:35:02] SESAY: And I'm Isha Sesay, the headlines this hour. Members of Donald Trump's transition team are huddling at Trump tower in New York, taking picture of White House staff. Trump said the process is very organized and only he knows who the finalists are. The sources tells CNN the process has been plagued by disagreements and infighting.
VAUSE: At least 17 security forces have died in Myanmar's Rakhine Stat in the operation. State media says killed about 70 militants. The government says it's going after terrorists, but its forces have been accused of targeting Rohingya Muslims, a minority group who faced years of persecution.
SESAY: Heavy air strikes part of it was in Eastern Aleppo Tuesday for the fist time in weeks. The Syrian military is renewing its assault against rebels there. Activist say a barrel bomb killed at least one woman and wounded five people. Residents received text messages Sunday warning them to leave before the bombing began.
VAUSE: We'll join now CNN military analyst Lieutenant Colonel Rick Francona. Colonel, thank you for being with us. If this is start of a major operation to retake Eastern Aleppo, how is it playing out from a military point of view? What comes next and over what time frame?
LT. COLONEL RICK FRANCONA (RET), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Yeah, they've announced this is the initial stages of a major campaign. This time they mean to actually take East Aleppo. Every time we see them do this over the last couple of months, they bring more force in. And they're joined this time by a Russian aircraft carrier, which a little different than our aircraft carrier because it also launches cruise missile. And they brought another surface unit that launches cruise missiles.
So, we're seeing air strikes off for this carrier. We're seeing a quite a lot of Syrian air power also in there. So, they're really ramping up and they're really pummeling East Aleppo.
This is the preliminary stage. This can be followed up by a ground assault from all sides.
VAUSE: OK. You mentioned the Russian aircraft carrier they could sense off. What is it doing there? What is the purpose of a Russian aircraft carrier just off the coast when they have their own land bases there which they could use?
FRANCONA: Yeah, that's a really good question, John. I've been looking at this. And I watched the transitive this carrier. You know, this carrier is fraught with mechanical problems, reliability issues, and it doesn't carry that many aircraft. It's not the size of an American carrier.
So, they're bringing a limited capability to the area. I think they're doing it as a training mission. They're also, you know, demonstrating the capability to project power and they're testing the aircraft.
So, they've had some problems with it but it brings an added capability. But as you say, they really didn't need to do this. They could have just brought aircraft to other runways in Syria. They've used air bases in Iran. They've even bond from the Southern Russian air bases. So, I think it's just an added capability to test their capabilities.
VAUSE: Residents in Aleppo received text messages over the weekend warning that the attack was coming. Have the Syrians done that before? And what's the point of that?
FRANCONA: Well, there -- it's a psychological operation, of course. And they would rather, the Syrians tried to leave, get them out of there. They're not really interested in the Syrian people. They're interested in taking the territory.
So, they have been -- they control the entire city. And then, they can go in there and clean up all of the rebels that are there.
They've dropped leaflets in the past. They've tried to use the text messages. But, this is the first time we've seen it to any great level. But, they've dropped hundreds of thousands of leaflets on the city warning people to leave. The last were quite graphic. It said "leave or die."
VAUSE: As far as the tactics being used and the targets which are being hit inside Aleppo?
FRANCONA: Yeah. We see the same thing we've seen before. And I can see there's a war crime. But they go after medical facilities in particular. The Russians do this. The Syrians do it.
Three hospitals were hit just recently. These are the same three hospitals they've hit before. Any time they find a medical facility, they go after it. They also go after market, schools, things like that.
So, they're really ratcheting up the pressure on the people there. I think we're in for a major, major humanitarian disaster once that ground operation kicks off.
VAUSE: And we keep saying 250,000 men, women and children still inside Eastern Aleppo. Thank you, colonel. Thank you for being with us.
FRANCONA: Sure.
SESAY: Now, four people are dead and 11 others are wounded in a suicide attack in Afghanistan's Defense Ministry in Kabul. It's the latest violence in a country that's been at war for 15 years.
VAUSE: And as Ivan Watson reports, Afghanistan poses yet another foreign policy challenge, the President-elect Donald Trump.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
IVAN WATSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It is America's longest war, the conflict in Afghanistan. It began 15 years ago after the September 11, terror attacks orchestrated by Osama Bin Laden.
The Al-Qaeda leader was a guest and ally of Afghanistan's ruling Taliban in 2001. Less than a month later, U.S warplanes attacked the Taliban. And after barely six weeks of air strikes, the Taliban was on the run, abandoning Kabul to Afghan fighters allied with the U.S.
I was here on the date, 16 years ago when U.S-backed rebels liberated the Afghan capital.
[01:40:04] It was a day of hope and euphoria coming on the back of a swift military victory. I did not expect it would lead to 15 years of constant war.
In the years after their defeat, the Taliban regrouped and fought back against new western-backed governments in Kabul. And now, in its 15th year, the war against the Taliban has cost at least 2380 American lives.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Possible heat casualties ...
WATSON: It killed 10's of thousands Afghan civilians and cost estimated 780 billion U.S. tax payer dollars. And yet, Afghanistan was barely discussed during the recent U.S presidential debates, though Donald Trump did say this to CNN in October 2015.
DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENT-ELECT OF THE UNITED STATES: I would leave the troops there, begrudgingly. I'm not happy about it, I will tell you. But I would leave the troops there, begrudgingly, yes.
WATSON: There are currently around 9800 U.S troops stationed in Afghanistan, as well as several thousand other foreign troops from the NATO military alliance. Most of the conflict is now being fought by Afghan security forces. Today the Afghan capital is plagued by kidnapping and it's also the frequent target of Taliban and ISIS terror attacks.
NAJIB SHARIFI, POLITICAL ANALYST: I could never imagine, you know that the Taliban will be back at the gates of Kabul.
WATSON: Political analyst Najib Sharifi was just 19 years old the day U.S. air strikes drove the Taliban from the city.
SHARIFI: It was probably the happiest day of my life.
WATSON: But his high expectations for Afghanistan have shrunk with time.
SHARIFI: The assumption that Afghans had from the United States is that it is the world most powerful and richest country would come to Afghanistan and would rebuild Afghanistan. Things did not turn out to be the way we thought.
WATSON: Till Afghans voted successfully in several national elections over the years, successive Afghan governments have been plagued by allegations of rampant corruption and infighting. The last 15 years brought education for millions of girls, construction of highways, airports, and for the first time, a national cell phone network. But, many of these advances are now at risk.
The Taliban controls or now battles to control territory that's home to more than a third of the country's population, according to U.S military estimates. When president-elect Trump takes office, he'll face a difficult question here. Should he keep risking U.S. lives and treasure on what often feels like America's forgotten war? Ivan Watson, CNN.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SESAY: Time for a quick break now. Next on "Newsroom" L.A, Donald Trump's body language and how it has changed since the election, we'll ask a psychologist to interpret his moves.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[01:46:01] VAUSE: Donald Trump was known for his confident and commanding style on the campaign trail. But it may just -- and after the election at all that may be telling a different story.
SESAY: Yeah, take a look at him with President Obama at the White House. What does Trump's body language say about his demeanor now?
VAUSE: Let's bring in Dr. Judy Ho over her perspective. She's a clinical and forensic psychologist based here in Los Angeles. Judy, thank you for coming in.
JUDY HO, DOCTOR, CLINICAL AND FORENSIC PSYCHOLOGIST: Thank you for bringing me as a guest.
SESAY: Hi.
VAUSE: Let's start with a closer look at election night and to be fair, only Donald Trump really knows how Donald Trump feels about becoming president. But, let's take a look at one of these photographs because it's not really a happy face.
Where is it? There it is. That's one there. You know, that's not the exuberant Donald -- that's not the man who just became the leader of the free world.
HO: Right.
SESAY: Or maybe it is the man who's Trump.
VAUSE: Or maybe he is but ...
SESAY: Here, here.
VAUSE: ... not too different. So what's your take?
HO: Right. Well, as we've seen him on the campaign trail, he really exudes confidence. It's what drew voters to him in the first place, right. The big smiles, the chin forward and after he won, his demeanor changed. It's a lot more passive. It's a lot more contemplative. It's less powerful in terms of a power position standpoint.
So, it's like everything slowed down. And even his speech patterns on the night that he won the election, less vocal inflections, softer tone, not as much up and down in his voice.
SESAY: And you think why?
VAUSE: Yeah, why?
HO: I think he's starting to grapple with the reality of what's actually happening now. This is a serious job, a job in which he has very little experience in the grand scheme of things as opposed to his life as a businessman. And I think he's actually starting to realize it's sinking in that, "Oh, my goodness, there's some really probably not fun times ahead."
VAUSE: Yeah. No more fun times in Trump tower.
HO: Right.
VAUSE: Let's look at the photographs when he met President Obama in the Oval Office, because they do say a picture is worth a thousand words. And you know, the photos say a lot more than just awkward.
He does look like a man who is reconsidering his life choices right now, as you say. I mean that face, I mean, apart from the fact that these guys have had a very bitter relationship.
HO: Yes.
VAUSE: What, you know, is going on with him right there?
HO: You know, he looks like he has a lot less about raw emotion here. It's like everything is concealed and held back. And obviously, he went into this meeting. I'm sure both men were thinking really diplomatically about how they're going to present themselves because of ...
VAUSE: Maybe dreading it.
HO: Right. Maybe just because of their bitter history. But, I bet Obama told him some pretty frightening things about being tune in terms of what's ahead and what are some of the big decision that are going to be coming up. And he looks, honestly, in terms of his body posturing a bit fearful of the future.
SESAY: And that being said, is there anything from what you're seeing in terms of this change in posture that lead you to have concerns about him struggling to navigate all of this?
VAUSE: Or maybe hope ...
HO: Yeah. Right.
VAUSE: ... for the four years ahead?
HO: Yeah. Well, that means that those are two very good points. And I think that actually for somebody like Trump, we would want him to slow down and actually be a little more fearful so that he can be more considerate in his choices.
VAUSE: OK. You mentioned the tone of voice. So, let's compare two interviews he did with "60 minutes". The first one you're about t hear is from just over two months ago.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: ObamaCare is going to be repealed and replaced. ObamaCare is a disaster if you look at what is going on with premiums where they're up 45, 50, 55 percent.
SCOTT PELLEY, "60 MINUTES" ANCHOR: Universal health care?
TRUMP: I'm going to take care of everybody. I don't care if it cost me votes or not. Everybody is going to be taken care of much better than they're taken care of now.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: OK. This next sound bite from the past weekend also on "60 minutes," also talking about ObamaCare.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: We're not going to have like a two-day period. And we're not going to have a two-year period where there's nothing. It will be repealed and replaced, and we'll know. And it will be great health care for much less money.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[01:50:01] SESAY: What do you take away from that?
HO: Wow. It's like two different people talking.
SESAY: Yeah, it is.
HO: Two months ago there was a lot more bravado, throwing things away even his gestures. Dismissive, I'm throwing this away, I'm repealing this, I'm getting rid of it. And after he became President-elect, everything slowed down. Even his speech pattern slowed.
So in terms of how many words he's saying a minute that slowed down. And he's moderating his responses now. He is qualifying his words instead of saying I'm doing x and it's a black and white situation. He is sitting with the grays more. And he is really starting to temper a lot of his response.
SESAY: Which was not his appeal in the first place, to his base and to his supporters.
HO: Exactly.
VAUSE: OK. Well, maybe we'll have calm, moderate Donald Trump for the next four years. We'll see.
HO: Yeah.
SESAY: We shall see.
HO: Sure we will.
SESAY: Judy, thank you.
VAUSE: Great to see you.
HO: Thank you.
VAUSE: A short break. But when we come back, a Star Wars' star reveals a secret kept in decades. We'll tell you what she has confessed.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PEDRAM JAVAHERI, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Good day to you. Meteorologist Pedram Javaheri, CNN weather watch. We're sitting high and dry across an expansive area of the Southern United States as high pressure sits in place, sinking air, dry air and of course very much. Now hazy conditions locked in across a large area of the Southern United States. But notice this, this cloud-free conditions for a large area.
We're seeing a few showers skirting off into the north and transition into some snow showers on into Southern Canada. In the Western U.S. the storm door are wide open for some beneficial rains towards their way in. But again the exceptional to extreme drought in place across parts of the south. Some areas approaching two months in a row with no rain fall across this region.
Sunny skies in Atlanta at least sunny but it looks like whether why so hazy because of the smoke from the fires to the north. Atlanta 23. New York will get some sunshine after a showery day yesterday. Sixteen degrees, our high temperature today. And here we go, a big dip here in the jet stream. We're getting multiple shots of energy coming in around the northwestern end of the U.S. and Southern Canada.
So break out the snowshoes out there across the portions of Whistler. We're getting some significant accumulations in forecast the next couple of days. Also watch in the tropics, an 80 percent chance here for yet another tropical disturbance potentially to form and we're far removed from the middle of September when it's peak season, but still we could see a few tropical storms this time of the year.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CARRIE FISHER, "STAR WARS'" PRINCESS LEIA: I love you.
HARRISON FORD, "STAR WARS'" HAN SOLO: I know.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SESAY: Was with ...
[01:55:02] VAUSE: Goose bumps.
SESAY: It turns out the romance between Han Solo and Princess Leia wasn't just an on screen thing. Carrie put ...
VAUSE: The final scene of "The Empire Strikes Back".
SESAY: Carrie Fisher revealed to People Magazine that she and a then married Harrison Ford had an affair while filming the original "Star Wars" 40 years ago.
VAUSE: Oh, she says it was Han and Leia during the week and Carrie and Harrison during the weekend. Harrison Ford has not responded to "People Magazine's" request to calm it.
SESAY: Something tells me that they'll just let that one slide.
VAUSE: You think they'll let that one slide.
SESAY: Yeah. I think so. Wow. VAUSE: There you go. I wonder what happened in the remake. You know?
SESAY: Oh, yeah.
VAUSE: Yeah.
SESAY: Now, all these new (ph) releases are going to hit the big screen, including a film linked to the magical Harry Potter franchise. Hence lying (ph) the Blue Carpet at the London premiere of "Fantastic Beasts" and "Where to Find Them" Tuesday.
VAUSE: It's a spin-off on 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 world wide, Friday. I think it's that the fourth time we plugged this movie. I hope they appreciate it.
SESAY: I really want a seat in that (ph).
VAUSE: Well, that wasn't -- yeah, we'll see a seat in it (ph). We'll talk about ...
SESAY: Yeah, OK. I'll take your 12-year-old. Well go watch it.
VAUSE: Sure. Yeah.
SESAY: All right.
VAUSE: Katie (ph) will love it.
SESAY: You're watching CNN "Newsroom" live from Los Angeles. I'm Isha Sesay.
VAUSE: I'm John Vause. We'll be back with another hour of news right after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
