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Trump Fills Three Key Positions; Trump's National Security Team Takes Shape; Immigration Groups Fear "Muslim Registry". Aired 10- 10:30a ET

Aired November 18, 2016 - 10:00   ET

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

[10:00:16]

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Sources now tell us that Trump has chosen Alabama Senator Jeff Sessions to be U.S. attorney general. Critics are sure to bring up claims that Sessions made racially charged comments decades ago. We have also learned that Trump has asked Congressman Mike Pompeo to be his CIA director. And there's another national security post expected to be named today. Sources say Trump wants retired three star general Michael Flynn to serve as national security advisor. Flynn faces strong criticism from former colleagues in both the military and the Intelligence Community.

Our correspondents are peeling back all the layers of this decisive day for the Trump presidency. Let's begin though with Sunlen Serfaty. She's outside the Trump Tower. Good morning.

SUNLEN SERFATY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol. President- elect Donald Trump has been holed up in Trump Tower all week conducting interview after interview and now the first contours of what a Trump administration will look like are starting to take place. Donald Trump according to sources making his first three big picks for who he would like on his team, Jeff Sessions, Mike Pompeo and General Michael Flynn.

And we know according to sources that a formal announcement will be made by his transition team later today. But there are of course many, many more positions within the administration yet to be filled, yet to be decided on. And that is in part why we are seeing Donald Trump convene a meeting here today at Trump Tower. A two-hour meeting with his full transition staff, to go over some of the top choices to offer reflections on many of the interviews he conducted this week and we know that those meetings will continue well into the weekend.

Donald Trump is set to travel to his golf resort in Bedminster, New Jersey, where he will conduct some final meetings with some people, including with Mitt Romney, one of his chief critics during the campaign trail, who is said to be under consideration for Secretary of State. Carol, many decisions made but many, many more to go.

COSTELLO: All right, Sunlen Serfaty reporting live from Trump Tower this morning. With more on Mike Pompeo, the man who sources say has accepted the role of CIA director, let's head to Washington to check in with politics executive editor Mark Preston, I always get your title wrong, but I got it right. Right, Mark? Yay, so take it away.

MARK PRESTON, CNN POLITICS EXECUTIVE EDITOR: Yay.

COSTELLO: Tell us more about Mike Pompeo.

PRESTON: So Mike Pompeo, a name that we haven't heard about, certainly hasn't been speculated about that much in the news, has accepted this position or at least has accepted the idea of being nominated for the position of CIA director. Now, he's a three-term Congressman from Kansas. He is a West Point graduate, a Harvard Law graduate. He's somebody who has served in the military.

And you know I spoke to a few people that have been with -- Mike Pompeo and known him for a while. One of those went to school with him at West Point. And the first thing this person said to me was he was first in his class at West Point which says something perhaps about his work ethic and his knowledge and his willingness to jump into the job.

Having said that, though, he has had some controversial moments here on Capitol Hill, specifically with the Benghazi committee, he was very critical of Hillary Clinton in her handling of it. In fact, at times he said that she put politics ahead of the people and he also said that she didn't act when American lives were on the line in Benghazi. Mike Pompeo was part of that select committee, that select committee that was investigating it in the House of Representatives. He's also said some critical things about Muslims and specifically those of the Islamic faith. After the bombing at the Boston marathon, he went to the house floor and he said that those leaders in the Islamic faith who are not out there condemning it are potentially complicit in it as well.

So, he certainly has said some controversial things but getting back to his friend from West Point, described Mike Pompeo as a really stand-up guy, a stainless reputation and somebody though, there's no doubt, Carol, that will be grilled when he goes in for his nomination in the Senate by Democrats.

COSTELLO: Should be fascinating. All right, Mark Preston, many thanks to you. Now let's circle back to Trump's choice for attorney general. U.S. Senator Jeff Sessions. The Alabama Republican was the first sitting Senator to endorse Trump way become back in February and he stood by the candidate during many, many rough patches. So let's bring CNN justice correspondent Evan Perez to tell us more about him. Good morning.

EVAN PEREZ, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol. Well Jeff Sessions has been playing a very big role behind the scenes for Donald Trump. He'd been helping manage some of the transition efforts over the last few months. And Carol, as you mentioned, he's a long- time supporter of Trump, he's gone to earliest supporters of Donald Trump. He served in the Senate for nearly 20 years so the idea of draining the swamp which is something that Donald Trump says he's trying to do here in Washington, it's kind of a unique thing to look to somebody who has been in the Senate for 20 years to help do that. That said you know Sessions is a very conservative member of Congress. He serves, obviously he represents Alabama, and he has some very strong conservative views on immigration. The Justice Department, he will have responsibility over some parts of that, including immigration judges. We know that one of the things that is on top of his mind is from what he said on CNN in the last few months, is that he believes the Clinton Foundation

[10:05:16] needs to be thoroughly investigated. That's what he said repeatedly to the press and something obviously Donald Trump also said when he was on the campaign trail. Now if he is confirmed as attorney general, he will be in a position to do just that. That's the question we have in mind right now. We expect Carol, that the justice transition team, whether from the Trump campaign, will land at the Justice Department about 11:00 a.m. this morning so in the next hour and we will see. They will hit the ground running to get the Justice Department running under Jeff Sessions.

COSTELLO: All right, Evan Perez reporting live for us this morning. Our chief national security correspondent Jim Sciutto joins me now. He has more details on the appointment of retired army Lieutenant General Michael Flynn as Trump's national security advisor. Take it away Jim.

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well Carol, let me tell you this in the scope of these selections so far, all this talk, there had been some of sort of great moderation by Donald Trump as he comes into office, moving towards the center to some degree with some of these high level picks. But in these early picks, we don't see that frankly. Flynn is someone who led as you will remember the chants "lock her up" at the Republican National Convention and elsewhere.

And in addition to that, inside the military, has a reputation for, shall we say a very forward-leaning management style. It is that style and I have spoken to people who were around at the time when he was forced out as Chief of the Defense Intelligence Agency, that that was significant. In addition to that and I know we've talked about this on the air before, during the campaign he tweeted some very controversial things about the Muslim faith, even tweeting some fake news stories about Hillary Clinton.

So you add that appointment with a Sessions, who as Evan was just pointing out, supported at least during the campaign the possible indictment of Hillary Clinton and then Mike Pompeo coming from the House as CIA director. Now, he is interestingly getting a fair amount of praise from both sides, not just Republicans who oppose Donald Trump, Evan McMullin among them, who of course ran against Donald Trump. But even an Adam Schiff, who's the ranking member on the House Intelligence Committee, a Democrat, saying Mike Pompeo, good choice, gives them confidence. But on the positions, Carol, these are not middle of the road positions. Mike Pompeo, someone who opposed the closing of Guantanamo Bay. He opposed the ban of torture in interrogation of terrorism suspects.

So, as you look at these three very key national security appointments and there are others to come, Secretary of State among them, our reporting is that Mitt Romney is under consideration for position like that. That of course would be a move to some degree towards the center, at least the center of the Republican Party. With these three picks, Sessions, Flynn and Pompeo, you really don't see that. I mean, these are selections in line with the tone and the positions of the Trump campaign.

COSTELLO: All right, Jim Sciutto, you stay right there. I want to bring in two more people, so we can talk about this. Joining me now is Jackie Kucinich, the Washington bureau chief for "The Daily Beast" and David Fahrenthold, a reporter for "The Washington Post." I'm also joined by CNN politics executive editor Mark Preston. Thanks to all of you for being with - so where shall we start? Should we start with the attorney general pick?

Let's start with Jeff Sessions, shall we, because there are some controversial things about Jeff Sessions that should be brought up in his confirmation hearing. So Jackie, I'll start with you. 30 years ago, Jeff Sessions' chances of being a federal judge were sunk after a Justice Department prosecutor testified to Congress that Sessions called the NAACP un-American because, "They try to force civil rights down the throats of people, and because Sessions reportedly joked to the prosecutor that the Ku Klux Klan was okay until he found out that Ku Klux Klan members smoked pot." So Jackie, how much will this enter into Jeff Sessions' confirmation hearing?

JACKIE KUCINICH, WASHINGTON BUREAU CHIEF "THE DAILY BEAST": Oh, and we should say that Jeff Sessions has denied the allegations -- in line with that. But that said Democrats will certainly bring this up. That said I would be really surprised if Jeff Sessions does not ultimately confirmed. Not only he's a senator, these are his colleagues and generally, the president gets who he wants. I think the larger question is what is he going to do in terms of criminal justice reform? What does this mean in terms of immigration? I think there are a lot of other questions that Sessions will have to answer and maybe while he will have to address this, I don't know if this will be a focus.

COSTELLO: I will -- I ask you this because many Americans are concerned about minorities at this time. In fact, interestingly enough, the attorney general, the present one, Loretta Lynch, just sent out a press release and this is what it says. And she's talking about attacks on minorities across the country. She says, among other alarming trends, this new report from the Justice Department showed a 67 percent increase in hate crimes committed against Muslim Americans. It also showed increases

[10:10:16] in the number much hate crimes committed against Jewish people -- Oh I'm sorry. This is Mike Pence. So before we go on with this, let's see if there's any new news regarding the transition. Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MIKE PENCE, (R) VICE PRESIDENT-ELECT: -- our agency teams have begun to arrive at agencies in Washington, D.C. this morning. We are beginning what -- we are very confident will be a smooth transition that will serve to move this country forward and make America great again.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: All right. That VP-elect Mike Pence saying that the transition team is going smoothly and in the months to come, Donald Trump and his administration, his new administration, will make America great again.

Going back to what I was talking about, though, this release from the Justice Department by the attorney general, Loretta Lynch, about attacks on minorities since the election took place. She says the report shows a 67 percent increase in hate crimes committed against Muslim Americans. It also showed increases in the number of hate crimes committed against Jewish people, African-Americans and LGBT individuals. Overall she says the number of reported hate crimes increased 6 percent, a number that does not account for the many hate crimes that may go unreported out of shame or fear.

So Mark, for that reason, I think that some in America might be concerned about Jeff Sessions' comments even if they did take place 30 years ago.

PRESTON: Yes, no doubt. And we certainly have heard this when the speculation was centering around the fact that Jeff Sessions was going to be nominated to be the head of the Justice Department. A couple of things to I think we have to keep in mind. One is he has denied making the comments so you know, it is a he said versus he said type of issue. Second thing is, he has served in the Senate for several terms right now and has had to address this in the past. There's no doubt he will be asked this during his nomination hearing. And In fact, we have already heard from Democratic senators who say that they plan to do so, you know. And that he should expect a full vetting, a full, fair vetting.

In the end, I think that Jeff Sessions is going to get nominated and confirmed by the U.S. Senate as the new head of the Justice Department. But there are going to be a lot of questions around what he has said and what direction he's going to take it. And I do think we have to point out as well, is that for all this talk about how Jeff Sessions, you know, might dismantle certain parts of the Justice Department around civil rights. It's going to be very difficult to do. There's no question about that. I think there's going to be an incredible amount of scrutiny on the Trump administration. So while the fears should certainly drive people to maybe move to action, the fact of the matter is, it is hard to put in place what a lot of these fears are thinking at this point.

COSTELLO: OK, so you guys stick around. I'm going to take a break. We'll be back with much more in the "Newsroom."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:16:58] COSTELLO: OK. Things are happening very quickly this morning. We have another transition of power alert for you right now. My panel is back with me. But first let's get to Mark Preston. So, tell us the latest.

PRESTON: So it is official now, Carol. As we have been reporting this morning, that the three appointments, the three nominations have been made. It's been officially done. Let me just tell you what Donald Trump has said about these three gentlemen very quickly.

On Jeff Sessions, he described Jeff -- he says Jeff has been a highly respected member of the U.S. Senate for 20 years, he's a world class legal mind and considered a truly great attorney general and U.S. attorney in the state of Alabama. Jeff is greatly admired by legal scholars in virtually everyone who knows him. In regards to Michael Flynn, he says, I'm pleased that Lieutenant General Michael Flynn will be by my side as we work to defeat radical Islamic terrorism, navigate geopolitical challenges and keep America safe at home and abroad. And as for Mike Pompeo, who is nominated for the CIA director, he says, he will be a brilliant and unrelenting leader for our Intelligence Community to ensure the safety of Americans and our allies.

So as you said Carol, things are moving very quickly. Just yesterday, there were a lot of questions about when we would actually see names put to paper officially and we have seen that this morning.

COSTELLO: OK. So let's continue our discussion. We're with David Fahrenthold and Mark Preston and Jackie Kucinich and Jim Sciutto. Jim Sciutto, I want to focus on the national security advisor pick, General Mike Flynn because he is a very controversial figure because basically, in a nutshell, he says that Americans are justified in their fear of Muslims. What more can you tell us about the general?

SCIUTTO: Well I think, Carol, in all honesty, we can go further than saying controversial, right? I mean, he has repeated offensive statements, statements that could only be described as offensive during the campaign. You know, we are talking about Sessions with some possible statements three years ago.

I'm just going to read a couple tweets from General Flynn in the last several months during the campaign. "I dare Arab and Persian world leaders to step up and declare their Islamic ideology sick and must be healed." Not Islamic terrorism or radical Islamic terrorism but the Islamic ideology itself as sick. He also tweeted earlier, "fear of Muslims is rational. Please forward this to others."

So you have those kinds of statements during the campaign. But beyond statements about Muslims, Carol, he has expressed real differences with what has been U.S. foreign policy priorities for some time, saying, for instance, that the real enemies of the U.S. are not Russia or Assad, but in his view, ISIS, that one is obvious, but saying neocon liberals here in the U.S. Talking about a realignment of where the U.S. is in terms of Russia. And this of course is very topical because we know the statements that Donald Trump said ding the campaign.

And listen, I talked to a lot of folks in the U.S. military who are very concerned about Russia's military advances. So this is not a party thing. You know, it's not just Democrats who say that or Hillary Clinton. It is people inside the defense establishment here. So you now have a man with the ear of the president who has a dramatically different view of the threat posed from Russia than many in the defense establishment here in the U.S.

COSTELLO: Let's focus on Russia for just a second. And David, I want you to take a look at this because after

[10:20:16] Mike Flynn left the Obama administration he started this international consulting business. And then he was paid to appear on Russian state television and after that appearance, he appeared at this gala with Vladimir Putin. Putin turned this picture into a propaganda tool. Now, Mike Flynn is an Intelligence officer so it does kind of make you pause, right?

DAVID FAHRENTHOLD, REPORTER "THE WASHINGTON POST": It certainly does. I mean, I don't think any of us could have imagined a year ago that we would have a new national security advisor who had been literally paid by the Russian government until recently, and who had sat at a banquet right next to Vladimir Putin. I think there's going to be a lot of tests for folks in this next administration and one of them will be the people in the Pentagon, the sort of career employees, uniformed officers who are going to have to contend with radically different view on Russia and the threat it poses.

COSTELLO: And along with it, this idea being floated around of a Muslim registry which many people in America fear. Well, I guess I should ask the question this way, Jackie. Are the fears justified?

KUCINICH: I mean it's something that even shouldn't even be talked about, frankly. It's unfortunate that we have to discuss it and we should keep talking about it so it doesn't happen.

COSTELLO: All right. I have to leave it there. Thanks to all of you for your insights, so helpful this morning with you know, things are changing so fast and it's so helpful to -- for your thoughts in helping people understand. Thanks so much. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:26:16] COSTELLO: And good morning. I'm Carol Costello. Thank you so much for joining me. Muslim Americans are uneasy this morning of a more talk of an immigrant tracking system. When asked about the possibility of a registry, Donald Trump's communications director released this statement, this is from Jason Miller. He said, "President-elect Trump has never advocated for any registry or system that tracks individuals based on their religion, and to imply otherwise is completely false." So that's what Jason Miller said yesterday. But here's what Donald Trump, himself, said about the idea of a registry during the campaign.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Is there going to be a system that tracks the Muslims are in this country?

DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENTIAL-ELECT: There should be a lot of systems beyond database. We should have a lot of systems. And today you can do it. But right now, we have to have a border, we have to have strength, we have to have a wall. And we cannot let what's happening to this country happen.

Oh, I would certainly implement that, absolutely.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: How do you actually get them registered?

TRUMP: It would be just good management. What you have to do is good management procedures. And we can do that.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Do you go to mosques and sign these people up?

TRUMP: Different places. You sign them up at different -- but it's all about management.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: All right. So here's CNN's Drew Griffin on why immigration groups are worried.

DREW GRIFFIN, CNN SENIOR INVESTIGATIVE CORRESPONDENT: Carol, the campaign promise from Donald Trump was extreme vetting for possible terrorists from high risk countries. This seems to be part of that policy.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GRIFFIN (voice-over): It is an idea that has immigration groups in a panic, forcing people from some majority Muslim nations to register when they come to the U.S. And it comes from this man, Kris Kobach, the Kansas Secretary of State, a highly polarizing figure who is an immigration hardliner and reportedly helping president-elect Trump form immigration policy.

TRUMP: My plan ends illegal immigration and suspends immigration from terror-prone regions. Now, I have to tell you, we are going to have the wall.

GRIFFIN (voice-over): The idea isn't new. The U.S. had such a registry in place for nine years. It was called the NSEERS or National Security Entry-Exit program, developed largely by Kris Kobach when he worked at the Department of Justice.

KRIS KOBACH, KANSAS SECRETARY OF STATE: One of the things that we did right after 9/11, I say, we at Justice Department was implement the NSEERS system which took people from high risk countries and required that they check in after 30 days.

GRIFFIN (voice-over): Immigrants and visitors from more than two dozen countries were required to check in, be interviewed, fingerprinted and monitored while they were in the U.S. Virtually all of those countries were predominantly Muslim. Kobach is talking with the Trump transition team to bring it back. Critics call it a Muslim registry.

Today in a text to CNN, Kobach says it's no such thing. "There is no registry of Muslims proposal whatsoever," he wrote. "The model I discussed was the NSEERS system for screening aliens from high risk areas without regard to religion." The program began under President George Bush following the 9/11 attack. It ended nine years later. An inspector general's report in 2012 called the program then obsolete, unreliable and an inefficient use of resources. The ACLU which fought the program says it was worse than that.

OMAR JADWAT, ACLU: It actually made genuine efforts at trying to combat terrorism more difficult by destroying relationships with immigrant communities and actually negatively impacting the ability of the federal government to cooperate with foreign governments in fighting terrorism.

GRIFFIN (voice-over): The screening of people from certain high risk countries is just the start of the ACLU's problems with Kris Kobach. He has spoken before groups critics consider to be white nationalists. He's pushed for very strict immigration laws in at least six states.