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"Hamilton" Actor Will Not Apologize; Trump Takes Grievances to Twitter; Police Clash with Protesters in North Dakota; Hundreds Killed in Eastern Aleppo Bombardment. Aired 9:30-10a ET

Aired November 21, 2016 - 09:30   ET

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


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[09:30:20] CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: And good morning. I'm Carol Costello. Thank you so much for joining me.

When America elected Donald Trump, it elected a new kind of president, one that engages via Twitter with actors on Broadway. By now you've seen Brandon Victor Dixon, who plays Aaron Burr in "Hamilton," issuing a statement on behalf of the show during a curtain call on Friday. He urged VP-elect Mike Pence, who had been in the audience, to uphold our American values. On Sunday morning Mr. Trump tweeted, "the cast and producers of "Hamilton," which I hear is highly overrated, should immediately apologize to Mike Pence for their terrible behavior." Dixon did no such thing on "CBS This Morning."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE, CBS: The president-elect is demanding on apology.

BRANDON VICTOR DIXON, "HAMILTON" ACTOR: Yes, I heard.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We assume that no apology is forthcoming?

DIXON: There is no -- there's nothing to apologize for.

I was honored to represent our cast and our show in that way. And, you know, for me, I think the most important thing with respect to all of the emotions that everybody's feeling after this election is to make sure that people recognize that you -- we are not alone. We are here together.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Actually, Mr. Trump tweeted nine times over the weekend, four of those tweets blasted "Hamilton," one blasting "Saturday Night Live."

So let's talk about that and more. Brian Stelter is here, he's the CNN senior media correspondent. Alice Stewart joins me. She's a CNN political commentator and a Trump supporter. And Adolfo Franco is a former spokesperson for the Romney/Ryan 2012 campaign and an RNC Hispanic Advisory Council member.

ADOLFO FRANCO, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: Thank you.

BRIAN STELTER, CNN SENIOR MEDIA CORRESPONDENT: Thanks.

ALICE STEWART, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Hi, Carol. Great to be here.

COSTELLO: No, nice to have you here.

So, Brian, why does this continue to be a story?

STELTER: If the creator of "Hamilton" were here, he would say the world has turned upside down. We know the president-elect cannot help but engage in these battles. He wakes up, he turns on the TV, he reads the paper, he sees what people are talking about, he sees that Mike Pence has been assaulted, or insulted according to Trump, and then he lashes out.

Mike Pence was not harassed by the cast of "Hamilton." Yes, there were boos and that might have been disrespectful, but he was not harassed by the cast of "Hamilton." There was a very respectful message read onstage by the cast of "Hamilton." The entire show is a political message. So I'm surprised that Trump would take that tone.

But let's be honest, this plays into Trump's hands. We are a divided America. A new Pew study out this morning says 53 percent of the country is uneasy about Trump, 51 percent is hopeful about Trump. Emotions are all over the place. We're a 50/50 country. And this play right into that. This is the cultural war.

COSTELLO: OK, so on that note, Alice, Mr. Trump continues to engage in these fights instead of just asking the American people to chill. At the American Music Awards last night, Green Day chanted "no trump, no KKK, no fascist USA." Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GREEN DAY, MUSICIANS: No Trump, no KKK, no fascist USA. No Trump, no KKK, no fascist USA. No Trump, no KKK, no fascist USA.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: OK, so you get the gist here. So is the entertainment industry inciting this kind of thing or is President-elect Trump?

STEWART: Well, look, I think, in his version of asking America to chill, Donald Trump did just that when he gave his victory speech on election night, saying I pledge to be a president for all of America and he wants to unite America. Hillary Clinton followed up the next day saying, let's give him a -- come with an open mind. Give him the opportunity to show that he wants to be a president for all America. We just heard from Barack Obama in your last segment about, let's have a wait and see approach and see how he does lead our country. And I thought that that speaks volumes.

COSTELLO: But I hear you, Alice, but we heard from Mr. Trump, the cast of "Hamilton" needs to apologize. STEWART: Look, I think, clearly, Mr. Trump was standing up for Mike

Pence and saying, look, you know, that might not have been the appropriate venue. Mike Pence says he wasn't offended by it and didn't have a problem with it.

Look, I think -- I think the way the cast member handled that, it was a very important message that he gave. I think he spoke for a lot of people in this country without a doubt. I think it was a very respectful message. I think what he said on the CBS show shows he is very committed to what he said. I think what he said and how he said it was important and fine, but where he said it, I think it was not appropriate in the situation where Mike Pence was out with his daughter and her cousin having a nice, social, relaxing evening.

But that being said, it certainly has brought an important issue to the discussion. Donald Trump continues to lead the conversation or engage in the conversation. So I think it clearly goes to show this is on people's mind and we're happy to have the conversation.

COSTELLO: Absolutely, because it is on people's minds because this is the backdrop in which it's occurring, Adolfo. Over the weekend, white nationalists clashed with protesters in Washington, D.C. Two white nationalists were injured when they went into the crowd with a video camera. New York City has created a special police unit to fight the uptick in hate crimes in this country. So is this an overreaction or should the country be worried?

[09:35:19] FRANCO: Well, I think it's an absolute overreaction. I really do. And I am amazed that people are criticizing the president- elect, quite honestly, before he's even had a chance to make pronouncements on his policies, other than I think very conciliatory gestures. One of them, for example, meeting with Governor Romney, who I worked for in the campaign in 2012, after very bitter statements that were exchanged. He certainly selected individuals, for example, to head up the CIA, and apparently now with Congressman Pompeo, and apparently General Mattis at Defense that are very conventional choices.

But beyond that, I'm amazed, Carol, about something. In the 1990s, unless I got it wrong, Bill Clinton didn't even win twice, did not win a majority of the popular vote. He won 40-some percent in both elections and became president. I didn't hear a great uproar at that time about the country being divided, and policies dividing us and so forth. This is, frankly, a lot of sour grapes that's going on. Donald Trump won the presidency. The country does have two distinct points of view. But I -- apparently the other side is having trouble accepting it before he's even inaugurated.

Lastly, on this "Hamilton" issue, I will say this. I think the president-elect is absolutely correct. Going to a theater doesn't mean subjected to a political tirade by one of the actors after the performance. If that had happened to President Obama on Obamacare, we'd all be on this set saying how inappropriate that would be. If that individual wants to write an op-ed or speak at some other forum, that's his privilege. But to hold up the vice president, literally, and do part of a program or a performance that has nothing to do with politics is inappropriate. And it would not be tolerated if it were candidates on the left

COSTELLO: And, Brian, you have to admit, this is kind of turning into like the entertainment world against the president-elect. It's just kind of weird.

STELTER: Well "Hamilton" is a symbol for half the country and Trump is a symbol for the other half of the country. I think it is that stark. We are going to see for four years, yes, the entertainment industry, some parts of the media, many minority groups, many nonprofit and other organizations, all stand up against this president. We're going to see it on Inauguration Day with mass protests.

I think what we know by now is that those initial protests outside Trump Tower were not a one-off. We're seeing it in many different corners, whether it's at "Hamilton," or whether it's at the American Music Awards, or many other places. This is what we're in for, for a while. I do think it's inappropriate to call what happened on stage a tirade. I think all four of us know that wasn't a tirade.

FRANCO: Right, it was a tirade.

STELTER: We've all watched it. We've all seen the video. There was no tirade.

FRANCO: It was.

STELTER: There was a very respectful statement made by the cast of "Hamilton," cast members who are minorities, cast members who are gay, cast members who felt it was important --

COSTELLO: I do think the booing was wrong, though. The booing was wrong.

(CROSS TALK)

COSTELLO: But, I mean, people booed Mike Pence.

STELTER: And we can debate the booing but Trump hasn't gone after the boing.

FRANCO: Yes, it was a tirade. It was wrong.

STELTER: We can debate the booing, but Trump didn't talk about the booing. Trump hasn't tweeted once about the booing. Trump could have tweeted --

FRANCO: It --

STELTER: Yes.

FRANCO: And, look --

STEWART: Carol, one thing I think people will be pleasantly surprised is, Mike Pence, the person this was directed at, they will be pleasantly surprised. No one will be more able to reach across the aisle and work with Republicans and Democrats, black, white, male, female, gay, straight, than Mike Pence. He has done a tremendous job bring people to the table to this point already. So for him to be the person that was targeted for this message, I think people will be surprised at how he will be able to bring people together and -- and help with Donald Trump and being a president and an administration for all of this country.

FRANCO: Well, he --

COSTELLO: Sadly, I think many Democrats would disagree with you there.

FRANCO: He wasn't -- well, but, Carol --

COSTELLO: But, I hope that's true.

FRANCO: But, Carol --

COSTELLO: Uh-huh.

FRANCO: Carol, but, if I can quickly on this. I think Alice is absolutely right, I think the vice president has been a gentleman about it. It is inappropriate for an actor to deliver this message. But -- on a stage. That's not part of why one goes to a theater to hear a political statement made at its conclusion. But, secondly, this idea that -- of division in the country, I guess Republicans in the past have been more respectable of -- respectful of the democratic process because we have accepted the results of elections with -- we disagreed with Barack Obama. We didn't stage mass demonstrations. We didn't stage mass demonstrations in the 1990s. Although I believe this president was leading this country in the absolutely wrong direction toward a democratic socialism that many of us were alarmed about. So I don't see the -- this being other than an effort, and I think quite an organized effort quite honestly, to do one thing, and that is to try to discredit the president because they did not accept the result of the election. I think we should respect the will of the American people.

[09:40:02] COSTELLO: OK, and I know -- I know we're running out of time here, but I want to talk about that organized thing because there isn't any real evidence that there's any organization going on across the country.

STELTER: Yes. No.

FRANCO: I think there's (INAUDIBLE). Really?

COSTELLO: Brian --

FRANCO: Well, we certainly had -- we certainly had on the WikiLeaks when it came to the rallies. So I wouldn't be surprised if this was the same situation.

STELTER: There was also a (INAUDIBLE) --

COSTELLO: Which was orchestrated by Russia.

But, Brian, just -- I mean I know you've looked into this. There isn't any organized protect, you know, per se, any one entity organizing protests across the country.

STELTER: There was an excellent story -- excellent story in "The New York Times" today about how there was a lie on the Internet about paid protesters all bust in against Donald Trump. A great story in "The Times" today about how that was not true. It was an example of fake news on the Internet. We've got to be skeptical about these stories, especially when Trump says there's professional protesters. Yes, there are people who are full-time activists in the country, that's true. But there's not a sense of some sort of man, you know, working the puppet here controlling these protests.

FRANCO: That's not what we have in Wikileaks.

STEWART: Well, that would be (INAUDIBLE) protestors.

FRANCO: In "The New York Times," not exactly the most reliable of sources in my book.

COSTELLO: I knew you were going to say that, Adolfo.

STELTER: And that's the problem right there in a nutshell.

COSTELLO: I know (INAUDIBLE).

FRANCO: Well -- it's true.

COSTELLO: All right, I got to leave it there. Brian Stelter, Alice Stewart, Adolfo Franco, thanks to all of you.

FRANCO: Thank you. Thanks, Carol. Thanks, Carol.

STEWART: Thank you, Carol.

COSTELLO: Still to come in the NEWSROOM, hundreds of pipeline protesters clash with authorities in below freezing temperatures. Just how ugly it got after the break.

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[09:45:29] COSTELLO: A protest over the Dakota access pipeline turns into what police call a riot. Hundreds facing off with officers after setting multiple fires. Authorities responding with tear gas and water cannons. CNN's Paul Vercammen has more for us this morning.

Hi, Paul.

PAUL VERCAMMEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol.

They say that 175 demonstrators remain on this disputed bridge, and they're not being moved off that bridge right now by law enforcement. They've called them very aggressive. And as you pointed out, Carol, at one point the authorities used water cannons. Actually they were fire hoses attached to engines, and they began to blast away the demonstrators. Law enforcement officers also confirming that they used rubber bullets and tear gas. Now, we do have one report from an organizer of the protest who says

that he believes at least 200 people have suffered from various injuries, including those blasts from those hoses, as well as a number of injuries that would be in the realm of people getting hit in the head with rubber bullets. Also, there was one law enforcement officer injured. He was hit in the head with a thrown rock. The authorities saying that they also were hit with rocks that were fired from slingshots and burning logs were thrown their way.

And some tribal leaders also calling out, however, the authorities saying that it's very dangerous in these 20 degree temperatures to be using these hoses because hypothermia is a risk and you could have a possible loss of life.

So a tense standoff in North Dakota right now, Carol.

COSTELLO: All right, Paul Vercammen reporting live for us this morning. Thank you.

Travelers going through O'Hare might have some trouble getting their bags over the Thanksgiving Day holiday. At least 500 workers at the Chicago airport say they will strike this week, and they're going to announce the start date later today. Airplane cabin cleaners, baggage handlers and janitors expected to be on the picket line. They've been trying to get $15 an hour and better benefits. The subcontractors who hire those positions has not commented. We'll keep you posted, of course.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM, as bombs rain down in Aleppo, Syria, there are no hospitals left to treat the wounded. Oh, it's a terrible situation there. We'll take you there, next.

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[09:52:03] COSTELLO: At least 27 people have been killed in Kabul, Afghanistan, after a suicide bomber detonated a vest inside a mosque with the worshippers inside. Women and children were killed in that attack. Another 35 people were injured. No group has claimed responsibility for the blast. A Taliban spokesperson denied responsibility for the attack, though.

A Syria family killed in a chemical gas attack, hospitals bombed with civilians inside. After six days of air strikes, more than 300 people have been killed in eastern Aleppo. Activists are calling this the deadliest week since the start of the Syrian civil war. Even worse, there are no more functioning hospitals in east Aleppo. That leaves a quarter of a million civilians still living there without any access to emergency care and the air strikes continue. CNN correspondent Will Ripley joins us live from Istanbul, Turkey, with more.

Hi, Will.

WILL RIPLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Carol. It is mind-boggling what is happening in east Aleppo after that text message was sent out by the Syrian regime telling people to get out or die. They also said they would be targeting terrorist targets specifically. But what we have seen over the last week is the systemic destruction or at least severe damage of nearly every major medical facility in the city, including the blood bank, the children's hospital. Over the weekend, two major trauma centers were hit. And one of the trauma centers that was hit, the ICU, the intensive care unit, took a direct impact. And it was full of patients who had just been transferred from another hospital that was attacked just hours earlier.

Now, the Syrian regime denies specifically targeting hospitals, but so far inspectors with the United Nations have not been allowed to go in and see for themselves. So all we have to go on are the numerous accounts from Syrian activists that are in east Aleppo and these horrific videos that show patients limping if they can walk down to the relative safety of the basement. But, of course, really in fear even in the basement area because they're afraid that Russia will join this onslaught once again as they did back in September and drop those bunker buster bombs that can pierce through six and a half feet of reinforced concrete.

I want to show you this interview that I did over the weekend with a man who lives in east Aleppo and I want you to listen as you're watching this because you can hear several different explosions that are happening. He was down in his basement, but these explosions were so loud we counted at least 17 explosions during our 14 minute conversation with him. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ISMAIL ALABULLAH, ALEPPO RESIDENT: Why do we stay? We stay because it's our cities, because they stay because they have no place to go and don't want to leave. We'll not -- we are not going to die. Yes, I think they would --

RIPLEY: That was close. That one was close.

ALABULLAH: OK, I'm going to go.

RIPLEY: OK, be safe.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RIPLEY: So I texted him afterwards and he said that he was OK, Carol. But the force of that blast shook the entire building that he was in. Imagine children in east Aleppo who every single day have to -- have to live like this and have known nothing else for the younger generation of kids but the terror that's being inflicted on them.

[09:55:13] COSTELLO: Plus, where's he going to go if he leaves his home? Where is there to go?

RIPLEY: Well, what he told me is, is that, you know, there's been a lot of talk about these so-called humanitarian corridors that are set up for people to leave the city. But residents have heard accounts that there are snipers on both sides, the rebel side and the government side, that are aiming and firing at families that try to leave down these humanitarian corridors. So they don't trust that they can safely evacuate. So essentially you have more than a quarter of a million people, including a number of families how are trapped in this city, and not only are the hospitals being destroyed, there are schools that have been targeted, residential buildings where families live, you know, children over the weekend, a young girl was rescued from her home that literally collapsed all around her. There was also footage of a young boy who was killed in a similar attack on his home.

COSTELLO: All right, Will Ripley reporting live from Istanbul, Turkey.

The next hour of CNN NEWSROOM after a break.

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