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More Trump Cabinet Picks Possible Today; 4 Police Officers Shot in Separate Incidents; Democrats Weigh Changing Message Post-Election. Aired 10-10:30a ET
Aired November 21, 2016 - 10:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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[10:00:16] CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: And good morning. I'm Carol Costello. Thank you so much for joining me. Bracing for another busy day at Trump Tower, you are looking live at the golden elevators inside. This is the president-elect's transition headquarters in New York. This hour, he is scheduled to meet with the Hawaiian Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard. She is a Democrat and the sources telling us she is being considered for a top job in the new administration. This comes after a weekend of political speed dating for cabinet positions at Trump's New Jersey golf club. CNN's Jason Carroll, live outside Trump Tower at New York with more. Good morning.
JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: And good morning to you. Ivanka Trump already here. You know, Kellyanne Conway described it as what they are doing is looking at a long short list of people. That list now just getting a little bit longer with the due announcements, former Labor Secretary under Bush, Elaine Chao, expected to be here a little later on today. As well as Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin, perhaps is being considered for the Department of the Interior. Also, as you mentioned, that Democrat also being considered, Tulsi Gabbard, as you know, from Hawaii. You know, at one point, Trump said Carol, that he would not consider a Democrat in his cabinet, but you know, there's a big difference when you are running to become president and then you become president-elect so perhaps trying to mend a few bridges there with that choice. He will be meeting with her. Also, former Texas Governor Rick Perry is under consideration for Department of Energy. You will also remember at one point, Governor Perry said that the Department of Energy is a department that he would eliminate if he became the president, but once again, things change, Kellyanne Conway describing the whole process this way.
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KELLYANNE CONWAY, SENIOR ADVISOR TO PRESIDENT-ELECT DONALD J. TRUMP: You're talking about literally dozens and dozens of meetings with heads of state, with captains of industry, with sitting and former governors, members of Congress, senators. These are people -- a diverse group of people who come from many different backgrounds who are all lending their opinions and their advice and their counsel and their experience to the president-elect and the vice president-elect and some of who may end up in his cabinet. But he is - a leader takes the counsel of many people and that's precisely what he's doing. (END VIDEO CLIP)
CARROLL: So back-to-back meetings today. Also back-to-back meetings over the weekend, although at a different location, at Trump's property in New Jersey, meeting at one point with former rival Mitt Romney perhaps for Secretary of State, expected to have an announcement about some appointments, perhaps later today Carol, but certainly later this week. Carol?
COSTELLO: All right, Jason Carroll reporting live for us. Thanks so much.
As President-elect Trump assembles his team and promises to dismantle many of President Obama's programs, Mr. Obama made it clear, he would not rule out attacks on Trump's policies.
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BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: As an American citizen who cares deeply about our country, if there are issues that have less to do with the specifics of some legislative proposal or battle, but go to core questions about our values and our ideals, and if I think that it's necessary or helpful for me to defend those ideals, then I will examine it when it comes.
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COSTELLO: All right. So let's talk about that and more. With me now, Heidi Przybyla, senior politics reporter for "USA Today" and Matt Viser, he's the national political reporter for "The Boston Globe." Welcome to both of you.
MATT VISER, NATIONAL POLITICAL REPORTER "THE BOSTON GLOBE": Thank you.
COSTELLO: Thanks for being here. So Heidi, Tulsi Gabbard. She endorsed Bernie Sanders. Is she a Democrat that Trump supporters can love?
HEIDI PRZYBYLA, SENIOR POLITICS REPORTER "USA TODAY": You know, Carol, I'm looking at this and the question that I have is, is this a parade of diversity or is this actually going to lead to a diverse cabinet. Tulsi Gabbard, -- I have to say, I was really shocked this morning to see her on that list just because when you look at the area of foreign policy, I guess she's supposedly being considered as U.N. Ambassador. A lot of the actual picks that we know are going down are more from the hawk wing of the party.
Tulsi Gabbard stood out in this election because she stood fast against Hillary Clinton on a number of issues including the war. So that was a surprise to me and I think the one -- the only thing we know for certain at this point, Carol, is that the lobbyists ironically in this town are going to make a lot of money in this next month or two -- to help people try and companies try and read what's happening here with this unpredictable process. But as a reporter, what I'm going to do is keep my eye on what the actual picks are, because this does, yes, look like a very diverse group of people who are coming before President-elect [10:05:16] Trump but at the end of the day the people who have actually been picked so far are very conventional, older white guys. So let's look who actually gets the job in the end.
COSTELLO: And you know, as Heidi said, Matt, there's this parade of people including Ari Emanuel, who's Trump's talent agent for "The Celebrity Apprentice." He actually passed through the door at Trump's golf resort in New Jersey over the weekend. So it is tough to make anything of this at all.
VISER: Yes. I mean, Bob Kraft, the owner of the Patriots, was there at Trump Tower the other day, as was Floyd Mayweather, the boxer, you know. So I think there's a mixture of sort of courtesy meetings that Donald Trump is doing along with some of the work of meeting with people. But as Heidi was alluding to, it's hard to tell what of these, are serious discussions about putting somebody in a cabinet and how much of it is sort of just for show. You know, I mean, it is an apprentice like experience watching people sort of come in and you know, have a private meeting with the future president. And then emerge afterwards, you know. And sort of what to make of some of these meetings and are they more symbolic than real, you know. And I think we will find that out you know, pretty soon. --
COSTELLO: Especially Mitt Romney, right, because a lot of the never- Trumpers are really psyched about that meeting. And Mike Pence says it was warm and substantive. And Mitt Romney really is being considered for Secretary of State. But many people in the country just think as you said, Matt and Heidi, it's all for show. That's what played out on "Saturday Night Live" even this weekend. Let's watch.
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KATE MCKINNON, PLAYED AS KELLYANNE CONWAY: Mitt Romney is here.
ALEC BALDWIN, PLAYED AS DONALD TRUMP: Really? OK? Send him in, please.
MCKINNON: Yes.
JASON SUDEIKIS, PLAYED AS MITT ROMNEY: Hello, Mr. President-elect. Thank you for taking the time to meet with me.
BALDWIN: Governor Romney, so good of you to come.
SUDEIKIS: This isn't going to work, is it?
BALDWIN: I don't think so.
SUDEIKIS: Great.
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COSTELLO: I laughed hysterically because you really don't know, is that how it's going, Heidi, or not? - And by the way, Mr. Trump had a problem with "Saturday Night Live's" depiction of him, sending out an angry tweet about that. PRZYBYLA: Initial reaction here was disbelief that the two of these men, given the words that were exchanged in this election which were -- even more heated than between Jeb bush, I would argue. And Trump, could actually do this, could actually pull this off. But I think the significance would be huge, Carol, because whereas on economic policy, a lot of the things that President-elect Trump wants to do are going to take months and maybe even years to hash out, on foreign policy. We could see a pretty dramatic change in the more globalist purview post- World War II order that has really shaped our foreign policy for 50 years.
If Trump assembles his entire cabinet with people who are more like General Flynn, who hold a different approach to countries like Russia, for example, whereas Mitt Romney is very skeptical of Russia. And would kind of be more of an even, steadying hand potentially to kind of offset those like General Flynn, who are forming the cabinet and I think it would be a reassurance as well to many in the establishment Republican community. But again, we just don't know until this pick is actually made, whether this is an attempt to kind of just put on a show and give the impression that President-elect Trump is hearing from all sides.
COSTELLO: So I did want to touch on what President Obama said over the weekend, Matt. You heard what he said. He said he's going to give President-elect Trump a chance but if things go too far and he feels the need to say something, he intimated he most definitely would and of course, that would break the tradition of a past president commenting on the policies of a sitting president. Do you think President Obama will do that in dramatic fashion?
VISER: I mean, I think it depends on what a President Trump ends up doing, and you know, sort of how far he goes in some of the policies that he has suggested he would. I think we are in a period now where President Obama feels like he can influence Trump. You know, I mean, after that meeting of 90 minutes in the Oval Office, you know, you had sort of a sense that Obama feels like he brought Trump his way on some of the health care rhetoric and some of the other things.
So, I mean, you sort of have to wait and see whether or not Trump does something that, you know, violates in President Obama's view the fabric of America, you know, and whether Obama would speak out on something like that. But he's certainly leaving the option open which is interesting in its own way, given that you know, there were deep divisions between President Obama and
[10:10:16] President Bush. And President Bush sort of completely faded from American political commentary. So, you know, I mean, it would be extraordinary for President Obama to weigh in, you know, in a couple of months or even a year or two.
COSTELLO: All right. I have to leave it there. It will be a fascinating time, to say the least. Heidi Przybyla, Matt Viser, thanks to both of you.
VISER: Thank you. COSTELLO: Donald Trump could be making a fellow billionaire the head of his Economic team. The president-elect met with 78-year-old investor, Wilbur Ross. Sources telling CNN the discussion are "serious." Christine Romans has more. Good morning.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, Carol. You know, Wilbur Ross is someone who is a leveraged buyouts genius. He's someone who takes companies and industries that have been destroyed, that are really in a dust pile, and he finds value in them, and he uses debt, he leverages debt to do so. So he and Donald Trump have been in business together and have known each other for a very long time. He's worth about $3 billion here, Carol. He's the chairman of WL Ross & Co. He's known, again, for some of his purchases, most recently in the mortgage industry after the terrible crisis of 2009 but also in steel and coal.
And as you know, Donald Trump wants to bring jobs back in steel and coal. This is a man who knows that industry. He was also a bondholder attorney for the Trump casino business. That's how he and Donald Trump and Carl Icahn, another billionaire investor, all know each other, Carl Icahn, speaking very highly of Wilbur Ross here, Carol.
You know, Carl Icahn also speaking very highly of guy name Steven Mnuchin, who's also rumored to be on the short list for Treasury Secretary, Carol. Steven Mnuchin is someone who's handled his campaign finances, someone who's an investment banker who most recently has made his fortune in producing movies.
Also on that list, we were told, Jeb Hensarling, he's the Congressman from Texas. Jamie Dimon and Ben Bernanke, unclear how serious these two are if Donald Trump wants them or whether they would even be interested at all. But both of them have tentacles and history and resumes that go back into the financial crisis. You would wonder if he would pick one of those. Jamie Dimon was somebody who was rumored to be perhaps Treasury Secretary under a Democratic administration if not for the fact that he runs a bank. And banks took bailouts during the financial crisis even though of course, he didn't want to take the bailout, he did anyway.
Anyway Carol, these are sort of the names that are floating around there. Fascinating too, that it's happening as the NASDAQ and the S&P right now are hitting record high.
COSTELLO: Christine Romans, many thanks. Still to come in the "Newsroom." Four police officers are shot in separate incidents. And there's a manhunt for one of the shooters. We'll talk about that, next.
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[10:17:45] COSTELLO: Four police officers are shot in four separate incidents in different states and it happened all within 24 hours. 50- year-old San Antonio Detective Ben Marconi killed in one of those shootings. He was sitting in his police car outside the police headquarters when he was shot in the head, police in Texas now looking for this man. They say he may have information about this ambush style shooting. CNN's Polo Sandoval has more for you.
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POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Four separate shootings targeting police officers across the country.
CHIEF WILLIAM MCMANUS, SAN ANTONIO POLICE: Unfortunately, like Dallas, like Baton Rouge, it's happened here.
SANDOVAL (voice-over): A massive manhunt in Texas for a man suspected of killing a San Antonio officer around 11:45 a.m. Detective Benjamin Marconi was shot and killed while sitting in his squad car. The 50- year-old officer was writing a ticket during a traffic stop when a man walked up to his driver's side window and opened fire. He shot Marconi in the head from outside of the car. Police say the suspect then reached through the window and shot the 20-year veteran again.
Police releasing this photo of a man who may be in connection with the shooting, and this photo of a car they say fled the scene.
MCMANUS: Most families will be celebrating the holidays. SAPD will be burying one of its own.
SANDOVAL (voice-over): Hours later in St. Louis a 46-year-old sergeant was waiting in traffic when the suspect, a man wanted in other violent crimes, pulled up to the driver's side of his patrol vehicle and opened fire. He shot the 20-year veteran twice in the face.
CHIEF SAMUEL DOTSON, ST. LOUIS POLICE: We all suspect he saw the muzzle flashes and felt the glass breaking in his window as the shots came through and struck him in the head.
SANDOVAL (voice-over): The suspect apparently worried about being identified, now dead after a shootout with officers overnight. No other officers were injured.
DOTSON: We were tracking him. We came to this neighborhood. We found him. He shot at police officers again. Police officers returned fire.
SANDOVAL (voice-over): Another officer shot in Missouri late Sunday night in a traffic stop in Gladstone, that's near Kansas City. And in Florida, a suspect already in custody after police say Officer Jarred Ciccone was shot while conducting a routine traffic stop in Sanibel. According to police, Ciccone was on the side of the road when a suspect drove by and started shooting. Ciccone was injured but has since been released from the hospital.
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COSTELLO: Polo Sandoval reporting from San Antonio, Texas this morning. With me now to talk about this is Tom Fuentes, CNN's senior law enforcement analyst and a former FBI assistant director. Hi, Tom.
TOM FUENTES, CNN SENIOR LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST AND FORMER FBI ASSISTANT DIRECTOR: Good morning, Carol.
COSTELLO: What do you make of these shootings?
FUENTES: I think it's just, you know, so tragic now, Carol, that we have so much disrespect in our society for all authority figures. But in the case of police officers, they are in uniform, they're out front, the most visible and trying to enforce the law that binds our society and that makes them great targets for individuals who don't like the police, don't respect the police, or out and out hate the police.
COSTELLO: It's just astounding. Like four different ambush style shootings in different state --
FUENTES: And also, add to that, that on Friday we had a Deputy U.S. Marshal killed in Georgia trying to arrest someone who was wanted for trying to kill two other police officers. So you know this is extreme violence on a regular basis directed against law enforcement.
COSTELLO: -- You know, once one shooting happens does that inspire other sick people to do the same thing?
FUENTES: It could. I mean, it's possible, because these were incidents, especially the four yesterday that occurred
[10:20:16] that the officer wasn't in the middle of an enforcement operation against that person, trying to arrest a person or control them in some way, so that they were ambushed essentially or targeted for assassination. And that could trigger other people to drive down the street, you see a marked police officer -- police car with a police officer in it, to open fire on it or an officer walking down the sidewalk, to open fire on that officer. So, it is possible that one ambush type killing led to additional copycat killing.
COSTELLO: I know that some police departments are saying you know you can't drive in your patrol car alone, there has to be two people in the car. Will that rule soon be instituted across the country, do you think?
FUENTES: I don't think so. Because then each patrol car can only cover half the territory if you do that. The response times are liable to be twice as long when someone calls for the police officer. And as we recall, the two officers sitting in the squad car in New York City, a couple years ago shortly before Christmas were both killed sitting in the same police car. So, if someone wants to ambush you, they can just as easily ambush two officers almost as quickly as one. So, it may not in all situations be the answer.
COSTELLO: So President-elect Trump, he says he will be the law and order president. Is there anything, any policy he can institute that might help?
FUENTES: Right. I think, one would be, that the killing or attempted killing of a police officer become a federal crime. You know, we make it a federal crime if an officer violates the civil rights of a citizen and that's investigated by the FBI. So I think that a state and local police officer should also be protected in a similar manner. Make it a federal crime if someone actually kills a police officer like we have had in this situation. It should carry the death penalty. And I think that maybe that will help, you know, reduce the number of these incidents.
COSTELLO: I can't believe it's not a federal crime, Tom Fuentes.
FUENTES: Well, the killing of the U.S. Marshal is a federal crime. An FBI agent, a DEA agent, as federal officers, it is a federal crime. It is investigated by the FBI. But for state and local, county, municipal, village, township, those police officers, it's not a federal crime.
COSTELLO: Tom Fuentes, thank you so much for your insight as usual.
-- You're welcome. Still to come in the "Newsroom," a big decision for Democrats, stay the course or get a makeover. The future of the party up in the air, we'll talk about that, next.
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[10:27:11] COSTELLO: And good morning. I'm Carol Costello. Thank you so much for joining me. The Democratic Party is at a crossroads, shake things up or double down on its current course. Congressman and DNC chair candidate, Keith Ellison, says it's time to get back to the basics, the voters.
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REP. KEITH ELLISON, (D) MINNESOTA: The real problem for the Democrats is we have got to help people believe and then we have got to deliver the message to them. Believe what? That we are absolutely, unshakably on their side and we're going to fight for them every single minute. We also in the Democratic Party got to strengthen the grassroots. Power should be concentrated in the field, not in D.C.
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COSTELLO: Ellison echoing similar comments made by President Obama in Peru, who says while the party's policies are popular, the problem is the messaging.
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OBAMA: Democrats do have to do some thinking about how do we make sure that the message we have is received effectively and results in winning elections.
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COSTELLO: So let's talk about this, with me now, CNN political commentators, Bill Press and Hilary Rosen. Welcome to both of you.
BILL PRESS, CNN COMMENTATOR AND HILLARY CLINTON SUPPORTER: Hi, Carol.
HILARY ROSEN, CNN COMMENTATOR AND HILLARY CLINTON SUPPORTER: Hi, Carol. COSTELO: Hi. So Bill, so the messaging is the problem. I'm just trying to think like hope and change that was a good message for a time until people no longer believed it was possible, right. That happened during Obama's presidency. Is the messaging the problem?
PRESS: Well, first, let me just say I think the Democratic Party, you don't lose an election like this, an election that you should never have lost, that nobody thought you were going to lose, without doing some real soul searching. And I think the Democratic Party needs to really take stock and needs a total shake-up from top to bottom. And yes, starting with the message. I mean, the contradiction is that if you look at it, the Democratic Party has done more for middle class working class Americans in terms of health care and minimum wage and social security and Medicare and working rights and collective bargaining, go down the list, than the Republican Party would ever think about doing. And yet, these are the same people that didn't come out to vote for the Democratic candidate. - So somehow, we got the message wrong and we got to fix it.
COSTELLO: Well, here's the thing. I think that Democrats focused on cultural issues, right, but wasn't it the Democrats who came up with it's the economy, stupid? So why, Hilary, didn't the Democrats remember that during the election?
PRESS: Well, I think -- I'm sorry.
ROSEN: -- I do think that we made a big mistake in this election of sort of chasing the bright shiny object of rhetoric. I mean, let's face it. Donald Trump's you know, sort of racism, misogyny, you know, bigotry, that was just all unbelievably tempting to really focus on, and yet he had a really strong record against working people in this country that got very little attention, I think, from most of us. And you know, myself included.
