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Romney Under Serious Consideration For Secretary of State; Trump Tweeting About The Mocking; Bombing In Aleppo

Aired November 21, 2016 - 12:30   ET

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

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[12:30:02] JASON SUDEIKIS AS MITT ROMNEY: This isn't going to work, isn't it?

ALEC BALDWIN AS DONALD TRUMP: I don't think so.

JASON SUDEIKIS AS MITT ROMNEY: Great.

(OFF-MIC)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: President-elect Donald Trump may have found some common ground with one of his harshest critics, 2012 Republican Presidential Nominee Mitt Romney. Vice president-elect Mike Pence confirms this. He said Romney is under serious consideration to be Secretary of State. Donald Trump leaning on the former governor's extensive expertise and his ability to attract credible foreign policy insiders to Trump's administration. This despite an explosive war of words between the two rivals during Trump's presidential campaign.

I want to bring in a former Kevin Sheridan, he is a senior advisor to Romney's 2012 presidential campaign. He is also a former spokesman for the Republican National Committee.

So, I think there two schools of thought on this. Some are saying -- yeah, and we've discussed this on the show earlier, it's great that Donald Trump is talking to people with so many different points of view. Isn't this exactly what you want from someone to have all of these different voices and then to get good advice from different perspectives? But on the other hand, there are many who wonder if this isn't just a bunch of cameos including Mitt Romney's in a reality show? So which is it?

KEVIN SHERIDAN, FORMER SENIOR ADVISOR, ROMNEY FOR PRESIDENT: Well, it's hard to make a good case, this isn't a good thing on a lot of different levels. It's a good thing for the country, it's a good thing for the party, it's a good thing for healing. Whether or not they are just discussing, you know, their views on foreign policy, Mitt Romney is very smart on foreign policy. He was right on many of the things that he predicted in 2012. Both on Russia, on the Middle East, on a number of different hot spots in the world, and the president's disengagement in the Middle East that ultimately led to ISIS and the disaster that we have in Syria now.

So if the president-elect is looking to talk to smart people, he could do, you know, pretty well by talking to Mitt Romney because Mitt Romney was right about a lot of things.

KEILAR: In 2012, Mitt Romney said that the U.S. was -- or pardon me, that Russia was the biggest geopolitical foe of the U.S., and many in the establishment sort of for both -- certainly Democrats laughed at him.

And then as we saw what happened in Crimea, you see who got the last laugh. Not that he was laughing about it, because it was very serious, but with that in mind, that he views Russia as very much an enemy, and Donald Trump has surrounded himself certainly with advisers and he has business interest there. Advisers who are close to certainly pro-Russian government, how -- in a hypothetical situation where he might be secretary of state, how would they square that difference?

SHERIDAN: Well, I don't know that he said they were an enemy but he did warn of the threat the geopolitical threat that they oppose, and he was right. And I think that's a discussion that should be ...

KEILAR: He said it was the biggest geopolitical ...

SHERIDAN: And he has mocked for it and Barack Obama himself said, you know, the 1980s called and they want the foreign policy back. And to this day, that's still, you know, that has carried out through the entire administration of Barack Obama that he hasn't taken this as serious of a threat as it should have been.

And look, Mitt Romney needs to go in there and have that discussion with him. I don't know exactly how that discussion played out. He said it was a far-reaching conversation on foreign policy and I'm sure Russia came up, but -- you know, we don't know until they ultimately come out of this process and decide which direction they're going to go, but we know Donald Trump has slightly different views on it. That's OK. They don't need to line up perfectly on everything I would think.

KEILAR: Things got really personal between these two during the election. Let's listen to some of it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MITT ROMNEY, FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Donald Trump is a phony, a fraud.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT-ELECT: Mitt was a disaster as a candidate.

ROMNEY: He's blaming members of the American public for suckers.

Trump: Romney let us all down. He was a very poor campaigner.

ROMNEY: He gets a free ride to the White House, and all we get it a lousy hat. TRUMP: Romney choked like a dog. He choked. He went ...

ROMNEY: His promises are as worthless as degree from Trump University.

TRUP: He was begging for my endorsement. I could've said, "Mitt, drop to your knees he would have dropped to his knees."

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: We've seen a lot of Donald Trump criticisms and some of the back and forth between Trump and some of his detractors. But when I hear Mitt Romney, it may be the worst at this back and forth between them. How would they move on from this?

SHERIDAN: Well, I think that Marco Rubio exchanges in the debate were probably just as bad.

KEILAR: Yeah, perhaps, yeah.

SHERIDAN: What, this is just proof, though, that the Republican Party is coming back together. That people are putting aside the nasty things that everybody said about each other in the primary, and even in the general, and that's a very good sign.

Look, this is Donald Trump's party now. He can pick anybody from within the party who would supported him or opposed him, or outside of the party. He ran on, you know, his own platform, in his own way. He did it without the help of a lot of the traditional levers of power and now he gets to choose his family. He gets to choose whoever he wants, and this is a good sign I think for Republican Unity.

KEILAR: It is up to him. Kevin Sheridan, thank you so much, really appreciate your time.

SHERIDAN: Thank you.

[12:34:56] KEILAR: Next, Donald Trump lashing out at "Saturday Night Live" and the cast of "Hamilton." his message, and how it's being received, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KEILAR: If anything President-elect Trump is proving he can multitask. While he's been planning his cabinet and White House staff, he also apparently had time for Twitter. And he just won't let the whole "Hamilton" controversy go.

After the star of the musical read a message from the stage to Vice President-elect Mike Pence who was there in attendance of the evening that this happened, Trump decided to fire back via social media. And this was his first of many tweets on this matter.

Here is what he BECK BENNETT AS MIKE PENCE Saturday morning. He said, our wonderful future V.P. Mike Pence was harassed last night at theater by the cast of "Hamilton" cameras blazing this should not happen.

[00:40:00] And NBC's "Saturday Night Live," it took the situation as an opportunity to mock Trump yet again.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BECK BENNETT AS MIKE PENCE: Hello, sir.

ALEC BALDWIN AS DONALD TRUMP: I heard you went to see "Hamilton" how was that?

BECK BENNETT AS MIKE PENCE: It was good. I got a free lecture.

ALEC BALDWIN AS DONALD TRUMP: I heard they booed you.

BECK BENNETT AS MIKE PENCE: Absolutely.

ALEC BALDWIN AS DONALD TRUMP: I love you, Mike. You're the reason I'm never going to get impeached.

BECK BENNETT AS MIKE PENCE: Sir, being president is not going to be easy, but we'll get through it if we work hard, together.

ALEC BALDWIN AS DONALD TRUMP: Thank you, Mike. Oh, and, Mike, you're going to do everything, right?

BECK BENNETT AS MIKE PENCE: Yes, sir.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: President-elect Trump did not like that too much either.

CNN Senior Media Correspondent Brian Stelter, Host of "Reliable Sources" joins me now from New York.

I mean no doubt. Brian, this is scathing and very insulting, of course. I think it would be hard for anyone, if they had this said about them, to not smart a little, but when you're president, you have to learn to have a very thick skin. Why can't Donald Trump just kind of help himself?

BRIAN STELTER, CNN SENIOR MEDIA CORRESPONDENT: Yeah. In some cases just not to respond, not comment. You know, I think Americans are experiencing whiplash right now, Brianna. You know, it wasn't so long ago that President didn't tweet it all because there was no Twitter or Facebook. Now, of course, President Obama has a Twitter account but uses it sparingly. Mostly to comment on issues of national importance, but President-elect Trump doing things differently.

Now, here is what he wrote about SNL on Sunday morning. He woke up and said, "I watched parts of "SNL" last night. It was totally one- sided, biased nothing funny at all". He says, "Equal time for us? Or equal time at a government rule that allows presidential candidates to get equal time."

So when Trump went on "SNL" as a candidate, his rivals were given equal time to run free commercials in NBC. But as Alec Baldwin responded, "Equal time is over, the election is over. No more equal time." Alec Baldwin said, "Now, you'll be a president and we will react and we will cover it."

It's interesting to see how Trump is going to use Twitter and Facebook once he's in the oval office. Because you remember, Brianna, he said he would be more restrained once he takes over.

KEILAR: Yeah, that's right. He did say that. All right, Brian Stelter, thank you so much.

I do want to bring in our panel now to talk a little built more about this. Here with me in the studio on the Republican side, we have CNN Political Commentator S.E. Cupp, CNN Political Commentator Symone Sanders and the Democratic Strategist and former Press Secretary for Bernie Sanders, that is what -- that is Symone's resume. And then in Chicago, we have Steve Cortes who is head of the Trump Campaign's Hispanic Advisory Council.

Steve, to you, Donald Trump has 25 million followers on Twitter. I want you to listen to what Kellyanne Conway said to Chris Cuomo today on "New Day"

STEVE CORTES, FORMER TRUMP CAMPAIGN ADVISER: OK.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KELLYANNE CONWAY, FORMER TRUMP CAMPAIGN MANAGER: And it's a great way for him, Chris, to take his message directly to people, cut through the noise or the silence, whatever the case may be. Sometimes important things he's saying and doing are getting zero coverage, sometimes he's just trying to cut through the nonsense of people telling Americans what's important to them which we saw through the elections wasn't true.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: So, I mean, no doubt there's an element to that, Steve. I was looking at the CNN Politics App and I was amazed by this one stat that showed with the money that Donald Trump spent in the election, it was like $5 a vote. And For Hillary Clinton for the amount that she raised and spent in the election was like $11 per vote. So there is something to be said with how he's communicating with people and how much that is worth something. You know, that in a way even can't buy.

But when he's talking about these things and just creating, you know, is it cutting through the noise or is he just creating noise?

CORTES: Well, Brianna, look, I think, you know, he'll be, he already told us he's going to be more judicious about tweeting once he actually assumes the office. But I also think you're exactly right to the point of how effective he was, how little money we spent compared to our opponents and how well we did and largely by speaking directly to the American people not filtered via the media and speaking with candor and authenticity. Now, sometimes that authenticity can get you into hot water. But for the most part, the people clearly reacted well to our messages, I think it's one of the reasons that we won. I would advise him if you would ask me in this case to sort of leave this alone.

I actually happen to think that the cast of "Hamilton" unwittingly did us a favor. Because what they did has reminded the American people that our movement has never been about Eastern Cultural Elites. And, in fact, it's very much the opposite. It's about the forgotten worker, the forgotten out of work coal miner. There's a single mother who's having trouble paying her healthcare premiums. That's who we spoke for. Not Manhattan Elites, whether they're on "Saturday Night Live" or the "Hamilton" cast.

KEILAR: And S.E., you're someone who is a fan of Mike Pence?

S.E. CUPP, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yeah.

KEILAR: He basically said he wasn't offended.

CUPP: Uh-huh.

KEILAR: And also, I mean just what I found listening to the "Hamilton" cast, I saw that it had happened, and I thought, oh, my goodness. What is this going to be? And then listened to the message and then actually seemed -- it didn't seem stinging or biting. But Donald Trump took it that way even though Mike Pence didn't.

[12:45:03] CUPP: Well, Mike Pence is, as we'd say, a grown-up. And so, you know, in politics he knows which battles to pick. Trump seems to have difficulty picking battles. They're all ones he wants to fight.

But I, you know, I heard a lot of people on our network say that today, and I'm surprised, because I actually found it really inappropriate and disrespectful, to break through the fourth wall, pick on someone in your audience and shame them publicly, when they can't respond. He'd never microphone, too. I just thought that was really rude. And I thought that if Barack Obama went to a play, and we know he saw "Hamilton."

Barack Obama went to a play, was booed by the audience, and then picked on by the cast. We would all be having a very different conversation about this. So, look, I'm not outraged over this, and I'm probably, you know, I wasn't going to be able to see "Hamilton" anyway. I work too much and the tickets are too expensive, but I actually -- I was actually pretty offended by it as well. I would hate to be a theatergoer and feel at any moment because of my politics I could be picked on by the cast.

SYMONE SANDERS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, you shouldn't, because you're our everyday regular citizen, S.E, but Mike Pence is the vice president-elect, and as a vice president, you're a vice president of all people. You know, Nina Simone once said that it is an artist's duty to reflect the time, and I don't think there was anything that she probably singing about what the cast of "Hamilton" did I thought. It was really respectful. They didn't yell, they didn't point him out. Didn't maliciously ...

CUPP: That's pretty low bar, they didn't yell at him ...

SANDERS: They didn't maliciously point him out. But I mean, we've talked about President Obama, President Obama, I mean there was a State of the Union where a member of Congress yelled out "You Lie" at the president. There were multiple times where he has been ...

CUPP: But I also said that was awful. And that was awful. But I don't think you ...

STELTER: Symone.

CUPP: We have a reasonable expectation that you go to the theater and you're going to be entertained, and not lectured.

SANDERS: But Mike Pence isn't just any citizen. He's the vice president-elect of the United States.

KEILAR: Steve, way in.

CORTES: I think there's also a double standard that's evident here. You know, you mentioned President Obama going to a play. If he had gone to a play in 2008 do you think he would have possibly, if we could replay the scene in '08 or this scene unfolded, would they have lectured him about gay marriage and about the fiercely anti-gay marriage things he had said in the 2008 race? I doubt it very highly.

And when, in fact, we are going to inaugurate the first president in American history who is firmly in support of gay rights. So I think there's hypocrisy here.

SANDERS: Do you know ...

KEILAR: Can I ask you -- let me ask Steve a question. Steve, I want to ask you, I also -- I hear what you're saying about the double standard. But I also wonder if the standard that Donald Trump set for campaign tone is different than what we saw in 2008? So by extension, now, Mike Pence did not set that tone, but he is attached to Donald Trump.

So is it surprising whether it's appropriate or not? Is it surprising when Donald Trump set this tone that then you see people responding. I mean, not even as badly as some of the things we saw Donald Trump say?

CORTES: Right. Now, listen, that's a fair point. This was an incredibly bruising, race, far more so than '12 or '08. You have a fair point there. I would argue though that the main reason this race was so bruising and our country is so divided right now is a lack of economic growth. I think growth is a really elixir that largely make a society cohesive and far more serene. When we don't have it and we haven't had it in far too long, people are incredibly stressed and anxious.

And when they feel that way divisions always rise unfortunately to the top. And so, I believe if we deliver on other message's economic growth, we're going to see a lot of that division start to really recede.

KEILAR: All right. I know Symone wants to say something, but unfortunately I have to get a break in. Symone Sanders, S.E. Cupp, Steve Cortes, thank you to all of you.

And coming up, in a devastating five-year war, the bombing happening right now in Aleppo is being called the most intense yet. We are hearing from people inside of the city.

[00:44:07] They are living through the constant explosions about why they're staying.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KEILAR: The crisis in Syria is becoming even more devastating. More than 300 people have been killed in Eastern Aleppo in a weeks-worth bombings, primarily targeting hospitals. That is what activists are telling us.

Now, we have to tell warn you these images are pretty horrific, they are really hard to look at. Decapitated bodies littering the floors, human beings trapped under rubble. And these are the faces of the people trying to survive a war zone. Children crying, their face was beaten, bloodied, screaming mothers searching for their families under rubble using their bare hands to do it, one resident describing this hellish city as a holocaust.

CNN International Correspondent Will Ripley is joining me now to talk about this.

This bombardment, this is really the heaviest bombardment that this country has seen in five years will, and that is saying something, will.

WILL RIPLEY, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Exactly right, Brianna. The people who have been on the ground living through the siege of Aleppo since mid-2012 said they had never experienced bombing this intense. And we did an interview over the weekend, I want to play a portion of it for you, because it really does illustrates what people, quarter million people including children are living through every single day. I spoke with a man inside East Aleppo and during our 14- minute conversation I counted at least 17 explosions.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RIPLEY: I'm listening to these explosions here, and it seems like it doesn't even face you. I mean, you're so used to it.

ISMAIL ALABDULLAH, ALEPPO RESIDENT: It's normal for us. We're not human beings anymore of this. We stay because it's our city. It's because -- they stay because they have no place to go. Yeah, I think ...

RIPLEY: That was close. That one was close. ALABDULLAH: OK, I'm going to go.

RIPLEY: OK. Be safe.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RIPLEY: I did message Ismail after that and he was taking shelter in his basement. He said his entire building shook, Brianna, but he was OK. But this is the bombing that is continuing literally around the clock.

[12:55:02] KEILAR: And activists, Will, saying hospitals are targeted, what can you tell us about the state of them?

RIPLEY: Just in the last week, we have seen nearly the entire medical system in East Aleppo severely disabled if not outright destroyed. All of the trauma centers have been knocked out of service. Any hospitals that are operating were the fraction of their capacity. Patients are having a hideout in basements that have been turned into makeshift triage centers. Patients with regular diseases and illnesses can't even go and see their doctors because the hospitals are inundated with victims of these bombings that are continuing, and the medical supplies are running low as well as food and water. All supply lines into the city are cut off. The U.N is saying people could starve very soon, if something isn't done.

KEILAR: All right. We'll continue to monitor this with you, Will. Will Ripley for us, appreciate it.

And coming up, Donald Trump is picking his new team. He has a busy schedule today and we could get updates from Trump Tower any minute. We are back from Washington, right after a quick break.