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Trump Lays out Agenda for First 100 Days; Trump Meets with NYT; Trump Doesn't Want to Energize Alt-Right. Aired 1-1:30p ET

Aired November 22, 2016 - 13:00   ET

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

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: During a speech back in August, retired Lieutenant General Michael Flynn compared Islamism to cancer. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LT. GEN. MICHAEL FLYNN (retired), TRUMP ADVISOR: Islam is a political ideology. It is a political ideology. It definitely hides behind this notion of it being a religion. It's like cancer. I've gone through cancer in my own life. And so, it's like cancer. And it's like a -- it's like a malignant cancer, though in this case, that has metastasized.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: We're going to talk about Flynn's comments with a representative from the Trump campaign in a few moments.

Meanwhile, there's other news. Trump supporters chanted, lock her up, during the campaign, but he, apparently, has decided to leave her alone. Donald Trump does not plan to pursue an investigation of Hillary Clinton's private e-mail server or the Clinton Foundation. That according to adviser former campaign manager, Kellyanne Conway.

And on MSNBC earlier this morning, Conway said Trump's decision should send a message to other Republicans.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KELLYANNE CONWAY, FORMER MANAGER, TRUMP CAMPAIGN: I think when the president-elect, who's also the head of your party now, Joe, tells you before he's even inaugurated he doesn't wish to pursue these charges, it sends a very strong message, tone and content to the members.

And I think Hillary Clinton still has to face the fact that a majority of Americans don't find her to be honest or trustworthy. But if Donald Trump can help her heal, then perhaps that's a good thing.

I do -- look, I think he's thinking of many different things as he prepares to become the president of the United States. And things that sound like the campaign aren't among them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Trump's decision is a reversal of a major campaign promise. Here's a look back at some of the things he said he would do during his first 100 days. Take steps to withdraw from the trans-Pacific trade deal known at TPP. Protect the country's infrastructure from cyber attacks. Cancel regulations on shale and clean coal. And investigate abuses of federal worker visa programs.

President-elect Trump is holding more meetings today before heading to Florida, his resort at Mara-a-Lago in Palm Beach, for the Thanksgiving holiday.

Trump is working to fill key staff and cabinet positions at the same time. Let's get the very latest on the transition process. Our Correspondent Jessica Schneider is joining us from outside Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue in New York City.

Jessica, Dr. Ben Carson's name, all of a sudden, has resurfaced. What can you tell us about that?

JESSICA SCHNEIDER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, that's right, Wolf. The president-elect himself touting Dr. Ben Carson over Trump's favorite medium, Twitter. Just a little while ago, tweeting out this, saying, I am seriously considering Dr. Ben Carson as the head of HUD which is Housing and Urban Development. I've gotten to know him well. He's a greatly talented person who loves people.

Now, interestingly, this tweet coming just about one week after a close adviser to Dr. Carson told CNN that Dr. Ben Carson had actually turned down an opportunity to become secretary of Health and Human Services. That close adviser to Dr. Carson saying that Carson just didn't feel comfortable with it. He had never led an agency. It just wasn't his strength.

However, Dr. Ben Carson has been a very close surrogate to Donald Trump throughout this campaign, and he's been by his side throughout the election. So, could he now be changing his tune and could he, in fact, be considered, as Donald Trump has said, for head of HUD -- Wolf.

BLITZER: We know he's announced some key national security choices. What about his economic team, Jessica? What are you hearing about that?

SCHNEIDER: Well, we understand that Donald Trump is hammering out the final details and could be announcing his economic team soon. In fact, multiple sources are telling CNN that there are a few people in the running for both treasury and commerce secretaries.

As it pertains to treasury secretary, the two names that are leading in the -- leading talks of this, Steve Mnuchin. He is, of course, the -- a former investment banker for Goldman Sachs. As well as Jonathan Gray, the head of global real estate for Blackstone Group.

And as the leading contender, at this point we understand, for commerce secretary is Wilbur Ross. He's the billionaire investor. So, two names that have popped out.

But, of course, we've been waiting for days to hear some key announcements, whether it pertains to personnel or cabinet. Waiting on that. Of course, we're getting closer to the Thanksgiving holiday. Donald Trump will be leaving New York City later today to head to his Palm Beach estate, Mar-a-Lago.

But, yes, we are definitely for what could be some more key announcements -- Wolf.

BLITZER: All right, Jessica, thanks very much. Jessica Schneider in New York for us.

Let's bring in Boris Epshteyn. He's the director of communications for Donald Trump's Presidential Inaugural Committee. Boris, thanks very much for joining us.

BORIS EPSHTEYN, DIRECTOR OF COMMUNICATIONS, 2016 PRESIDENTIAL INAUGURAL COMMITTEE: Thanks for having me.

BLITZER: Congratulations on your new title.

EPSHTEYN: Thank you, Wolf.

BLITZER: Are you also working on the transition or just getting ready for the inauguration?

EPSHTEYN: I'll be concentrating on the inauguration and all the messaging around that, the themes and making sure that all Americans and everyone around the world knows that we're here to unite the country and to lead the country as well as all those around the globe.

[13:05:07] BLITZER: I want to get your reaction, Boris, to comments that the K-File -- our K-File Edward Kosinski and his team have now come up with retired Lieutenant General Michael Flynn, who's going to be the president's national security adviser at the White House. Very strong words speaking of Islamism. He says it's a vicious cancer in the body of all Muslims and has to be excised.

He said this. He said, we are facing another ism. Just like we faced Nazism, and fascism, and imperialism, and communism. This is Islamism. It is a vicious cancer inside the body of 1.7 billion people on this planet and it has to be excised. This is what he said in a speech last August.

Those are, you know, going to certainly enflame a lot of people when they hear that.

EPSHTEYN: Oh, you'd have to ask General Flynn about those words. But I have gotten to know General Flynn personally. He is somebody who is, obviously, a great patriot. Someone who served this country bravely and has never afraid to speak truth to power.

So, as far as those comments, those were likely taken out of context. But what we're talking about is somebody who is a patriot, is somebody who is going to serve this country extremely well, make sure that we are protected.

And, again, you know, these sort of -- this sort of information, from my perspective, goes to divide the country further rather than unite the country. And that's what we're focusing on now with the inaugural committee and beyond.

BLITZER: But it's one thing, and I think you'll agree, to say that radical Islam, Islamic terrorists, that's a cancer that has to be excised. But to lump 1.7 billion people. Most Muslims are most are decent, hard-working, wonderful people trying to just do the best they can. But to lump this into all of them, that is so, so derogatory.

EPSHTEYN: Wolf, I'm not going to concentrate on one comment probably taken out of context. What I'm here to talk about is what we are as a country now. We're past the political stage. This is still, sort of, campaigning, right, from the folks who used to be -- with BuzzFeed, I believe, the K-File folks who've been always anti-Donald Trump, anti- Republican.

BLITZER: But these are -- these are -- they looked at the whole speech he gave. He spoke for nearly an hour. There's a -- the video of it is right there. Let me play another clip and you'll hear -- and you'll hear retired General -- retired Lieutenant General Flynn. Watch this.

EPSHTEYN: OK.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FLYNN: We are facing another ism, just like we faced Nazism, and fascism, and imperialism and communism. This is Islamism. And it is a -- it is a vicious cancer inside the body of 1.7 billion people on this planet and it has to be excised.

So -- and we should not -- again, we should not fear this idea. We should define it clearly and we should go after it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Do you agree with him though? Because, you know, you've studied this closely. That this cancer exists inside the body of 1.7 million Muslims living here in the United States and around the world?

EPSHTEYN: Wolf, that was actually the same clip you just read that I saw.

BLITZER: I know. But I wanted you -- I wanted to play it for you to give you the context.

EPSHTEYN: And my response is still the same that it's taken out of context. We're not talking about the whole speech here. And General Flynn is somebody who served this country greatly and will continue to do so.

And, again, this is the kind of rhetoric that's not helpful.

BLITZER: When you say the kind of rhetoric, from general Flynn?

EPSHTEYN: No, what I'm talking about is these sort of stories that are coming out there that are taking comments out of context and trying to attack somebody who's going to be a really great servient for America.

BLITZER: I'm not trying to attack General Flynn. And he did have a distinguished military, you know, background of service, rising to the ranks of three-star general, director of the Defense and Intelligence Agency. We're certainly not ridiculing him or anything like that.

We're just taking his words and analyzing what he actually said not that long ago in August and he's going to be the president's top national security adviser, working in the White House. And I think you agree, it's fair for journalists and others to review what he has publicly said.

EPSHTEYN: Well, General Flynn, President-elect Trump, the Trump campaign, the Inaugural Committee as well as the transition, we are here, again, to unite all Americans. Of course, not those Americans and those folks that want to cause anyone else harm.

We are her to push forward with unity, to make America great which is not just a slogan. It's something that we're really going to do. And that's why the American people chose Donald Trump and Governor Pence to lead this country forward and that's exactly what we're doing.

BLITZER: All right, let's talk about the other big story today. The decision by Donald Trump, according to Kellyanne Conway, his top adviser there, to say, you know what? He's not going to go ahead and try to prosecute Hillary Clinton for any alleged crime she may have committed while she was secretary of state. It's over. It's time to move on. What's your reaction to that?

EPSHTEYN: This goes back to a similar point. The time of politics is over. Now it is time to govern. It is time to move forward as a country and make sure that this country is protected, that the folks in this country are employed.

All of those parts of the 100-day plan that president-elect Trump laid out yesterday and talking about making sure TPP is not in place, talking about making sure that Americans are safe from attacks, cyber takes and other attacks. Making sure that illegal immigration is put to an end and we review the status of visas of those who are here illegally.

[13:10:07] So, that's what Donald Trump, Governor Pence -- President- elect Trump, V.P.-elect Pence will be concentrating on and that's what our whole team --

BLITZER: Because --

EPSHTEYN: -- is working on.

BLITZER: -- some of this most ardent supporters, and they are already reacting negatively to word from Kellyanne Conway that he doesn't want to pursue criminal charges against Hillary Clinton. Because you remember what was said during the campaign? Lock her up, lock her up. We had the chants that were coming up at all those rallies. And listen to what Trump, himself, used to say.

EPSHTEYN: Sure.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT-ELECT OF THE UNITED STATES: If I win, I am going to instruct my attorney general to get a special prosecutor to look into your situation.

Special prosecutor, here we come, right? If I win, we're going to appoint the special prosecutor.

She deleted the e-mails. She has to go to jail.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: That's what he said then. But now, you're saying, it's time to move on. Because he has been elected president of the United States. She was defeated. Forget about all of that.

EPSHTEYN: What I'm saying is it's all about priorities. And what do Americans care about in this country? What do people in Michigan, Pennsylvania, Florida, Washington, D.C., all over care about? They care about jobs, right? They care about making sure we don't have job-killing regulations. And those are the priorities that Mr. Trump is putting first and foremost.

And everything else has to go to the -- you know, to the other side of the spectrum. Because, right now, you have to be focused on making sure this country is protected, making sure we have three percent GDP growth in this country and doing so in a way that United States the country.

BLITZER: So, you're going to tell his incoming attorney general, assuming he's confirmed, Senator Sessions, that, you know what? Drop the whole Hillary Clinton.

EPSHTEYN: I'm not -- I'm not here to talk about that. You'll, again, have to ask President-elect Trump what he's going to instruct his incoming attorney general. And you can to talk to Senator Sessions about that as well.

But what is clear is that President-elect Trump is setting very distinct priorities. And those priorities -- the exact priorities he campaigned on. Making sure that Americans are protected. They're safe in their jobs and their homes.

BLITZER: Boris, have a happy Thanksgiving --

EPSHTEYN: You, too.

BLITZER: -- to you and your family.

EPSHTEYN: Thanks.

BLITZER: Thanks very much for coming in. Boris Epshteyn is the new director of communications for the Presidential Inaugural Committee.

Up next, first it was on, then it was off, now it's back on again. We're talking about Donald Trump's meeting today over at "The New York Times." We'll check in and see what's going on over there.

Also, a sobering message out of Japan today after Donald Trump vowed to withdraw from the TPP, the Trans-Pacific Partnership. But why the U.S. ally is calling the whole deal now meaningless without America. Stay with us.

[13:16:26] BLITZER: Welcome back.

The president-elect of the United States, Donald Trump, laying out more clearly his agenda for the immediate first 100 days that he'll have in office, releasing a video on YouTube saying he will withdraw the United States from the TPP, the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal. He will move to protect America's infrastructure from cyberattacks. He says he also wants to cancel domestic shale and clean coal energy restrictions put in place by the Obama administration. He wants to investigate possible abuses of visa programs among other things.

Let's bring in our political panel to assess. Susan Page is the Washington bureau chief for "USA Today," Jeff Mason is the White House correspondent for Reuters, and A.B. Stoddard is an associate editor and columnist at Real Clear Politics.

All right, so what did you think of this list, because it was limited, very limited. It was stuff basically that he could do by signing an executive order, does not need to go through Congress.

SUSAN PAGE, WASHINGTON BUREAU CHIEF, "USA TODAY": So, first, he -- let's talk about not just what he said but how he said it. He didn't come out and have a news conference, which is what we would have expected a president-elect to do, and take a couple questions. He put it out on YouTube. He went around the news media to make this announcement.

None of the -- none of the things he said I thought were surprising or at odds with what he said during the campaign, but it did indicate his early priorities, for instance, pulling out the TPP right out of the gate. And in that way it was interesting. And I think -- I think he was also interested in projecting that he had some order, that he had control of this transition, that it wasn't in chaos, that he has a plan.

BLITZER: Well, you know, because it was very specific, and he didn't get into some of the other major issues, like building a wall along the U.S./Mexico borders. Controversial issues like that, because he needs appropriations bills, funding, if he's going to do -- if he's going to do that.

JEFF MASON, WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT, REUTERS: Yes, absolutely. And he really, I think, started off with things that he knew he could get done. Withdrawing from TPP is certainly one of them. And the timing of that announcement is also interesting, coming just a couple days after President Obama was in Peru meeting with other countries that a part of the TPP. And you can just imagine how they felt when they saw that. But as Susan said, not a surprise, and that's something that those countries must have been preparing for already.

BLITZER: He's going to get some resistance, A.B., from environmentalists who don't like some of those ideas that he wants to reverse, for example, the clean coal issue, the shale issue, that had been in place during the Obama administration.

A.B. STODDARD, ASSOCIATE EDITOR & COLUMNIST, REALCLEARPOLITICS: Yes, you can see why he wants to do something right way where he doesn't have to fight with Congress over spending and the bottom line, like his costly infrastructure plan which is going to meet some resistance among Republicans. But he's also going to meet some resistance, not only in rolling back some regulations, like you mentioned, environmental ones, but also to the TPP. I mean the meeting in Peru, the feeling is that these countries are moving on without us. China is increasingly aggressive militarily right now in the South China Seas. They benefit the most if we're not in that agreement. And so there -- I think in the days and weeks to come, there will be some resistance, even from Republicans in Congress, to his move to do that on day one.

BLITZER: He makes some good points, you know, Jeff. The markets, the Dow Jones Industrials today, for the first time ever, opened at 19,000. Clearly investors, at least in the stock market, they're liking -- they like what they hear.

MASON: They do. And it's interesting that that's happening given all the projections ahead of the election that if Hillary Clinton lost, the market would tank, which didn't end up happening right afterwards and I think that they're also seeing perhaps the ability of a Republican president to work with a Republican Congress and actually get a few things done.

BLITZER: What they like is that he says they're going to lower taxes, eliminate regulations. That's what investors like to hear, stuff like that. But on the trade issue, there's some concern. If there's a trade war, that could hurt.

[13:20:12] PAGE: Yes, true, but, you know, his position on trade seems very well set. One of the signature issues of his campaign. And, you know, it's not just investors who like what they're hearing. Your new CNN poll shows that almost two-thirds of Americans say they think the economy will be strong a year from that. That's a very high number. Very high expectations in your survey that he will succeed on the economic front, even among some American whose don't like other things that (INAUDIBLE).

BLITZER: A.B., let me share some more numbers from our brand new CNN/ORC poll that just came out this morning. Fifty-three percent of those surveyed think Donald Trump will make a very good or fairly good president. There you see the number, 44 percent disagree, 46 percent say they approve of the way he's handling his transition so far. So should those numbers be encouraging to the incoming president?

STODDARD: They definitely should. I think he's had a good transition so far, except I do believe he's hit sort of a wall on this issue about how to create the appropriate separation between being the leader of the free world and running that business.

That said, he's looking like he's conducting a wide-reaching -- wide- ranging search for cabinet picks. He's open to talk to friend or foe, people in both parties, that he's series an substantive about this. So I think that that's promising and he's enjoying a honeymoon for that. And I think he needs to maximize that. You know, honeymoons don't last. It's very hard to be a very popular president these days, especially after an election like this one where she's won the popular vote and he has been a controversial figure. So he needs to really spend the 60 days of the transition and the first 100 days in office maximizing on that honeymoon and to do as much as he can to keep the momentum going.

BLITZER: He's meeting right now, Jeff, with the editors, columnists, reporters from "The New York Times" in New York. Apparently an on the record meeting, answering their questions. You're -- in addition to being the Reuters White House correspondent, you're the president of the White House Correspondents Association. Here's what Maggie Haberman of "The New York Times" is tweeting as this meeting is going on. "Trump on alt-right supporters, 'it's not a group I want to energize. And if they are energized, I want to look into and it find out why'." Your reaction?

MASON: Well, interesting because he certainly received some criticism for not coming out more forcefully and disconnecting himself from that connection for -- during his campaign, for not right away disavowing David Duke's support. So I think this is clearly a response to the fact that he has gotten some heat so far for that connection, and for the video that came out this week showing people at a meeting of white supremacists being very supportive of Donald Trump.

BLITZER: Here's some more tweets from Maggie Haberman. She's tweeting -- live tweeting during the course of the Q&A. "Trump says no when asked if he's taking investigations off the table for Clintons, but adds he doesn't want to, quote, 'hurt' the Clintons."

PAGE: Yes. So what does that mean? I think investigating her might hurt her.

BLITZER: Yes.

PAGE: And a pretty clear signal, I thought, this morning from Kellyanne Conway that -- that even though he's not saying you shouldn't investigate her. He's saying he's got other priorities, other things he ought to do first. So this may be one of those campaign promises he doesn't deliver on. And there -- for some of his supporters, for the people who chanted "lock her up" at their rallies, this might well be a disappointment.

MASON: That's muddied the signal that Kellyanne gave this morning, though, a little bit though.

PAGE: Yes. I mean sure -- BLITZER: It does muddy it a little bit when he says "no" when he's asked if he's taking investigations off the table for the Clintons. She seemed to say earlier this morning when she was on MSNBC it's off the table, at least for now.

MASON: Yes.

BLITZER: A.B., another tweet from Maggie Haberman. Very interesting that we're getting these live tweets coming in. "I'd rather do the popular vote, Trump says. I think we'd do as well or better, says he was never a fan of the Electoral College." He won the Electoral College. That's why he's going to be the president of the United States. He's losing the popular by, I think, the last count by about a million and a half votes, popular. But his argument has been, you know what, I would have won the popular vote if I would have gone to California, I would have gone to New York. There's where so many people live. Gone to Texas. I never campaigned there. And as a result, the popular vote is not that important.

STODDARD: Well, he can say that. He is going to probably lose by projections by a 2 million vote -- popular vote loss. And he won this vote -- I mean he won this election by 107,000 votes in three states. She literally lost by Jill Stein's margin alone. This is more a story of her epic defeat than it is really of him having a resounding victory. He won with 47 percent of the country in a four-way race. He is being told by the Democrats he doesn't have a mandate. So he's feeling a bit defensive about it. Yes, it's true, he could have campaigned for the popular vote. But the truth remains that he lost the popular vote and Democrats will treat it like it isn't a mandate for years to come.

BLITZER: One final question, Jeff, because you're the president of the White House Correspondents Association. I take it there has been progress between the incoming Trump administration and the White House Correspondents Association, that there will be these tight pools, these travel pools, that there will be the traditional coverage that all presidents since the '60s have allowed the news media?

[13:25:10] MASON: So there is definitely some progress, but we're not all the way there. They have made some arrangements for the pool to travel for weekend, or today, I should say, for his Thanksgiving trip to Florida. But we're not in all the motorcades. We're still working on that. And it's something we just have to keep pushing for. But they have assured us that he will respect the traditions of a White House pool when he gets to the White House. So I'm cautiously optimistic about that.

BLITZER: Susan and I covered the White House and we like -- we like those traditions, right?

PAGE: (INAUDIBLE). And news conferences. We like those, too.

BLITZER: We like those as well.

All right, guys, thanks very much and Happy Thanksgiving.

MASON: You, too, Wolf.

STODDARD: You, that. Thank you.

BLITZER: Coming up, Donald Trump gives some unsolicited advice to the U.K. on replacing its ambassador to the United States and Britain immediately rejects that advice. We're going to London for the story when we come back.

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