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Trump Seriously Considering Carson as HUD Secretary; UNICEF: 1 in 3 Children In Syria have Only Known Crisis; Trump: "President Can't Have A Conflict Of Interest." Aired 12:30-1p ET.

Aired November 24, 2016 - 12:30   ET

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


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[12:30:44] BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: President-elect Donald Trump says he's seriously considering former Republican Presidential Candidate Dr. Ben Carson to be his Housing and Urban Development secretary. And while Carson turned down a previous offer to serve as Health and Human Services Secretary, he is said to be considering this post.

However, Carson adviser Armstrong Williams says the neurosurgeon would prefer to advise Trump from outside the administration. So what's going on here? Joining me now to figure out all of this I hope, Ed Brookover with us, he's a former campaign manager for Ben Carson and the former senior adviser for Donald Trump.

OK. Have you had a chance to talk to Ben Carson lately to have a sense of what's going on here?

ED BROOKOVER, FORMER CAMPAIGN FOR CARSON: I have not talked to him lately.

KEILAR: OK.

BROOKOVER: But, you know, but when he jumped into the race, he obviously wanted to serve, want to make the country better.

KEILAR: Sure. OK. So he said something was forth coming. And then, we don't hear anything. So what are you making of that? What are you hearing?

BROOKOVER: Well, I think that natural processes are taken to course right now. Mr. Trump obviously no gut to know Dr. Carson well throughout the campaign. You know, both when they were competitors and after Dr. Carson dropped out and endorsed Mr. Trump.

Since then, Dr. Carson has been advising him on many fronts. And, but I think that Mr. Trump sees him as a leader and somebody he might wanted to consider being part of his cabinet and which he tweeted that he was considering, Dr. Carson.

KEILAR: He's business manager, who of course you know from the campaign, Armstrong Williams, said about HHS, the position at Health and Human Services Department. He said Dr. Carson feels he has no government experience.

He's never run a federal agency. The last thing he'd want to do is take a position that could cripple the presidency. It seemed like Williams was really not doing Dr. Carson any favors with that.

I mean, this is a man who ran for president. If he thinks he's too much of a novice to be HHS secretary, what was he doing running for president?

BROOKOVER: Well, I mean, Dr. Carson I think believes he can be a part of an administration. Obviously, he thought he could be president.

KEILAR: But, does he have these concerns that, I don't have government experience?

BROOKOVER: He never expressed that to me.

KEILAR: OK.

BROOKOVER: And so, you know, Dr. Carson, though, on the other hand, part of the reason he ran was to -- because of his concern about the hopelessness that's taking place in many of our cities, be that housing or be that jobs, be that whatever and so he had positions seems make all the sense based on what is canvassing was based on.

KEILAR: Do you think that's a better fit for him, Housing and Urban Development than Helping Human Services?

BROOKOVER: I think he's multi-talented of course and I mean, I think he could have handled Health and Human Services. And he is of lot of skills. But most importantly he's a good leader, and a good leader with very good thoughts about how to help his country.

KELIAR: When you know what drives him, do you think he would be more interested in the Housing and Urban Development position? Because it seems like he is.

BROOKOVER: Well, you know, there is no doubt that among the things, the reasons he ran, Obamacare was one of them. And so, the HHS would've been there, but the inner cities war is another one.

I mean his experience is growing up and the way he dealt with things. The way he had to pull himself up has really formed the basis of how he became a good politician.

KEILAR: OK. Here's what he has said would make him qualified to be HUD secretary. Let's listen to the sound bite.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BEN CARSON, (R) FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I know that I grow up in the inner city and have spent a lot of time there and have dealt with a lot of patients from that area. And recognize that we cannot have the strong nation if we have weak inner cities. (END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: This is something that he wrote about in his book.

BROOKER: Sure is. And, you know, and Dr. Carson's background just fits very well. He grew up with a single mom and his brother in Detroit mainly, in housing, went to public schools. Had enough money to apply to one college after he got out of high school.

Was push enough to get his -- accepted at the Yale. And, you know, his story's pretty well known since then. But he really did have to struggle with the same kinds of issues that the inner cities still facing today fortunately.

KEILAR: When you look at some of the other appointments, do you have any other opinions on what you're seeing and may be what we're expecting, Mattis for secretary of defense, this discussion of whether it's Mitt Romney or Rudy Giuliani for secretary of state, what do you think?

BROOKOVER: My biggest instinct is that Dr -- Mr. Trump seems to be taking his time in making this, not being rushed by anybody. And I think that's the right thing to do. This isn't a race, just to get these appointments right. And so I like the idea that he is going out his own phase.

[12:35:04] KEILAR: What do you think about his balancing some of these picks that give some comfort to establishment Republicans, and then some of these picks that give, I guess energy to the people who really drove his candidacy?

BROOKOVER: I think a long with he's looking for the best person first. And the fact this balancing is taking place as more happen stance, you know, they were even choosing Mrs. DeVos and Governor Haley, you know, were two excellent picks. And may have surprised him of his supporters but there are people who would fill those roles very well. Just as I think that of Congressman Pompeo and Senator Sessions will do their job very well as well. You know, they have more part of these vicious conversations, Mr. Trump's core team from early on.

KEILAR: Ed Brookover, thank you so much for being on. We appreciate it and happy Thanksgiving to you.

BROOKOVER: Happy Thanksgiving to you, Brianna.

KEILAR: And coming up, we're going to give you an update on the deadly school bus crash in Tennessee. Investigators say that the bus wasn't even supposed to be on that road. We'll have more on that next.

Also coming up, imagine if one out of every three children you know had only known war and crisis their entire lives. This is the reality in Syria. What is being done to help those children? Straight ahead.

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[12:40:31] KEILAR: A sixth child has died from injuries suffered in Monday's bus crash in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Kevin McClendon tells CNN, his 8-year-old brother Keonte Wilson, was a tough little boy and now he's in a better place. Meanwhile the NTSB says the bus was not on its designated route when it crashed. It wasn't even supposed to be on this road. And investigators are looking into why it was there. The NTSB has also had problems downloading video and data from the bus's cameras and engine control module because of crash damage. The first lawsuit related to the incident has now been filed on behalf of 8- year-old Jamar Boling. And the family says he suffered significant physical and psychological injuries.

A truck bombed exploded at a gas station in Iraq today. It killed at least 57 people, and wounded another 50. It's an explosion that happened on a highway between two towns southeast of Baghdad. The parked truck exploded near several buses that were carrying Shiite Muslims, mostly Iranians who were on a pilgrimage. And ISIS has claimed responsibility for this attack.

Well, Americans are reflecting now on all the things we're thankful for this thanksgiving. UNICEF wants the world to know it's been a horrific week for the children of Syria. With the war enough country now five years old, the U.N. estimates one Syrian child in three has never known peace. Judy has lived more than half her life under siege. I want you to read the subtitles on your screen, look at the fear in these eyes before it gives way to a giggle.

This is a U.N. video clip from Aleppo where UNICEF says more than 100,000 children are trapped under heavy bombardment with dwindling access to food and medicine. Earlier, I spoke with UNICEF's Deputy Executive Director Justin Forsyth, who told me some help is getting through but it's just not nearly enough.

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JUSTIN FORSYTH, DEPUTY EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, UNICEF: Well, despite the situation being terrible on the ground. We are managing to get aid into some parts of Syria. We're helping hundreds of thousands of children. Including in some besieged areas. But the aid isn't enough. And also in some places like Eastern Aleppo, no aid is getting in at all. And we're in a desperate situation. Children aren't only malnourish. They're also being bombed. Doctors are running out of medical supplies. One team of doctors and nurses told us that they literally having to choose which children live or die. The most injure children they now have to let die because the medical supplies are so low.

KEILAR: Oh my goodness. You can just imagine a heartbreaking situation of that. Now, the U.N. humanitarian coordinator for Syria is saying that the U.N. is ready to assist civilians in the war-torn country and you've said some aid is getting in. But what they need is access to be granted by all parties. And they're saying it's imperative that all parties agree to this. What is the holdup?

FORSYTH: Well, the different parties can't reach agreement. You know, I mean the different parties in the Security Council who back different sides in this war can't reach agreement, let alone the different warring groups on the ground, whether it's the government or the rebels. And we're ready to go into Aleppo right now with convoys that could come from Turkey. They will provide basic supplies, medicines, healthcare more generally, but also food.

We're ready to provide emergency supplies in other besieged areas in Syria. And we t get the aid in because the convoys don't get permission from the different warring sides. And we know convoys do get bombed. There was that terrible incident of that U.N. convoy bombed a few months ago where many people were killed. So we do need the permission from the different warning parties to get access to people urgently need it.

KEILAR: And you also have people who are holdup in Aleppo and surrounding areas. And there are humanitarian corridors but they don't trust them. As you said, even though aid is sometimes allowed in, it's with tremendous risk. We actually had a Syrian man talking to one of our reporters the other day who said people won't leave because they're afraid that actually being in one of these humanitarian corridors just opens them up to being picked off by one side or the other.

FORSYTH: Yes, I mean, it's a terrible situation in Aleppo. And the 250,000 people trapped in the eastern part, a 100,000 of them children, of running out supplies. They can't leave because there isn't any cease-fire. And they're literally on the brink of, you know, very severe situation. Water, food, medicines are all running out. And children are being killed. Hundreds of children have been killed in Aleppo in the recent months. And not only in Aleppo, in other besieged areas too. And people are giving up hope.

We have one story from a nurse who works in a hospital in Aleppo. About how a mother, after losing her husband and her two sons then tried to stabbed to death her surviving baby, because she literally had no hope for that child's future. People are really desperate now. And we really need to redouble our efforts to get a cease-fire so we can get humanitarian aid in.

KEILAR: Because what you're trying to avoid, this is what UNICEF calls that is "A Lost Generation." Explain what you mean by that.

FORSYTH: Well, millions of children are across the Middle East, let alone in Syria, in Iraq, and other places have not been able to go to school in recent years. And we know if the generation of these children don't go to school, if they're brutalized by war, by these bombs and mortar attacks, then they become easily recruited by extremists. And so, what we're trying to do is to make sure we save those children's lives.

Will they get a future? But we also don't want them to then fall into the hands of the extremists. And we've got to create an alternative. Those children desperately need our help. And that's what we mean by stopping a lost generation of children.

KEILAR: They desperately need our help. And thank you so much Justin Forsyth with UNICEF for telling us how we can help out. We appreciate it.

FORSYTH: Thank you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: And if you want to find out how you can help UNICEF and help these children and other agencies that are working to a system in Syria, go to cnn.com/impact, click on that headline that says "Help Syrians Survive The Conflict" and you'll see a link to donate to UNICEF.

Next concerns over conflicts of interests are extending beyond President-elect Trump to his children. Coming up, a new report about Donald Trump Jr. and we're breaking it all down with the man who was Chief Ethics Lawyer under George W. Bush.

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[12:51:03] KEILAR: Even after declaring that a president can't have a conflict of interest, President-elect Donald Trump is facing new questions about the role his family will play in his administration. And here's the latest example. It is a report from "The Wall Street Journal" that his oldest son, Donald Jr., held private discussions with diplomats, businessmen and politicians in Paris on how to cooperate with Russia on the war in Syria.

And this report follows revelations that the Donald Trump's eldest daughter Ivanka sat in on the president-elect's meeting with the Japanese prime minister and also was on the phone with the president of Argentina who called to congratulation her father. The Trump team says no business was discussed. But the Trump organization is working on a $100 million project in Buenos Aires. And in all does business in at least 25 countries.

Here to talk more about this is Former White House Ethics Lawyer, Richard Painter. Richard, thank you so much for joining us on this Thanksgiving. A happy holiday to you.

RICHARD PAINTER, FRMR. WHITE HOUSE ETHICS LAWYER: Well, thank you.

KEILAR: And I want to ask you about this, because obviously with Donald Trump's business interests, it is difficult. It is difficult to figure out how he should or will separate himself. But his family, his kids are clearly going to take on his business enterprises. So when you hear these reports from your perspective as an ethics lawyer, what do you think?

PAINTER: Well there -- the conflicting stories we get. We're always told the children were going to run the businesses. And that appears that they want to help run the United States government. But the broader picture here is what are our values as a country with respect to our leaders?

And on Thanksgiving, there are two American traditions I'd like to remind everyone of, when we've always welcomed people in this country from all corners of the earth including the pilgrims who came here in 1620 without permission. But we do not welcome foreign government money coming into our country and influencing our office holders and our elected politicians. And that has been unconstitutional since the founding. And that's the emolument's clause that would prohibit President Trump from receiving any money from foreign governments.

And at this point, we do not have the assurances we need that the Trump business empire is not going to receive such unconstitutional emoluments and payments from foreign governments that will allow him to be influenced by foreign dictators and others, instead of looking out after the interest of the American people and doing something to protect those children who are being murdered in Syria by foreign dictators. He's going to be looking out after himself. His golf courses, his hotels, his office buildings, we're very concerned about this as Americans.

KEILAR: If he has his children running the business, and they're clearly going to be in communication with him about how he's running the country and he's talked about his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, helping, for instance, with Mideast peace. What would he need to do to avoid the appearance of a conflict of interest? And why is it even if it's just an appearance, why is that so important to avoid?

PAINTER: Well, he needs to sell the businesses. And take the company public, as many people do would want to move on to the next step in life. He's run a successful business for several decades. He now wants a new job, being president of the United States. Take the company's public, sell the shares for cash and then invest the cash in conflict- free assets. But he cannot continue to operate businesses that have operations all over the world that can be bringing money in from foreign governments, where his name is showing up on buildings all over the world, also in some places where there's a threat of terrorism. We don't put the president's name up on a building and then worry about how to protect it.

[12:55:02] We should be focusing on the job that he wanted to do. And that is being president for the American people. And not just looking out after his businesses. And unfortunately, I see too much of the latter going on over the past week, week and a half since he was elected.

KEILAR: So you would basically advise him, go public, jettison really the business or really any sort of governance of the business by himself or by his children?

PAINTER: Yes. I think he needs to do that. And Donald Trump could be a good president. He is a very bright man. He said some things that he shouldn't have said but -- in the campaign. But he needs to focus on this job. He wanted the job. And now he has a job to do.

KEILAR: Yeah, we certainly take your point. I'm sorry, I ran out of time there, Richard. But it's fascinating to talk to you. Richard Painter, thank you and a Happy Thanksgiving to you as well.

And, you know, it is Thanksgiving, not much rest though for presidents-elects. Well, Donald Trump says, he's working on today, coming up right after this.

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