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Trump "Working Hard, Even On Thanksgiving"; Trump Seeks "Shared Purpose" in Holiday Message; Report: Trump Has Skipped Most Daily Intel Briefings. Aired 12-12:30p ET

Aired November 24, 2016 - 12:00   ET

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

[12:00:08] BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: Hi, there. And welcome to CNN NEWSROOM. Thank you so much for joining me. I'm Brianna Keilar.

And we begin this holiday edition not over the river and through the woods but at the luxury resort Mar-A-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, where the president-elect of the United States says he's working hard, even on Thanksgiving. Donald Trump is building a cabinet that so far has defied expectations and more hires could be announced as soon as tomorrow.

CNN's Jason Carroll roughing it for us down there as we -- it's pretty nice here as well in Washington. But certainly you have some warmer weather there, Jason. What's going on?

JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, you heard from the president-elect talking about working over the holiday. Initially, it was said this was going to be a down day for the Trump family so they would spend some time on Thanksgiving. But the president-elect says that he is working in any case.

And let me just give you a little bit of background and tell you what he's doing. Throughout the campaign, we heard him say many times over during his rallies that companies such as Carrier air conditioning, for example, if they were to take their jobs and move them overseas to a place like Mexico, he would impose a 35 percent import tax on companies like Carrier.

So, what he says he's doing this morning, he's trying to keep those jobs here, specifically with that particular company. Tweeting the following, "I am working hard even on Thanksgiving, trying to get Carrier air conditioning company to stay in the United States, Indiana, making progress, will know soon."

Now, the president of the union there said that he didn't know very much about that at all. And criticized Mike Pence for not doing enough to keep jobs there in the state of Indiana. But Carrier has just now within the past few minutes, Brianna, come out with a statement saying the following, "Carrier has had discussions with the incoming administration and we are looking forward to working together. Nothing to announce at this time."

So, it was supposed to be a down day for the president-elect, but he's doing what he likes to do and that's trying to make deals. And so, it seems as if he's trying to keep some jobs here in the United States -- Brianna.

KEILAR: And what about his cabinet nominations? Because right now, the big buzz is on commerce secretary going to Wilbur Ross, he's known as the king bankruptcy. Tell us about him.

CARROLL: Yes, known as the king of bankruptcy for sort of going in and buying and restructuring these companies. That's what his supporters like to say that he's able to do. His critics say this is someone who gets in there and restructures companies at the expense of workers.

But he is said to be on the top of the list there for commerce secretary, not expecting any announcements today. But perhaps we'll hear something tomorrow. Either about him or perhaps about Dr. Ben Carson.

As you know, he's supposed to be at the top of the list to HUD secretary. Carson has all but said the deal is on the table -- Brianna.

KEILAR: Yes, he said something was forthcoming and now crickets. So, we'll see what's happening with that.

Tell us about Donald Trump's holiday message. He was talking a lot about unity after such a divisive election.

CARROLL: You know, he was. A lot of his critics, as you know, said throughout the campaign that not only did he run a divisive campaign, but some of his critics say that he ran a racist campaign. What we saw is, last night, the president-elect come out with a video message for Thanksgiving, telling the country it's time to put the election behind us and try to come together as one people.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENT-ELECT: It's my prayer that on this Thanksgiving, we begin to heal our divisions and move forward as one country, strengthened by shared purpose and very, very common resolve.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CARROLL: Trump also saying in that message that it is his hope that people will come together. He says he knows it won't happen overnight. At one point, Brianna, he quoted Abraham Lincoln saying, quote, "one voice, one heart" -- Brianna.

KEILAR: Jason Carroll for us with the president-elect in Florida -- thank you.

And I'm joined here in Washington now by CNN politics reporter Eugene Scott, and by "Washington Post" columnist and CNN political analyst Josh Rogin.

I want to talk to you guys about Mitt Romney, because I'm curious about this. But, first, I want to ask you about that message that we heard, that holiday message. I wonder what you think, Eugene, and how people are going to respond to that, because there were elements of Donald Trump's campaign that fit the definition of racism. I think of Judge Curiel and his -- attacking his ability to do a job just because he said he was Mexican -- Mexican-American actually, born in Indiana.

How does Donald Trump actually, or is he really trying to, motivate people to unify when he is someone who created some of the problem with language like he used during the election?

EUGENE SCOTT, CNN POLITICS REPORTER: I think many of voters who think that, need to be more unified, think that Donald Trump can do a better job of taking responsibility, of being slow to criticize people in his camp, including himself, who put out ideas and messages that caused some of this division.

[12:05:04] I think many people want to see division no longer be the norm. But whose job it is to bring things together I think is what's up for debate right now.

KEILAR: Was that something that surprised you, that the message where he's talking about unity? Because it sort of makes -- I mean, it sort of catches you off guard a little bit because of what we've heard from him before.

JOSH ROGIN, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Right. Well, campaigning is different than governing. We've seen a change of tone. Now, we're waiting for a change of action. You know, it seems that it's two steps forward, one step back. He'll call for unity, then attack his enemies.

You know, I think that Donald Trump is going through a transition in more ways than one and where he ends up, nobody really knows including him.

KEILAR: OK, let's talk about John Kerry. It's not a done deal. That's what's clear. And you have people who have really been for Donald Trump all along, including some big names. Newt Gingrich, Mike Huckabee, you say he's not the guy, he's pro-intervention, pro-NATO, anti-Russia.

And then this, Kellyanne Conway, one of Donald Trump's top aides, tweeted, receiving deluge of social media and private cons about Romney and she links to a story, some Trump loyalists war against Romney as secretary of state. She also says, "Kissinger and Shultz as secretaries of state flew around the less, counseled the president close to home more and were loyal, good check list."

ROGIN: Wow.

KEILAR: If she's tweeting an article --

ROGIN: Right.

KEILAR: -- that says he's, you know, maybe he's not the guy -- I mean, come on, we know what that means, right? ROGIN: So, we've been following this battle inside the Trump

transition team over Rudy Giuliani versus Mitt Romney for secretary of state for some time. The fact it spilled so publicly unto the open is pretty shocking. That is a signal that Romney is in the pole position. When the knives are out, that means that's the guy that Trump is leaning towards.

We also know that Trump reads the clips. He follows the debate. He wants somebody that's going to be a consensus candidate. But he also wants to sort of built a bridge to the foreign community in Washington, especially Republicans who were really against his presidency, and those Republicans are looking to Mitt Romney to sort of get them back in the fold.

KEILAR: If she tweets that out, it seems like you could almost put that a little bit on Donald Trump. I mean, she's not going to tweet out something that Donald Trump would be terribly upset about you would expect, right?

SCOTT: Right. It certainly seem that there's a suggestion that if Donald Trump were to pick someone who had been as critical of him as Mitt Romney and who caused him to have to defend so many things and maybe lose some votes, it's almost a jab at President-elect Trump for going in this direction, especially for someone who had such a strong reputation for valuing loyalty. Picking Romney would be the exact opposite of that.

KEILAR: From your perspective, dealing with national security, is it odd to you that you're talking about Rudy Giuliani or Mitt Romney? Both very accomplished individuals, but not so much in this field of foreign policy, right?

ROGIN: Yes, I think Mitt Romney is seen by the foreign policy community as a more acceptable choice because he has more experience. He has dealt with world leaders more. He's a higher profile. He's better relationships.

And it's not just about these two guys, it's about their teams. Remember, Romney ran for president, and made the entire Republican foreign policy establishment working for him. They don't have connections to Rudy Giuliani. He's seen as a loose cannon. People don't know what really he's about on foreign policy.

So, if you're looking around Washington, who do people prefer, it's definitely Romney. If you're looking at Trump Tower, it's definitely Rudy.

KEILAR: Do we have any idea when this might be resolved? It's such an important position, secretary of state.

SCOTT: Right. I think it could be resolved before Christmas. We weren't told for sure. We don't know. I mean, we've gone back and forth and we've been told even -- I think maybe a week or two ago that we would have gotten an idea. But time remains to be seen.

ROGIN: I'm told by Trump transition sources the next announcement will be secretary defense.

KEILAR: OK.

ROGIN: Looks like General James Mattis, looks like next week, OK?

KEILAR: Yes.

ROGIN: After that, then they'll get to the secretary of state position. It's more contentious. They want to have a little bit more debate about it.

And there's a dark horse. If Romney and Rudy can't please both sides, you've got David Petraeus who threw his hat into the ring very publicly last week. Trump loves David Petraeus.

KEILAR: So many people love David Petraeus on both sides.

ROGIN: Yes, a lot of generals, a lot of former generals. You've got, you know, General Mike, General Mike, General Mike, and General David and General Jim. So, it's a lot of generals.

KEILAR: It certainly is. Josh, Eugene, thank you so much. Happy Thanksgiving.

ROGIN: Same to you.

KEILAR: And before we move on, President Obama recorded a Thanksgiving message too and it sounds a lot like the president- elect's.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Thanksgiving reminds us that no matter our differences, we're still one people, part of something bigger than ourselves. We are communities that move forward together. We're neighbors. We look out for one another, especially those among us with the least. We are always simply Americans.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: As for that other presidential Thanksgiving tradition, Mr. Obama quips that he can't bring himself to stop pardoning turkeys even after he leaves office. Next year, he says he'll do it all again minus all the cameras and reporters.

[12:10:04] We'll follow that story of course.

And it's been a busy 16 days for President-elect Donald Trump. He's picking his team. He's meeting with advisers. But there's one thing he's reportedly not doing every day and that is getting intelligence briefings. We'll have that next.

Plus, Ben Carson's former campaign manager joins us live to talk about his possible role -- Carson's possible role in a Trump cabinet.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) KEILAR: There are just 57 days left until inauguration. And a new report says President-elect Donald Trump is choosing to skip most of the daily intelligence briefings that have been prepared for him since his election victory.

According to "The Washington Post," an intelligence team has been prepared to brief Trump every day since the election. But he's only met with them twice. Vice President-elect Mike Pence meantime has been receiving his briefings almost every day.

The president's daily brief, or shorthanded, the PDB, not only provides a rundown of threats and security developments from all U.S. intelligence agencies but also an update on covert programs that are being run overseas and the specific sources and methods by which intelligence is collected.

Joining me now to discuss this is former CIA officer David Priess, who served as a briefer during the administration of George W. Bush.

[12:15:07] He briefed many top level officials in the administration. He's also the author of "The President's Book of Secrets."

So, when you heard this, David, what did you think about whether -- certainly it's surprising. Is this a cause for concern?

DAVID PRIESS, FORMER CIA INTELLIGENCE OFFICER: It is a little surprising. And happy Thanksgiving, Brianna.

KEILAR: Happy Thanksgiving.

PRIESS: It is a little surprising because most presidents have chosen to start getting these daily intelligence briefings and really engage with their briefers, at least in the modern era.

But looking back at the history of it, it's not completely surprising. Some president-elects started getting it right aft, the election. Ronald Reagan himself in1980, he waited until November 22nd to start his daily PDB briefings with these briefers. And then, George W. Bush because of the whole recount debacle in 2000, he didn't start getting briefings on the book until December 5th.

So, there is some precedent for the presidents-elect waiting a little bit until getting full speed on this.

KEILAR: Look, I think part of it is that President Obama's has really, you know, he not only got the regular briefings, he scheduled deep dives on key subjects like Iran's nuclear program. As you mentioned that George W. Bush's was delayed and we see this here in the graphic, his first briefing in December. But then he got briefings every day afterwards. So I think we're waiting to see what Donald Trump does going forward.

PRIESS: Right.

KEILAR: And then Bill Clinton got his first briefing ten days after the election, then received them almost every day after that. I wonder for someone like Donald Trump who doesn't have foreign policy

experience, those deep dives that President-elect Obama received, how important are those for him to be prepared when he goes into the White House in January?

PRIESS: Yes, they do go a whole lot deeper than "The Daily Book of Secrets" itself does, because you have to remember this is still President Obama's PDB. He is still getting it every day as president.

So, Donald Trumps coming in midstream a coming into stories that are going on for weeks or months. So, it's going to be more useful for President-elect Trump to not only get up to speed by reading that book but also get those in-depth briefings on the issues that he wants to know more about than he can get in a page or two inside of this classified book.

KEILAR: He's also talking to members of the intelligence community, the people who are briefing him, and over the course of the election, he insulted them and their abilities. So, with that in mind, how do you think that influences this relationship and how important briefings to maybe fixing some of -- a relationship? Or maybe those numbers of the intel community feel really insulted by him?

PRIESS: It's really hard to tell, because before he got his first classified briefing as a candidate, he said some disparaging things about the intelligence community, saying he didn't trust intelligence from the people in this country. Well, then in one of the debates, after getting a classified intelligence briefing, he called them experts and said there's a reason why they're called experts -- implying that they had won him over during their classified briefings.

But we really don't know where he stands now. He's received at least a couple of these intelligence briefings since getting elected. He's not getting them every day.

Does that reflect that he doesn't love them a lot or does that reflect that he's so busy with getting these other appointments lined up and interviewing everyone under the sun that it's going to take him some time to get into that daily intelligence rhythm? We just don't know yet.

We do know that the vice president-elect, Mike Pence, has been getting many more daily briefings and seems to be engaging the material at a much deeper level earlier on than the president-elect himself.

KEILAR: He certainly has.

And just real quick, before I let you go, David, if you had some advice to give him about how to make sure that he's where he needs to be in January, what would you say about what he should be learning about, and who he should be meeting with?

PRIESS: Yes, there's really no good substitute for the daily intelligence briefings. Because then anything that is on that printed page, which he may be reading alone, with a briefer in the room, you can dig down into the story. You can find out the additional information that is not on the printed page. You can ask questions. You can explore alternatives. And you can create those topics that you do want those deep dive briefings on.

So, all things equal, getting those briefings is a really good idea, especially on the issues that are likely to come up very early in his administration, from Middle East issues to terrorism to Russia and China. All of those are going to be on his agenda early on, after inauguration day.

KEILAR: Yes, he could be tested early.

David Priess, really appreciate your insight, thank you so much, and happy Thanksgiving.

PRIESS: Thank you. You too.

KEILAR: I want to bring in our panel. We have Trump supporter and former lieutenant governor of New York, Betsy McCaughey. Also joining me, CNN political commentator and Hillary Clinton supporter, Hilary Rosen.

[12:20:04] I want to ask you, Lieutenant Governor, shouldn't he be taking advantage of these briefings, considering he, as you would expect, has some ground to make up, having not, you know, served in government and had access to some of this information that other former presidents-elect have had?

BETSY MCCAUGHEY (R), FORMER LT. GOVERNOR OF NEW YORK: I'm not concerned at all. In fact, keeping the nation safe is Donald Trump's highest priority. That's why he's put forward a plan to substantially increase our defense capabilities, prevent refugees from coming in from Muslim dominated countries, closing the border and, most importantly, he is in the process of appointing a real national security dream team, including Congressman Pompeo, and Lieutenant General Flynn, and possibly General Mattis --

KEILAR: So, are you saying then he just delegates to other people?

(CROSSTALK)

I mean, it seems like if he's making decisions about national security, shouldn't he be starting from an informed position?

MCCAUGHEY: Let's be clear, we're only talking about two briefings versus possibly four or five. That's how early we are in the transition. And as you pointed out, Vice President Pence has been getting his every day.

Frankly, I think the reason we're even discussing this is that the media are so amazed at the swiftness and competence of this transition. And the whole world is watching and responding to it. All the financial markets are up. The dollar is stronger than ever. And even consumer confidence is so high that people are breaking records in terms of online buying.

So, the world is watching how Donald Trump is performing. And they say all thumbs up.

KEILAR: All right, Hilary Rosen, I want to see -- I'll let you respond to that. But I wonder what you think. We've seen other presidents who waited a while to get their first briefing. But then it's a daily thing. If you talk to people in the intel community, they say this is essential. I mean, you just heard it from a former briefer.

HILARY ROSEN, HILLARY CLINTON SUPPORTER: Well, we know people who worked with Trump over the years he's not an incredibly curious person, he doesn't read, et cetera, so I'm not really surprised. It is disappointing, though, since he said consistently during the campaign and we know that a president's first job is protecting the security of the country. He talked about terrorism regularly.

These daily briefings are not just about foreign issues. They are about domestic terrorist threats and other things. And so, you would think that he would be interested, would want to know.

And, frankly, would want to be questioning the people who he is interviewing for these foreign policy roles about some of the things that he might learn. So, you know, it is disappointing, but not surprising. It's just one more space where this guy's doing everything differently, you know, between talking to foreign leaders about his own business, between, you based on, you know, messing with people -- so I'm not surprised --

MCCAUGHEY: That's just a lot of --

(CROSSTALK)

ROSEN: -- very disappointing --

MCCAUGHEY: -- someone who's performing incredibly well, the whole nation is watching how well he's doing, and let me point out that Congressman Pompeo, who was just appointed to head the CIA, is the person would discovered that Barack Obama, the current commander-in- chief, has actually concealed three of the five agreements in the Iran nuclear deal. Three side agreements that really weaken the United States --

ROSEN: That's actually not true, he made that up --

MCCAUGHEY: -- Pompeo was already working with --

ROSEN: Brianna, stop this.

KEILAR: Hilary, go ahead.

ROSEN: I'm sorry, that's just fake news. But let's go forward here. Look, the dollar is --

MCCAUGHEY: It's not fake news --

ROSEN: It's fake news --

KEILAR: Betsy, where are you getting that from --

ROSEN: The stock market is doing well --

MCCAUGHEY: Look, it's documented in the news --

ROSEN: The Republicans on the Hill made it up.

KEILAR: What news, Betsy?

(CROSSTALK)

MCCAUGHEY: -- and the president concealed them and --

KEILAR: Betsy, where are you reading that?

MCCAUGHEY: -- Pompeo where the ones who revealed them in the meeting with --

KEILAR: Betsy, Betsy, Betsy, where are you reading that?

MCCAUGHEY: I will provide the clips for you after this segment.

KEILAR: OK.

MCCAUGHEY: They were well --

ROSEN: We're looking forward to seeing those clips from Breitbart news. Brianna, I think going forward --

(CROSSTALK)

MCCAUGHEY: That's stupid comment, let's keep this --

ROSEN: -- number one, Donald Trump --

MCCAUGHEY: A fair chance to do a great job, that's what the nation believes he is doing.

KEILAR: Hilary?

ROSEN: I think that the country is -- does want to give the president-elect a chance. I do believe that. And I do think, though, that he is -- given the divisive nature of this campaign, given the fact that he did not win the popularity vote, that a majority of Americans did not vote for him and that --

(CROSSTALK)

ROSEN: I let you talk, let me talk. That a majority of Americans did not vote for him. That he does need to go overboard in assuring people on several key points.

[12:25:01] So, we had seen him back off on some of those key more, you know, aggressive pledges that he said. But we'd like to see that through some of his appointments. And we'd like to see him engage in a way that makes people feel secure. I think the daily intelligence briefings are one of those. But

frankly I think, you know, the most important thing that this president can do over the next few days is not what he said yesterday in his Thanksgiving remarks which were sort of a -- come on, you got to get it together, essentially, you got to get over it. What he needs to do is take some responsibility for healing this country, for bringing people together. He needs to own the fact that some of his supporters have been as divisive as they are.

And the only way that people are going to trust him is if he acknowledges that he has an important role to play in bringing the country together.

KEILAR: All right. Hilary Rosen, Betsy McCaughey, thank you so much to both of you being on. Happy Thanksgiving to both of you as well.

MCCAUGHEY: Happy Thanksgiving.

ROSEN: Happy Thanksgiving.

KEILAR: And next, President-elect Donald Trump says he's seriously considering Ben Carson for the head of Housing and Urban Development. But just last week, one of Carson's advisers said he didn't want a role heading a different department. Carson's former campaign manager joining me live, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)