Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Pence Meeting with Ryan, McConnell; Pelosi Wins Challenge as House Minority Leader; New Details on Ohio State Attacker; Trump, Pence Keep Carrier from Moving Plant to Mexico. Aired 2:30-3p ET

Aired November 30, 2016 - 14:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:34:24] BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: Besides to visits to the White House and to Capitol Hill right after Election Day, Donald Trump hasn't spent a ton of time in Washington, D.C., just yet, but it is a different story for Mike Pence. The vice president-elect is due to meet today with House Speaker Paul Ryan and Senate majority leader, Mitch McConnell. Pence's meeting to secure the new Republican stronghold in Washington. It comes as Democrat Nancy Pelosi today faced a challenge as House minority leader.

So, we go to our go to guy on Capitol Hill, Manu Raju, our senior political reporter.

A lot to get to. Let's, first, begin with the vice president-elect meeting today. Who has he talked to so far and what's come out of the meeting?

[14:35:02] MANU RAJU, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL REPORTER: He is about to speak with Paul Ryan. Later, he'll speak with Senate majority leader, Mitch McConnell. It's all to coordinate the beginning part of Donald Trump's presidency.

There's a lot they need to do and coordinate, otherwise. You can see a circular firing squad happen if they don't hit the right notes together. There's things they need to do about repealing Obamacare will be first and foremost. What do they do about a replacement and how do they time that. Those are still questions they need to figure out. As well as what to do about a major tax reform bill that is central to Donald Trump's agenda going forward.

And on top of that, Brooke, a number of nominees need to be confirmed by the United States Senate early next year, namely, Donald trump's upcoming nomination to fill Justice Antonin Scalia's seat on the Supreme Court, getting through that.

So, it will be a very, very busy beginning of the new Congress. And Mike Pence showing he's playing the central role in crafting the legislative agenda just as he's playing a central role in the top of the transition team and getting his top picks in the Donald Trump cabinet -- Brooke?

BALDWIN: So that's Republicans. Let's talk Democrats. Nancy Pelosi was able to hold on to her House

leadership role. She was challenged by Congressman Tim Ryan. How tight or how far apart was that vote margin?

RAJU: Well, the final vote was 134-63. So, she won overwhelmingly. But the fact that she lost 63 votes should not be discounted. Six years ago, when she had a challenge from Heath Schuler, a Congressman, who tried to run against her and defeat her, he only got 43 votes. That means 20 more votes have moved against Nancy Pelosi, if you will. And it shows that maybe her stronghold on top of the Democratic caucus -- she's run this caucus since 2003 -- may be slipping slightly as some members try to look for a new way forward.

Nancy Pelosi came out, talked to some reporters yesterday and she said everything is fine, we'll move forward in a strong direction. Take a listen to what she had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. NANCY PELOSI, (D-CA), HOUSE MINORITY LEADER: But today has a special excitement for me because I think we're at a time that it's well beyond politics. It's about the character of America, and how we go forward in our caucus to put forth our values, which are what unite us as a caucus, to differentiate between us and the administration that will come into Washington in January.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: Now, Brooke make no mistake there are a lot of concerns within the caucus about exactly how does the party get back into the majority? That's something Pelosi has to figure out. I said, "What about those 63 defections?" And she discounted that and said, "I won two-thirds of the support within my caucus."

So, she's feeling good right now -- Brooke?

BALDWIN: We will talk to the man who those 63 members of Congress voted for. Tim Ryan joining us next hour live.

Manu, great job. Thank you very much.

RAJU: Thank you.

BALDWIN: Up next, CNN is learning new details about the Ohio State University attacker. Why investigators say they believe the 18-year- old was inspired by a pair of terror groups.

Plus, it's a big win for Donald Trump and Mike Pence, making good on a campaign promise to keep an Indiana plant from relocating to Mexico. After he was elected, a promise. How did they pull this off? We'll discuss.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:43:06] BALDWIN: An update on the Ohio State University attack. The FBI believes the suspect was inspired by ISIS or al Qaeda but we also know this suspect was not being investigated before the attack Monday morning. Also, the FBI is asking for your help.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANGELA BYERS, SPECIAL AGENT IN CHARGE, FBI CINCINNATI DIVISION: At this point in the investigation, we want to ask the public for assistance in one specific area. We ask for anyone with credible information about Artan's whereabouts on Monday morning prior to the attack at 9:52 a.m. to call 1-800-call-FBI.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: 11 people were injured in that attack Monday. Three are still in the hospital.

CNN Producer Shimon Prokupecz is covering the Justice Department for us.

Shimon, the issue is there are holes in the timeline and that's why they need the public's help.

SHIMON PROKUPECZ, CNN PRODUCER: They know a lot about him from that morning because of surveillance video, because they have him on video buying the knife. They say, though, there are some gaps. And sources that I've talked to are saying that there are some gaps in his time line. They know where he was most of the morning, they know he dropped off his sister at school. He then purchased the knife. But there is some time they can't account for and that's what they're trying to figure out. Was he talking to someone else, did someone help him plan this? They don't think so, but because there's a gap they need to close it and figure out what he was doing in that time.

BALDWIN: So when you say "purchasing the knife" that happened that morning?

PROKUPECZ: Yes, that morning, which I think leads them to believe that this was somewhat spontaneous, that this attack was perhaps he had been thinking about it for a while but he decided that morning to do this. And they have him on video buying the knife after he dropped his sister off at school.

BALDWIN: Last quick question, was he on anyone's radar?

[14:45:11] PROKUPECZ: No, and that's not unusual in these cases. He was not on anyone's radar. The police had had no contact with him, the FBI had never had any, the family never complained about him to the FBI or the police so there was no way for them to sort of monitor him, to keep an eye on him or find anything out about him. And his social media presence doesn't exist except a Facebook posting. And the reality is they can't react to anything so quickly. He literally posted that minutes before he went on the attack.

BALDWIN: So bizarre and sad all the way around.

Shimon, thank you for the update on him.

Next, it was one of Donald Trump's most talked-about promises, stop Carrier air conditioning from relocating its Indiana plant to Mexico. But now that he's been semi successful, the question many are asking is at what cost? S "star" joins me next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:50:11] BALDWIN: A little hope today for a number of workers in the state of Indiana. Heating and air conditioning giant, Carrier, says it has struck a deal with President-elect Trump to keep a thousand high-wage manufacturing jobs from going to Mexico. Carrier planned to close two plants that employ 2,100 workers. Not clear what will happen with the other half of the jobs, but we could learn more when Trump and Vice President-elect Mike Pence make a formal announcement tomorrow in Indianapolis.

So, let's go to "Indy Star" reporter, Tony Cook.

Tony, nice to have you on.

TONY COOK, REPORTER, INDIANAPOLIS STAR: Thanks for having me.

BALDWIN: A tweet from Donald Trump, "Big day for the workers in Indiana. We will keep our companies and jobs in the U.S. Thanks, Carrier."

Do people from Indiana see this as truly a victory?

COOK: Well, it's certainly a victory in Indianapolis. We are talking about to a thousand workers who would have lost their jobs in the coming years otherwise, so it's a big deal from that perspective for sure.

BALDWIN: A thousand jobs are I guess presumably still going to Mexico. Do you or does anyone at the paper know what sort of incentive the president-elect offered Carrier to keep the other half of jobs in Indiana?

COOK: That's a great question. We don't have the full details. I did talk to a member of the state's economic development board earlier today and he suggested it would be in line with what they offered other companies. In 2013 they offered about 200,000 in training grants to the company. A related company further north in Indiana got 300,000 more recently so it may be in that ballpark that we're talking about.

BALDWIN: Do you know how much of a e played in all of this?

COOK: I mean, I think for Trump it's been very convenient having a vice presidential candidate who also still happens to be the governor of the state where he made this promise.

BALDWIN: Right.

COOK: So Pence has certainly been working behind the scenes, he appoints the members of the Economic Development Corporation, who have the ultimate decision. So, Pence has been playing a significant role as well as the folks who work for him. BALDWIN: And its awesome news for Indianapolis. But how do you think

this will work when there are those who might threaten to pull jobs from the U.S. If they don't get a sweetener from the administration as well, right? Is that at all sticky?

COOK: I don't think that the victory here necessarily translates to saving manufacturing jobs across the United States. The outsourcing and the replacement of workers by automation is happening at such a huge rate and at so many different companies there's no way an administration can deal individually the way this deal been done. So, that will come down to the policies Trump puts in place and proposes, and I think we have yet to see how all of that will play out.

The other factor with Carrier, in particular, their parent company has billions of dollars in contracts with the federal government. And I think maybe even more so than any set of incentives. You know, maintaining a good relationship with the administration may be Carrier's foremost thought here.

BALDWIN: Well, at least for those thousand families they get to stay and keep paying their mortgages and don't have to move their families whatsoever.

Tony Cook, with the "Indy Star," thank you very much.

COOK: Thanks for having me.

BALDWIN: Next, Trump's economic team coming together, but the people being pegged for these jobs are some of the wealthiest men in America. How does the working class, many of whom who voted for Mr. Trump, feel about that? Good thing? Do they care? We'll talk about that.

[14:54:20] And back to our breaking news in Charlotte, North Carolina, the district attorney announcing there will be no charges filed officer who killed Keith Lamont Scott. His death set off days of protests. We will take you there live.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: We continue on. You're watching CNN. I'm Brooke Baldwin. Thank you for being with me.

Let's begin with more on the Trump transition team. President-elect Donald Trump has added more billionaires to his economic team. Look at these faces. This as we're seeing actions in his future cabinet. One contender for secretary of state, former ambassador to NATO, John Bolton, now meeting with Vice President-elect Mike Pence in the transition office in Washington. These are pictures of Pence's motorcade flying on by.

Up at Trump Tower in New York, former Georgia Governor Sonny Purdue was spotted just in the last hour. According to reports, he could be considered for agriculture.

Another visitor suggests Trump may not fully clean house when he takes office. The current U.S. attorney for New York says he's being asked to stay on.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PREET BHARARA, U.S. ATTORNEY, NEW YORK: The president-elect asked -- presumably because he's a New Yorker and is aware of the great work that our office has done over the past seven years -- asked to meet with me to discuss whether or not I'd be prepared to stay on as the United States attorney, to do the work as we have done it, independently, without fear or favor for the last seven years. We had a good meeting. I said I would absolutely consider staying on. I agreed to stay on. I have already spoken to Senator Sessions. He is, as you know, nominated to be the attorney general.