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Trump, Pence at Carrier Plant Touting Jobs Prior to Thank-You Tour; Mike Pence Begins Speech at Indiana Carrier Plant. Aired 2:30-3p ET

Aired December 01, 2016 - 14:30   ET

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


(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:32:52] BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANHOR: Live pictures of Indianapolis, Indiana, here. Behind that podium, we'll hear from the CEO of United Technologies Greg Hayes. He is the man who hopped on phone with the president-elect two weeks ago, according to "Fortune," and essentially helped broker this deal to save a thousand jobs from going down to Mexico.

So, we know the president-elect and the vice president-elect have arrived in Indianapolis. We will take this live as soon as we see them there.

But moving on from Indianapolis and into Ohio, it's deja vu for Donald Trump as he's embarking on his so-called thank you-tour. Donald Trump will revisit the campaign states that got him elected. Vice President-elect Mike Pence will join him there in Ohio, one of six states Trump won. It went blue for President Obama both in 2008 and 2012.

Let me bring my panel back from the top of the hour.

David Gergen, this notion of a thank-you tour, has this been done before?

DAVID GERGEN, CNN SENIOR POLTIICAL ANALYST: Yes, this is not untypical for politicians, especially presidents. They go on victorious tours, people call them thank-you tours. It's a way to keep connected around it's worthwhile during a transition. We've been heaping a lot of criticism on Donald Trump and he's deserved most of it. But we have now in Indianapolis and in Ohio uses of presidential power, as we call it, that are traditional and are effective.

BALDWIN: And was on the show yesterday and she was saying this is just Doanld Trump wanting to these states say thank you, thank you so much for voting for me.

There was a moment I wanted to play from 2009. This was about to be President-elect Obama, I should be precise. When he was in Ohio, he visited a manufacturer for Wind Energy Parts and was pitching his stimulus package, his economic recovery package. It was at the business Cardinal Fastener, which hired two workers that week.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: With all the bad news going out there, with all the word of jobs being lost and businesses shuttered, jobs were created right here this week.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Ryan Lizza, how important are these opportunities and victories for incoming presidents?

[14:35:13] RYAN LIZZA, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Look he's going to make the most out of this deal and he's going to have a chance to have his say and promote this. And just to put some facts on the table, I was just reviewing the "Wall Street Journal's" account of this deal, they have good reporting. And three numbers here, 800, 600, 700. 800 are the number of jobs that have been saved here in Indiana at this furnace factory. 600 are the numbers that will still got to Mexico at this factory. And there is another Carrier factory in Huntington, Indiana --

BALDWIN: Huntington.

LIZZA: -- where another 700 are also going to Mexico. So, it's important to keep this in perspective.

This is -- he is following through on, at least partially following through on a campaign promise, but this is not stemming to flow of offshoring in the United States. That will require a national policy. And, frankly, it's not just offshoring anymore, it's automation. And that's a huge driver now in the decline of manufacturing jobs and there's no easy solution to that. So just a couple thoughts to put things in perspective.

BALDWIN: Absolutely. Absolutely.

By the way, that was a quick drive to the plant, so here he is, the president elect and the vice president-elect, and presumably somewhere in there is the CEO of United Technologies, the big boss of this plant there, Carrier.

So, let's stay on these pictures. We're anticipating him addressing the media momentarily on this victory there for Indiana but looking ahead to this evening.

Shall we listen? Is he saying anything?

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: I'm getting dizzy. But these are the pictures we have.

(LAUGHTER)

Eric, just let's stay on these pictures watching the president-elect and the vice president-elect side by side waving at these employees. By the way, many of whom don't know exactly whose jobs will be saved. It's just a thousand, which is awesome. I shouldn't say just a thousand. That's a thousand families who don't have to move at all. What do you make of what we're watching?

ERIC BRADNER, CNN POLITICS REPORTER: Well, Donald Trump is the ultimate extrovert. We've saw him draw his energy from wading into crowds of adoring supporters. He likes to war with the media and -- but he really seems to enjoy this kind of thing.

These are not necessarily Trump supporters. You just talked to one of them. But these are working class Trump supporters in Great Lakes states and the Midwest, and a lot of these are union members. Unions went for Trump -- went much more for Trump than they have for Republican presidential nominees in the past. So, these are his people. He has clearly drawn energy from this sort of thing. This is what excites him.

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: Look at the workers taking pictures. Look at the workers with their cell phones taking photos of this major moment at their plant in Indianapolis.

BRADNER: This is rare. This is not the kind of thing -- you don't see presidents intervene this way very often, or president-elects specifically. This is unusual. This is the kind of things mayors and governors do. In fact, it was in part made possible because Mike Pence for a little longer is the governor of Indiana. Remember, there are state tax incentives that are in play, that are part of this deal. So, it's not uncommon at all in red or blue states to see governors and mayors taking these tours with small press corps in tow. But it's a lot more unusual to see a president intervene on this level.

So, yeah, for these people this is a great deal. For the people in this factory right now, just ahead of the holiday season, they have reason for optimism about their jobs. Some are still, of coursed going to Mexico but others will be remaining in Indiana. So, no matter the broader implications -- and Trump, of course, will soon have to roll out a national policy to address these sorts of things. In this one specific case, this is great news for these people.

BALDWIN: David Gergen, I'm looking at you looking at these pictures.

[14:40:02] GERGEN: Well, I don't think Donald Trump is the first president to visit factories. Barack Obama went all the time, and he went for a different purpose, usually to illustrate a model, some breakthrough, some company of the future.

And to go to Ryan Lizza's point, the one thing this whole tableau does not address is the impact of automation, the impact of technology upon jobs and the globalization, to this sucking sound drawing jobs into Mexico, as Ross Perot used to say.

I think this is an important symbolic victory for him. We shouldn't mistake it to be an answer to the long-term problems of workers in these communities.

BALDWIN: Again, I go back to just -- we just want to provide all perspectives. I go back to the "Washington Post" piece by Bernie Sanders where he said Trump has endangered the jobs of workers who were previously safe in the U.S. Why? Because he signaled to every corporation in America that they can threaten to offshore jobs in exchange for business-friendly tax benefits and incentives. He referred to this as Trump's Band-Aid solutions.

GERGEN: Can I take exception to that?

BALDWIN: Yes, you can.

GERGEN: Donald Trump's response to that would be it's not that I'm going to try to go out and save in this situation, rather my national policy will be to cut corporate taxes. And he has a dramatic proposal to cut corporate taxes which are among the highest in the world in America, 35 percent to 15 percent. Even conservatives in Congress think maybe that's too big. And he hasn't outlined any plan to pay for it, as well as the individual tax cuts.

But from his perspective, hey, look, that will cut your costs at a lot of the Carriers around the country so you won't have to go to Mexico.

BALDWIN: What are you thinking? You were saying, Monica, talking about these jobs, you know, just down the road there's a plan shuttering but the point being this is worth celebrating, this is a thoubs jobs staying in the United States. Good on Donald Trump for making this happen and you were saying stop the bleeding.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This shouldn't be a political issue for Democrats or Republicans. Saving jobs and putting people back to work in America should be a common goal for everyone. And as one of the contributors said earlier, yeah, this is a huge problem, and we're not going to have an overwhelming solution, but taking a step in the right direction is a good thing. Stopping the bleeding is a good thing. $7 million to save 800 workers is about $87.50 per job. The state will collect that back in taxes in a year or two.

These steps that are positive and it's a mistake to make it political because we're missing a bigger issue that we should be together trying to support our industries.

Ryan Lizza, what do you think? How could it not be political?

(LAUGHGTER)

LIZZA: I disagree because, of course, it's political, the way in which our elected officials go about creating jobs, saving jobs is at the core of the differences between the two parties. So inevitably -- let's take, for instance, what Trump said on the campaign trail. He said his method for saving the jobs from Carrier would be to threaten a gigantic tariff on these furnaces if they were exported back into the United States. And he criticized Barack Obama's manufacturing plan, which was government incentives, government outlays. Now, of course, as the details of this deal become revealed, he went with a more Obama-like approach. There was no -- he didn't let the jobs go and threaten tariffs. He basically paid Carrier in the form of state tax incentives or at least negotiated that deal. So, that's a big debate between the parties. And Trump has sort of flipped his methodology in saving the jobs.

So I agree everyone's in favor of saving jobs but the point a lot of economists are making about the incentive this creates for corporations in America, especially a huge multinational profitable company like United Technologies, that's important for us to dig in here and not just let -- as much as we want to celebrate 800 families keeping their jobs in this holiday season, not lose sight of the bigger trends that are driving this, and that we still don't have solutions, frankly, from either party.

BALDWIN: I'm wondering -- and I'm talking to the control room -- if we can at all re-rack the tape -- that sounds old-school because we don't have tape - but you know what I'm saying. But for the people to see the president-elect, the vice president-elect sitting at that table with those workers taking pictures. This is a huge deal for this factory.

I'm wondering, Eric, as someone who let me just repeat who has spent many years in Indiana. What -- and I did talk to a Trump supporter who works at that plant, and she's still cautiously optimistic over how this exactly will work. But do we know if he's meeting with any employees or meeting with the brass?

[14:45:08] BRADNER: We know that local union officials were headed over to Carrier earlier today to sort of learn the details of what's going on. Sort of all of the workers are a little bit in the dark right now. I think what we're seeing is Trump chatting with some union employees, but I'm not sure if he's going to do sort of separate private event with them. It does seem he's taking advantage of a public relations window here.

In a couple months, Donald Trump's job is going to get a lot harder. He's going to be going to Capitol Hill trying to get a national policy and corporate tax cuts passed with a Senate where he'll need Democratic votes, that sort of thing.

So, this achievement is significant in that there is no real counterpoint yet. There's no expectation that Trump is going to be setting and making and achieving policy goals because he's not yet in office, so he gets to go back to an area where he had a lot of support on the campaign trail, to a region where he had a lot of support, and sort of cheerlead this one accomplishment without the sort of a counterpoint that he has failed to accomplish anything more broadly. Because that's not the expectation at this point.

BALDWIN: Let me ask all of you to stick around. We want to sneak a quick break in.

We are moments away from hearing the message as he is there in Indianapolis touring this plant as we speak. He'll be delivering a message to the rest of us momentarily.

Stay with me. You're watching CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [14:51:10] BALDWIN: We're keeping an eye in Indianapolis where we're be seeing the president-elect and vice president-elect. We've seen pictures of them touring this air conditioning Carrier plant where the president-elect has made good on a promise he made back in a debate in February that he wanted to keep these jobs set to go to Mexico here in the United States.

So, Suzanne Malveaux is there for us in that room where we anticipate this live message.

But set the scene for me, Suzanne, and talk about what these workers, how these workers feel about this news.

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Brooke, I have to tell you most of the workers here are grateful. They are thankful for Donald Trump and Mike Pence.

Here's the reason why. They say he put the Carrier organization and these employees on the map during the election. He was the one that brought this to the nation's attention that they were in fear of losing their jobs, at risk of losing their jobs.

This company, of United Technologies there on the plant floor announcing to those employees back in February that their jobs were going to Mexico. One worker took out his cell phone, captured it on Facebook and it went viral. And Donald Trump saw that and decided to use that as a centerpiece for his campaign to bring jobs back to this country.

So, for that reason alone, many people I speak to are very excited to see him. There is still some nervousness about who is going to keep their jobs, who will lose their job, and under what terms.

We're getting some indications that folks are about to come out fairly soon, Brooke, so when that happens we'll stop talking.

But I have had a chance to talk to a lot of these workers. One of them, Chuck Jones, with United Steel Workers Local 1999, he's the one that represents those here at Carrier. Frustrated, of course, that they were not involved in the negotiations. They were kept out of it. It was between state officials and the parent company, United Technologies. But I talked to him and he said, look, I'm not going to be a Trump fan, this is not going to turn me into a Trump fan. He was very critical during the campaign, but he did say he's going to give Donald Trump and Mike Pence credit for this movement, because at least there will be some here who will keep their jobs.

And these guys who I talked to, they make $25 an hour. It's enough to certainly help them put some of their kids through college. Some of them are grandparents. They've been here for more than a dozen years. So, they are very excited about what they were going to learn.

About 100 folks or so here gathered in a small room. They been here for more than an hour, awaiting -- Oh, there's the announcement.

BALDWIN: Here we go. MALVEAUX: Let's take a listen.

BALDWIN: Let's go.

(APPLAUSE)

GREG HAYES, CEO, UNITED TECHNOLOGIES: I assume this isn't all for me.

First of all, welcome to Carrier, Indianapolis. It's an honor to welcome President-elect Trump as well as Vice President-elect Pence, and the new governor, Governor Holcomb, from Indiana today.

First thing I would like that do is thank our Carrier workers for their dedication and loyalty over their many years, but especially for their continued focus and dedication during a very difficult year here in Indianapolis.

Over the past couple weeks, we've had productive discussions with President-elect Trump and Bice President-elect Pence about their plans to improve the competitiveness of the U.S. business environment through tax reform and through a more thoughtful approach to regulation. Those plans have given us a renewed confidence in the future of manufacturing here in the United States. It's why today we can talk about 1,100 jobs in Indiana going forward.

So, I'm pleased to announce that we have decided to keep Carrier, Indianapolis. The plant will remain open and continue manufacturing operations here.

We'll also designate this facility as a Center of Excellence for gas furnace production. We'll invest more than $16 million or the next two years ensure that it remains a world-class manufacturing facility with the ability to compete globally.

Thank you again for your hard work and dedication to the entire Carrier team. And we look forward to this facility continuing to deliver industry leading products to our customers across north America.

With that, it's my pleasure to introduce Vice President-elect Mike Pence.

(APPLAUSE)

[14:55:57] MIKE PENCE, VICE-PRSIDENT ELECT OF THE UNITED STATES: How about another round of applause for Greg Hayes, the chairman and CEO of United Technologies. It's great to have him in the Hoosier state.

(APPLAUSE)

PENCE: To the executives at United Technologies who are with us, executives with Carrier, to the great Carrier team here in Indiana --

(APPLAUSE)

PENCE: -- to our honored guests, Governor-elect Eric Holcomb, Indiana Speaker of the House Brian Basma (ph), Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogset (ph), my fellow Hoosiers, it is great to be back home again in Indiana.

(APPLAUSE)

PENCE: It's a great day for Indiana and it's a great day for working people all across the United States of America.

(APPLAUSE)

PENCE: The state of Indiana is very proud. We're a proud manufacturing state. We're home to low taxes, sensible regulations, great schools and roads, and the best work force in America.

Since the 1950s, Carrier has been a part of Indiana's manufacturing success story and we've been proud of it. As governor, I couldn't be more pleased and grateful that thanks to the initiative and the leadership of President-elect Donald Trump that Carrier has decided to stay and grow right here in America.

(CHEERING)

(APPLAUSE)

PENCE: We're so grateful. We're so grateful that thanks to the initiative of our president-elect -- that I'll talk about in a minute -- and, frankly, technologies, and Bob McDonough at Carrier that Carrier has decided to stay in Indiana, invest more than $16 million in this facility alone, and will keep more than 1000 jobs right here in the heart of the heartland.

(APPLAUSE)

PENCE: What a difference a year makes. The truth be told, job announcements are almost a daily thing here in the state of Indiana. We're at record employment today. We have more Hoosiers going to work than ever before. That's why, frankly, along with all of you who work in this facility, that that day, February 10th, was a heartbreaking day when Carrier made the difficult decision to close this facility and move jobs out of our country.

We met with the leaders of the company back in March and, try as we might to make the Indiana case, it was clear that the die was cast. A simple truth was that policies coming out of our nation's capital were literally driving jobs out of this country.

What was missing was clear to me, as your governor, what was missing was leadership and change. Well, the American people voted for change last month. And even before taking office. our president-elect provided by real leadership that made the difference.

(CHEERING)

(APPLAUSE)

PENCE: You know, President-elect Trump did just what he said he would do. He picked up the phone -- I was actually in the room. He picked up the phone. He talked from one American to another. He talked about our plans, our plans to make America more competitive, to reduce taxes, to roll back regulations, to put American jobs and American workers first again. He made the case for America and Carrier decided to bet on a brighter future for the American people, and we are grateful from the bottom of our hearts.