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Trump Reportedly Praises Pakistani PM; Trump's Team on Pakistani Call; Secretary of State Search. Aired 1-1:30p ET

Aired December 01, 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: -- from around the world, thanks very much for joining us.

Up first, President-elect Donald Trump celebrates the art of the deal that saved 1,000 jobs. Right now, Trump and Vice President-elect Pence are flying to Indianapolis where they'll visit a Carrier air conditioning plant next hour. Carrier agreed to keep about 1,000 jobs in the United States in exchange for incentives from the state of Indiana and the federal government.

No details yet on what those incentives include. But Trump supporters say the agreement shows he is keeping his promise to save American jobs even before he takes office.

Our National Correspondent Suzanne Malveaux is joining us live from Indianapolis right now. Suzanne, give us a little preview of this important visit by the president-elect and the vice president-elect.

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Sure, Wolf. In about an hour or so, they're actually going to be on the floor, the plant floor, where ironically 10 months ago it was the owners who announced to employees that they were losing their jobs, that their jobs were going to Mexico.

Well, that is where Trump and Pence will be touring. They will also come here to make a statement, a speech, to talk about some of the details of those incentives.

Carrier, the group, said that, yes, there were some state incentives that were involved in this deal. What we know so far from those involved in negotiations, it is $7 million over the course of 10 years.

Now, Wolf, that is really nothing compared to what the parent company, United Technologies, said it was going to lose, some $65 million or so overseas if -- each year if, in fact, they went to Mexico.

So, let's take a look at the big picture here. United Technologies is billions and billions of dollars in military contracting. $5.6 billion to the Pentagon. That could be part of the reason why, of course, that they want to have a friendly relationship with the Trump administration, to keep that kind of business going.

They also, the government, supplies $1.5 billion in their research and development. Now, this, of course, Wolf, is all speculation. But it really is very interesting to see how Donald Trump and Mike Pence are taking credit for, really, the carrots and stick approach to this company.

And a lot of people who I took to, Wolf, very excited. They are relieved. They don't care how the sausage was made. They talk about the fact that there is, like, $25.00 an hour that they make. That these are good jobs. That they've been in the company for dozens of years.

And these are the kinds of things, kinds of jobs, that put their kids through college. So, this is something that they are very pleased about and very excited, very interested to see what the details are in this deal -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Yes, Donald Trump, he always promised that if -- during the campaign, if he were elected president, those jobs would remain in Indiana. They're going to remain in Indiana.

All right, thanks very much, Suzanne Malveaux, for that report.

Let's get some more on the Trump transition. Let's bring in Republican Congressman Marsha Blackburn. She was recently named a vice chair of the Trump transition team. She's joining us from Capitol Hill right now.

Congresswoman, thanks very much for joining us.

REP. MARSHA BLACKBURN (R), TENNESSEE, VICE CHAIR, TRUMP TRANSITION TEAM: Good to be with you, Wolf. Thank you.

BLITZER: I want to get to all those issues. But, first, I know you had an important meeting at Trump Tower with the president-elect earlier this week. Tell us about that meeting. Did he offer you, for example, some sort of job in his new administration?

BLACKBURN: I think I'm one of those individuals the president wants to stay here in Congress and continue to beat away at getting rid of some of these rules and regulations and working on the cost and the size and the scope of the federal government. Kind of reining things in.

And we talked about ways that I could be involved to going forward. And I'm one of -- I'm a total team player. Let's just get the job done. It's time for action. The American people voted for action. They are tired of waiting to get government out their pocketbook and off their back. And they're saying, come on, let's get to work.

And so, I'm ready to roll up my sleeves and get going. And that's what we're doing with the transition.

BLITZER: Well, let me just be precise. If the president-elect were to say to you, I want you to give up your congressional seat and become a cabinet member or take some other significant role in the administration, he says the country needs you to do that, would you do that? BLACKBURN: Of course you're going to consider that. And you look at

it from, is it right for your family? Do you think that you and the president are going to be on the same page?

But, of course, you're going to consider that. And it is an honor to be a part of the Trump team, to have worked through the campaign season, to have told people like you that he was going to win and that he was going to be the next president.

And now, to see this happening, I think there's a lot of enthusiasm. And, really, Wolf, a lot hopefulness from people about what the future is going to hold and what the first 100 days of the Trump administration will bring for them.

BLITZER: You're a key member of this transition team. What are you hearing about the contenders? There are now four, final four, contenders for secretary of state. Which of those four would be your first choice?

[13:05:04] BLACKBURN: I'm going to leave that ranking to Mr. Trump. He knows who is going to best fit into the team that he's building.

And, you know, when you're building out an organization, organizational leadership requires that you look at the skill sets. And then, it's the deliverables that you expect from that department. You much that up.

And we know that whomever is going to be secretary of state, they're going to have to have an understanding of the hot spots that are around the globe. They need an understanding of what is happening in the E.U. and with the U.K. extraction.

From the E.U., they need to understand what is happening in the South China Sea. And going on with China and trade policy, military policy, intelligence. And the way all of those geopolitical issues fit together.

And I know that in the next couple weeks, Mr. Trump will finally and probably say, this is who I think I'm more in line with or I mesh well with or I feel will deliver the best product for the American people. And we're well-served to trust him to make that judgment. But I think it's so exciting watching him come to that decision.

BLITZER: Well, very quickly, would you have a problem with Mitt Romney?

BLACKBURN: This is what you leave to Mr. Trump. And prognosticating about who is or who is not going to be chosen is not the role for someone like me.

I do think it is wonderful that Mr. Trump extended the hand of friendship and fellowship to Mr. Romney and that Mr. Romney accepted. And it is good role modeling for people who had really strong differences. And how to settle those and to put the focus on the country. And we have to realize that the preservation of freedom is a bigger responsibility than one or two personalities. And it doesn't serve our country well when we let personalities or past fights or differences, personal or personality differences, get in the way of that goal which is to make certain we hand this country over in better shape than we found it. We give it over to our children so that they are going to be able to protect our freedom and liberties.

BLITZER: Let's briefly talk about Donald Trump's -- and Vice president-elect Pence's ability to keep 1,000 jobs at that carrier plant in Indiana. I want you to get -- listen to the reaction we got to that. And Donald Trump and Mike Pence deserve credit for keeping those jobs there. But listen to the reaction we just got from the White House press secretary, Josh Earnest.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOSH EARNEST, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: That's obviously good news and an announcement that we would welcome.

But, again, as I mentioned yesterday, Mr. Trump would have to make 804 more announcements just like that to equal the standard of jobs in the manufacturing sector that were created in this country under President Obama's watch.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: All right, Congresswoman, your reaction to the White House?

BLACKBURN: The labor force participation rate is the lowest it has been since Jimmy Carter. That is the problem. The ability to hire, to get a job, to keep a job, the conditions for the labor force, are not optimum, at this point.

Donald Trump and Mike Pence deserve the credit for getting in there and creating the environment that jobs' growth wanted to stay here. Job retention wanted to stay here in Indiana. And that is so important to realize. That's part of the difference.

You know, we've had an administration that says we can micromanage this economy. We can create jobs. And they've not been able to do it. The private sector creates those jobs.

And it is government's responsibility to create the environment for jobs' growth to take place. And then, turn around and look at the private sector and say, let her rip. Get out here and create as many jobs as you can.

And there is an old equation I use all the time, talking about jobs growth and preserving those conditions for good labor stability. And it is less regulation plus less litigation plus less taxation equals more innovation and job creation.

BLITZER: All right.

BLACKBURN: You know, you've got to bring it together and this is a first step. And I will just about bet you, in the next couple of years, Donald Trump and Mike Pence will be able to point to another 800 hundred companies that have said, we're staying in the USA and not leaving.

BLITZER: Well, that's what he promised and we'll see if he can deliver. So far, he has delivered with that Carrier plant in Indiana. We'll get the more details coming in.

Congressman Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee. Thanks very much for joining us.

BLACKBURN: Good to be with you, Wolf. Thank you.

[13:10:02] BLITZER: All right, let's talk a little bit more about this and other important issues. Our Chief Political Correspondent Dana Bash is with us. Our Politics Executive Editor Mark Preston is with us. And CNN Politics Reporter Eugene Scott is with us as well.

Dana, the devil is, often times, in the -- the devil is in the details. 1Possibly $7 million in tax credits, if you will, for Carrier over the next 10 years promised by the state of Indiana. That's already developing some criticism.

DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: It is. From people like Bernie Sanders, for example, who wrote an op-ed saying that he things that this is exactly the wrong way to go about it. He has a very much, obviously, shared goal, a shared charge during the campaign to talk about job loss, especially because of trade deals. And he's saying that this is the wrong way to go about doing it.

You know, we'll see. And we don't know all of the specifics of how this worked out.

And, at the end of the day, if Donald Trump and Mike Pence, the Trump administration in general, want to do this on a more global scale or, to be more clear, on a broader scale with more businesses, then there will be to have -- there will have to be a big transformation of the incentives, or lack thereof, for companies to go abroad.

And, you know, whether it's state by state, like what they did in Indiana, or more on a federal level.

BLITZER: This sort of event that's going to take place in the next hour or so, Mark, it's part of a victory tour, a thank you tour, and it's a great way to kick off the tour by going to Indianapolis and saying, you know what? I told you these jobs would remain here. They're going to remain here.

MARK PRESTON, CNN POLITICS EXECUTIVE EDITOR: Yes, I mean, no doubt about it. And he has a lot to celebrate and should be applauded for the fact that he saved 1,000 jobs.

And, again, you know, like, we can sit around the table and talk about the long-term implications, which we should because there are long- term implications for making a deal like this, but there are still 1,000 families and certainly thousands more people that are going to be affected by these jobs staying there.

The question is, though, in the long term, can Donald Trump continue to do this, always be on the phone, Wolf, trying to keep companies here? I don't think that's a great strategy. But you know what? In this case, good move for him.

BLITZER: You know, and he's going to go to Cincinnati from -- later tonight, speak in Cincinnati, and he's going to thank people in Ohio for helping him become the president-elect of the United States.

EUGENE SCOTT, CNN POLITICS REPORTER: Yes, this is a state that he fought really hard for. A state that he was at risk of losing to Hillary Clinton, at some points. And, ultimately, voters came out and supported him.

Will he be able to deliver to them what he just delivered to Indiana remains to be seen. It's worth noticing that Carrier is in Indiana where Mike Pence is governor. Will he be able to replicate this in states where the governor is not his vice president-elect, like Ohio?

BASH: The whole idea of this thank-you tour, beyond Indiana, obviously going to a place like Ohio, I've been told that we should expect this kind campaign-style rally to continue during the Trump administration. Not just so, you know, he can kind of continue to connect with voters, but also because people around him understand that that's his oxygen. I mean, that's what really gets him going and makes him feel alive as a politician, and they want to make sure to keep giving him that oxygen.

BLITZER: Yes, during the campaign, we always saw in the primaries, the general election, Mark, he would go to these rallies, 20,000 people would show up, thousands more were outside. That gave him the energy he needed. And he could do three, four. At the end, he did, what, six or seven of these rallies in one day.

PRESTON: Yes. You know, and to Dana's point too, this has never been done by a president. And who's to say it is the wrong thing to do? You know, and we'll see how it plays out. You would think he would be too busy in order to get on an airplane and do a big rally.

But if that's going to make him a better president and allow him to connect with the American people. Because, let's face it, here on the east coast, there is a lot of anger towards us, because they feel, like in middle America, that we're out of touch. Maybe him going and actually connecting with voters, maybe not a bad idea.

BLITZER: And we're going to see that later tonight. But I assume you agree, Eugene, that he loves doing the -- he loved doing it for a year and he's, presumably, going to continue even as president.

SCOTT: I think so. And I think it's easier to do when you're campaigning than when you're actually president.

Now, if he doesn't follow through on all these promises that many of these voters hoped he would, I don't know if he wants to go to these rallies because the response might not be as positive as they were when he was making a lot of promises.

BLITZER: We'll, of course, have live coverage of his remarks in Indianapolis at the Carrier plant and, of course, later tonight as well. The first of his thank you tour stops, these rallies are going forward. Please stay with us. The three of you, more to discuss.

Donald Trump heaping praise on Pakistan's prime minister but it's a far cry from his previous criticism of Pakistan. We'll take a closer look.

And later, the growing humanitarian crisis in Aleppo, Syria. Is there help on the way for desperate civilians? Stay with us.

[13:14:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:18:36] BLITZER: Protocol? What protocol? The diplomatic norms were set aside when Pakistan published what it said was a transcript of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's phone conversation with President-elect Donald Trump. Many of Trump's comments during the call were surprising.

CNN correspondent Jessica Schneider is outside Trump Tower in New York City for us.

Jessica, so what is at issue here?

JESSICA SCHNEIDER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, you know, Wolf, quite simply it's really a complete breach of diplomatic protocol. The Pakistani prime minister's office releasing complete quotations and a verbatim of this telephone conversation between President-elect Donald Trump and Prime Minister of Pakistan Nawaz Sharif. It's something that just isn't done. But, of course, these quotations were put out earlier this morning and I'll read some of them for you.

Donald Trump telling the prime minister, quote, "you have a very good reputation. You are a terrific guy. You are doing amazing work, which is visible in every way." Continuing on saying, "I am ready and willing to play any role that you want me to play. Feel free to call me any time, even before January 20th that is before I assume office."

And then they continued with even more quotes, putting out this, "as I'm talking to you, prime minister, I feel I am talking to a person I have known for long. Your country is amazing with tremendous opportunities."

Now, if these accolades are, in fact, accurate, this is an abrupt turn-around for Donald Trump, who has spent years and much of this campaign, in fact, talking about Pakistan, calling Pakistan a dangerous country and a problem. He tweeted about it as far back as 2012. He talked about it on the campaign trail, at CNN town halls. But, of course, now, seeming to heap praise on Pakistan's prime minister, this, of course, could rock the boat, rock relations with the U.S. ally, India, which, of course, is a staunch adversary of Pakistan. [13:20:21] Wolf.

BLITZER: All right, Jessica, thanks very much. Jessica Schneider reporting.

Let's bring back our panel, Dana Bash, Mark Preston and Eugene Scott.

It is pretty strange, some of these comments, that the Pakistanis insist Donald Trump made to the Pakistan prime minister, given the history of, first of all, the U.S./Pakistani history.

DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Sure.

BLITZER: There's been tension in the past going back to when bin Laden was found there and the Pakistanis saying they knew nothing about it.

BASH: Right.

BLITZER: The U.S. not so sure about all of that.

BASH: It's hard to believe.

BLITZER: Any reaction yet we're getting from the Trump transaction on this statement, the so-called transcript that was put out by the Pakistani government?

BASH: So they're referring us to a statement that the Trump transition put out about this call and another as well, which is very -- if this is the way statements are usually put out about calls, in diplo-speak, very vague where you can take really anything from it. But the gist of it is that they had a productive conversation about how the United States and Pakistan will have a strong working relationship. And he noted that he looks forward -- he, Trump, noted that he looks forward to a long-lasting, strong personal relationship.

So you could certainly take that and extrapolate that what the Pakistanis put out was accurate. But, you know, we just don't know. I think Jessica is right, and you know this, Wolf, better than anybody here, it is incredibly unusual and is a breach of diplomatic protocol for the Pakistanis to put that statement out. Just obviously looking at this from semi informed question, and maybe you can agree with this, perhaps they did that because they were so stunned and the prime minister was so stunned that he said that in the first place.

BLITZER: I can only imagine, Mark, and I have no idea if this is true, that the Pakistanis would have cleared that statement with the Trump transition because it is a stunning breach in diplomatic protocol, the prime minister of one country speaks on the phone with the president- elect of the United States. They have a good, serious important conversation. And then the -- the Pakistani government releases this statement.

MARK PRESTON, CNN POLITICS EXECUTIVE EDITOR: Right.

BLITZER: And they're experienced, these Pakistani diplomats. We've worked with them for a long time. Would they do that without getting authorization from the Trump team?

PRESTON: Well, I would say this would be an educated view that probably not. It doesn't seem as if they did because the statement was released and it did take some time for the Trump transition, you know, to put out a statement of their own. And having said that, there have been multiple phone calls, you know, from world leaders to Donald Trump and we haven't seen readouts of those. We haven't seen those type of readouts, other than there was a discussion that was held and the names. You have to wonder, did Pakistan do that in order to drive a little bit of a wedge between --

BASH: Exactly.

PRESTON: India and perhaps the new Trump administration, trying to look for an upper hand wherever they can, because as we do know, that is an extremely volatile relationship over there.

BASH: And if I can just quickly add, I think also probably for -- seems to be for domestic consumption in Pakistan.

BLITZER: Right.

BASH: A guy who -- who -- for whom a lot of the things that Trump allegedly said about him, a terrific guy, somebody who, you know, he respects, a lot of people in Pakistan don't feel that way.

PRESTON: Right.

BASH: To have a president-elect saying that to you on a private phone call would be something that they would -- that he would want his own constituency to hear.

BLITZER: I suspect, Eugene, they didn't get into the whole issue of Donald Trump wanting to ban immigrants from countries that have a history of terrorism from coming to the United States and presumably Pakistan would be on that list. Most recently, the Ohio State slasher, his family lived in Pakistan for most of his life. They're originally from Somali. And Donald Trump tweeted the other day, he should have never been in the United States to begin with. Well, that family came to the United States, received sanctuary in the United States, not from Somalia, but they came from Pakistan. I suspect they didn't get into that whole issue in that phone conversation.

EUGENE SCOTT, CNN POLITICS REPORTER: It certainly doesn't seem like it based off of what was made public. And one could ask and question whether or not Donald Trump is as familiar with the issues happening in Pakistan right now as they are related to terrorism, related to immigration and border issues with India as well. You would thing that he would be far more aggressive if he was very aware of those issues. Even though these conversations are initially very diplomatic, they certainly aren't as warm as what we just saw.

BLITZER: Dana, I'm curious, what are you hearing about the next secretary of state?

BASH: That it's still a holding pattern. That, I mean, by all accounts, there was the dinner that Donald Trump had with Mitt Romney the other night here in New York. It was quite good. That they enjoyed each other's company. Maybe more than they thought that they would, particularly from Donald Trump's perspective. But it's still TBD on whether or not he is going to go with Mitt Romney.

[13:25:00] David Petraeus obviously is another candidate. There's a lot more vocal concern from people who would confirm him in the Senate about the fact that he himself breached classified information, sent via e-mail, which is obviously a no no.

BLITZER: Right.

BASH: Something that was a big issue on the campaign trail for Hillary Clinton. And it might be a little bit ironic to ask for him to be the secretary of state now.

BLITZER: What are you hearing?

PRESTON: I think Dana's right. I mean they said that there are four people out there, which is amazing that -- that they're actually putting names out there that we --

BLITZER: We're calling them the final four, right?

PRESTON: The final four, right. I mean this is like college basketball in March, right? But, you know, they put Rudy Giuliani out there as an example, and Bob Corker, who was a, you know, a senator from Tennessee. I think Dana's right, I think it's Petraeus or Romney. And the question is, does Donald Trump feel comfortable enough with Mitt Romney. We do know he -- that he really likes David Petraeus and he likes Mitt Romney. But the Petraeus fight could get a little bit ugly and does Donald Trump want to have to deal with that.

Having said that, if Petraeus doesn't become secretary of state, I think there's going to be some kind of role for him.

BLITZER: In the administration?

PRESTON: Absolutely.

BLITZER: Even though he's still on probation right now after pleading guilty to that misdemeanor charge of violating classified rules.

PRESTON: Right, right.

SCOTT: Yes. One thing I thought was very interesting about the meeting with Mitt Romney, is if realize -- if you look at the statement that Romney made after the meeting, it was very positive and very favorable and very different from what he said when Trump was on the campaign, but I'm not sure that that's going to be enough for the base who have a problem with Romney.

BLITZER: The base is making it clear, at least the Newt Gingrichs, the Mike Huckabees and the Kellyanne Conways, for that matter as well, that that would be a serious, serious problem, but we'll see what the president-elect decides to do. All right, guys, thanks very much. Coming up, what's next for Democrats? Nancy Pelosi staying in charge

of the Democrats in the House of Representatives, but what's the rallying cry now for the future of the party? Stay with us.

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