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Trump Tapping Top CEOs for Advisory Group; Shouting Match Between Trump and Clinton Aides; ISIS Leaves Toxic Legacy with Burning Oil Wells; Former NFL Player Shot in Apparent Road Rage Incident; Aired 10:30-11a ET

Aired December 02, 2016 - 10:30   ET

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

[10:30:01] CRISTINA ALESCI, CNN MONEY CORRESPONDENT: And its leaders who are really bipartisan and what happened here is the president- elect called the president of -- the CEO and chairman of Blackstone Group, which is an investment firm, and said, look, I'd like to put a group of people together who can -- who can share their experiences with me on the economy, how to grow jobs, taxes, things of that nature, and I'd like you to put it together.

And what we have here is a list of names, it's a who's who of CEOs from Mary Barra, who's the chairman of General Motors, Larry Fink, who is the chairman of Blackrock, Bob Iger, the CEO of Walt Disney Company.

So what you're looking at is really power house group that will be available for the president-elect to turn to when he wants opinions and experience about these different industries and what we are seeing here is really historic. I don't think that I have ever seen anything quite like this before. But I'm told that the group will meet on a regular basis, about once a month, with the president himself to discuss very big issues and on the top of that list will be job growth and economic development.

And like I said before, this list really represents a bipartisan group of people so he'll have some very diverse viewpoints to tap into -- Carol.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Cristina Alesci, breaking news for us this morning. Thank you.

So with that said, emotions are still raw 23 days after the election. That was abundantly clear at a Harvard University event last night. Trump's campaign manager Kellyanne Conway and Jennifer Palmieri, Clinton's communications director, attended this forum meant to recount history. Instead it turned ugly.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JENNIFER PALMIERI, HILLARY CLINTON'S COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR: If providing a platform for white supremacists makes me a brilliant tactician, I am glad to have lost.

KELLYANNE CONWAY, TRUMP SENIOR ADVISER: Which is crap.

PALMIERI: I would rather lose than win the way you guys did.

CONWAY: Do you think I ran a campaign where white supremacists had a platform? You're going to look me in the face and tell me that?

PALMIERI: It did. Kellyanne, you did.

CONWAY: Really?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Absolutely.

(CROSSTALK)

CONWAY: And that's how you lost?

PALMIERI: It did.

CONWAY: Do you think you could have just had a decent message for the white working class voters? Guys, I can tell you're angry but wow. I mean, hash tag, he's your president. How's that? Yes, he won.

PALMIERI: Hash tag, if he's going to be my president, then he needs to show me that white supremacy is not acceptable, doors just steps from the Oval Office.

CONWAY: A million times, you know --

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Ugly, right? With me now to talk about this is Tara Setmayer, a Republican and a CNN political commentator, Symone Sanders is a CNN political commentator and former press secretary for Bernie Sanders, and Scottie Nell Hughes is here, she's a CNN political commentator and a political editor at RightAlerts.com.

Welcome to all of you.

TARA SETMAYER, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Thank you.

SYMONE SANDERS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Thank you.

COSTELLO: OK. Going to be a tough conversation but we're going to get through it together.

So, Scottie, was this just politics or does it reflect the two Americas that everybody says we live in now? And I ask you that first because you recently tweeted this. Quote, "I apologize if I ever said anything mean or caused hatred towards someone with courage to respectfully voice an opposite opinion."

So why did you tweet that and what do you think about the top of my question?

SCOTTIE NELL HUGHES, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, Carol, this campaign season has taught me several things and honestly it's shameless book plug, I and others write about those in the December 6th release of CNN's "Unprecedented" which you can get in your local bookstore. But one of the biggest lessons that I was able to learn was it takes courage to continuously go into situations and environments where you know that the audience, the panelists, the people that you're going to be speaking to do not agree with you, do not like you and do not like what you stand for or the candidate that you represent.

Exactly what Kellyanne did last night going into Harvard which not necessarily known to be the cheerleader of conservatism. My apology was to those who over the last 20 years of me being in this industry, if I was in a room where I was actually a part of the majority and this is in response to an interview I did this week on NPR, if I was in the majority, if I caused because of my words or action, caused hate to be directed at that person who had the courage to stand up and voice their opinion, even though I did not agree with me, we live in a country of diversity and freedom of speech.

And as long as we continue to demonize those folks, those willing to stand up, then that does us no good in this country. I think that's a lesson that we need to learn going forward after this election.

COSTELLO: So, Tara, what do you think of Scottie's tweet and her words just now?

SETMAYER: Good for her. Self-reflection is always a good thing. If only the president-elect had similar self-reflection. You know, I think that watching what has happened since the election, obviously during the campaign, we have really seen some of the most divisive language, attitudes, campaign tactics, that we have seen in a long time and it is going to take a lot to heal this country.

[10:35:06] And it starts at the top. It starts with Donald Trump and it starts with who he surrounds himself with. It starts with his own attitude and how he conducts himself.

You know, I appreciate that he last night during his rally rant, victory tour lap thing that he did in Cincinnati, I appreciate at least there was something written into his speech about rejecting bigotry and division and things like that but what troubles me is that it had to be written into his speech. You know, why doesn't he have that same level of passion and conviction off the cuff, when it comes to what has gone on and what has been associated with his campaign?

COSTELLO: Let me -- let me show our viewers specifically what you're talking about. Here's Donald Trump at the rally last night denouncing hate speech.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT-ELECT: We condemn bigotry and prejudice in all of its forms. We denounce all of the hatred and we forcefully reject the language of exclusion and separation. We are going to come together. We have no choice, we have to -- and it's better. It's better.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: You know, Symone, what he said on "60 Minutes," just stop it, somehow that was more effective than at last night's rally.

SANDERS: Well, I have said it before and I'll say it again. The people that needed to hear what Donald Trump said on "60 Minutes" aren't watching "60 Minutes." I believe, again, kudos to Mr. Trump for saying what was written into his speech last night but I agree with Tara here is that we need more. I wish that he would use those Twitter fingers that he has used to attack everyone else to put his message out there on everything else that he's really passionate about and speak directly to stopping the bigotry and the hatred and speak directly to denouncing the white supremacists, and saying that he does not want to associate himself with these type of things.

But I also think actions matter, and I am sorry, Steve Bannon ran the white nationalist, white supremacist Web site Breitbart that has a section called "Black Crime" that has disparaged Jews and women. And he is now going to be in the White House. We have put white supremacy in the White House, thanks to Donald Trump. And that is something that is very jarring for millions of Americans across the country. So we need words but we also need actions. And clearly, Steve Bannon isn't going anywhere.

COSTELLO: And Scottie --

SANDERS: So I'm just not sure what it's going to take to move Donald Trump.

COSTELLO: Scottie, I do want -- I do want to ask you a question about Steve Bannon because he was supposed to be at that Harvard event last night. There were students protesting outside. Steve Bannon canceled at the last minute. I don't know why. But would it have been better for Steve Bannon to be at that Harvard event so that he could answer all of these charges coming out against him?

HUGHES: He was walking into a hornet's nest. I mean, do we realistically think if Steve Bannon appeared that whatever he said, whatever he was able to -- the questions he was able to answer would actually help him, would actually help this situation? Of course not. Why go into a room that's already with the deck stacked against you? Kellyanne went in and she obviously -- even she had to become a little bit more defensive than I think we've seen her normally be.

So why continuously go in and put yourself out? That becomes the story and takes away from what the primary mission is right now which is Mr. Trump and all of the good that he's trying to accomplish and trying to heal our country.

(CROSSTALK)

SETMAYER: But the problem already with that is the fact that you have someone in this position that feels as though they can't walk into a Harvard post-election symposium that's been going on for almost 40 years to be able to have this conversation because of what -- because of his history, because of his own words, because of what he's done with Breitbart. That speaks volumes in and of itself. And it's hard for a lot of the American people to reconcile Donald Trump's, you know, scripted discussions of let's come together and rejecting bigotry and all these other things when you have someone as your chief strategist who has a very checkered past in comments he's made, in claiming that the alt-right and Breitbart was the alt-right's platform.

He brags about being a nationalist which is very dangerous. You know, there's a difference between being a patriot and being a nationalist. And being a nationalist creates a very us versus them power-hungry environment. You know, we've seen what nationalist movement have created history before from Germany, Japan and others.

COSTELLO: Well, I will say this. I will say this.

SETMAYER: And Steve Bannon embodies that and he has yet to come out and dissuade people from feeling what they feel. This is real. You can't dismiss -- the Trump campaign and his surrogates have dismissed these very real goings-on during the campaign.

COSTELLO: Well, let me -- let me get this question in.

SETMAYER: They can't do that.

COSTELLO: Because we're short on time. I want to get this question in to Symone. Because, you know, you heard Scottie at the beginning of this segment, she was saying, you know, if I hurt anyone, I certainly didn't mean it. And I think that many of Mr. Trump's supporters out there do not consider themselves racist. And they are really upset to be called that. And a lot of them that don't really understand why they are being called that, they just want some economic help.

So Symone, what -- go ahead.

SANDERS: Let me -- that's a great question, Carol. So let me be really clear. I do not think that every single Trump supporter is racist. But it is -- we have to be real and understand that the populism around Donald Trump's campaign was intrinsically tied to racism.

[10:40:08] It was intrinsically tied to making people that were not white working class people the other. Make America great again takes us back -- people that look like me takes us back to a time when we were in slavery, when we were in chains, when we worked on plantations. Internment camps for the Chinese. So it is really, really important that if we want to heal, that if people want to get past, if Trump supporters want to say well, why are you calling me racist, that we have to understand that the populism was tied to elements of racism.

And the last thing I would say is that racism is -- a racist, I think people think racism is dogs and white hoods and water hoses and the N word and that is not the only form of racism. There are micro aggressions. There are oh, I didn't -- you speak so well. These are micro aggressions that are forms of prejudice and discrimination that we have to address.

COSTELLO: Scottie, last word. HUGHES: Carol, real quick. Real quick. The fact is more than 200

counties that supported Barack Obama actually went for Donald Trump. That's the reason why Mr. Trump won. And it wasn't because of racism. It was because people were hurting. The Democrats have lost being able to talk --

SANDERS: That is the equivalent of saying I have a black friend.

SETMAYER: That's just mean --

(CROSSTALK)

SANDERS: That is the equivalent of saying that I have a black friend.

HUGHES: I'm saying --

SANDERS: Just because 200 counties voted for President Barack Obama doesn't mean that they don't have elements of prejudice, of discrimination, of racism. That is the equivalent of saying I have a black friend, and we just happen to --

(CROSSTALK)

SETMAYER: I don't think we're saying that racism is why he won. I'm saying that there are elements of that that were very vocal and empowered and given a platform that we have not seen in a long time that was not resoundingly rejected by Donald Trump himself for a very long time. It gave them power. And to the point where you have seen them now having conferences in Washington, D.C. and people -- and because of Steve Bannon's like I said questionable history and things he has said in Breitbart, it's -- people who see this every single day, you can't tell me that the sky is purple when we see that it's blue. And that's what the Trump campaign has done.

COSTELLO: OK. Now seriously -- seriously, Scottie --

SETMAYER: There needs to be acknowledgment of it and then to heal.

COSTELLO: OK, seriously, Scottie has to have the last word because it's been two on one this whole time. So, Scottie, go for it.

HUGHES: It's real simple. Racism is horrible. It's miserable. And unfortunately, those conferences have always been going on. Now unfortunately, though, the media is covering them, putting more of a spotlight on it which I don't think helps the healing process our country needs to be dealing with or dealing with the problem itself.

SETMAYER: Stop blaming the media.

SANDERS: Please.

SETMAYER: It's an excuse. It's a copout.

HUGHES: Blaming the media, but we're now covering a convention that they've had for the last 10 years.

COSTELLO: I've got to leave it there. I got to leave it there.

Tara Setmayer, Symone Sanders, Scottie Nell Hughes, thanks all of you. I'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:47:04] COSTELLO: The battle to drive ISIS from Mosul rages on in Iraq. Just to the south, one town is still suffering even though ISIS left months ago. The terror group's scorched earth tactics have left residents with a toxic legacy.

Phil Black has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PHIL BLACK, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): As ISIS retreated from this territory it transformed the landscape into this apocalyptic vision. The group blew up and set fire to 19 oil wells near the town of Qayyara. We don't know the motivation. More ruthless vengeful destruction or perhaps the hope it would provide cover from air power above.

The fires have burned since August, lowering the sky, concealing the sun, layering the earth and people's lungs with toxic black filth.

(On camera): The heat coming off this fire it is incredible. It's melted much of the ground around the well. The air, it is thick and foul. It really tastes terrible. It makes your eyes water. This is the poisonous atmosphere that people in this part of Iraq have been breathing in and living with for months.

(Voice-over): There's now a desperate effort to fix the wells. But lead engineer Itkhlaf Mohammed tells me it's a difficult complex process.

He says you can't just put the fire out because that would release vast amounts of deadly fumes. First, earth-moving equipment is used to contain the fire and channel the flowing, bubbling oil into reservoirs. Then workers dig down through the flames while trying to keep the oil and their equipment cool as they haul out mounds of smoking sludge and earth.

Gaze through the flames and you can see the fire's red-hot core. They need to get through all of this to find the head of the well. Only then can they determine the extent of the damage and what must be done to close it.

Workers here say the nature of the job is always challenging and dangerous and in the beginning, they had to cope with ISIS as well.

This man says you'll be trying to dig out the fires and they'll be shooting at you. You'll be using the hose and mortars will start coming in.

The group also left mines around the burning wells. Most haven't been cleared yet. It's too early to accurately estimate the value of the wasted oil or the cost of the repair work. The final figure will be many millions of dollars.

The human cost is more disturbing. Families live beneath the towering columns of smoke and a sky that always feels like twilight. Children's faces and hands are stained by the same air they breathe. A dark shadow now hangs over their health, their future, because of yet another toxic legacy left behind by ISIS.

Phil Black, CNN, Qayyara, northern Iraq.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: Coming up in the NEWSROOM, a former NFL player gunned down after an argument at an intersection.

[10:50:02]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Road rage may have led up to the deadly shooting of a former NFL player near New Orleans.

Andy Scholes has more on the death of Joe McKnight. Hi, Andy.

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Hi, good morning, Carol. Yes, the former USC Trojan and New York Jets running back Joe McKnight was killed yesterday following an argument at an intersection in Terrytown, Louisiana.

This happened at 3:00 in the afternoon in broad daylight. Authorities say the gunman stayed at the scene and gave his gun to officers. And investigators say McKnight did not have a gun on him. A witness said the shooter had been yelling at McKnight but detectives still trying to figure out exactly what was said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHERIFF NEWELL NORMAND, JEFFERSON PARISH: She claimed that there were no racial slurs. Just that there were statements being made that, I told you not to mess with me.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHOLES: Now police say the person suspected in the shooting has been released from custody. A spokesperson says he has not been charged at this time and the incident remains under investigation.

Now McKnight was born in the New Orleans suburb of River Ridge. He was considered the number one running back recruit in the country when he signed with USC, spent three seasons with the Jets before his release in 2013.

[10:55:05] McKnight played in Canada this past season. A lot of people reaching out on social media with condolences about the death of Joe McKnight.

Carol, he was 28 years old and still plenty of questions surrounding what exactly happened in that suburb near New Orleans.

COSTELLO: All right. Andy Scholes reporting. Thanks so much.

In other news this morning, some of the victims of the Gatlinburg wild fire being allowed back into the fire zone. It will be their first chance to gauge the damage done by the flames. At least 11 people have been killed in the wild fires and several people are missing.

That does it for me. Thank you for joining me today. I'm Carol Costello. "AT THIS HOUR WITH BERMAN AND BOLDUAN" after a break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everyone. I'm John Berman.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everyone, I'm Kate Bolduan. Whatever you do, don't tell anyone the retired Marine General James Mattis is the president-elect's pick for Defense secretary. It is a secret until Monday. Don't take our word for it. Here's the president-elect --

(END)