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Trump Taps Iowa Governor as Ambassador to China; Time Magazine Names Trump Person of the Year; Trump: "Not Gonna Be A Depleted Military"; Trump Speaks Out on Selling All His Stocks. Aired 9-9:30a ET

Aired December 07, 2016 - 09:00   ET

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

[09:00:00] POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: Sources are telling us he has tapped Iowa Governor Terry Branstad to be the Ambassador to China. Given all that he has said about China on the trail, this is a really important post. We're going to dig into that.

Also, you're looking at the cover of "Time" magazine, namely Donald Trump, the "Person of the Year." Trump also saying that the most coveted role, Secretary of State, probably will not be revealed until next week. He also said Mitt Romney is still in the running.

Trump newly named as "Time" magazine's man of the year pushing back against the headline though, which reads, "President of the Divided States of America." In fact, he says his most ferocious Republican critic, Mitt Romney, is still being considered, as I said, for Secretary of State. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MATT LAUER, NBC HOST: Is he still under consideration?

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT-ELECT OF THE UNITED STATES: Yes, he is.

LAUER: Does he have a chance to become Secretary of State?

TRUMP: Yes, he does. I mean, I've spoken to him a lot. And we've come a long way together. We had had tremendous difficulty together, and now. I think we've come a long way. But the answer is, yes, he does.

LAUER: So this isn't about some case of stringing him along as revenge being a dish best served cold for the comments he made during the campaign?

TRUMP: No, it's not about revenge. It's about what's good for the country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: Our Jessica Schneider is outside of Trump Tower, that transition headquarters.

Good morning to you. No lack of news this morning, Jess. JESSICA SCHNEIDER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Lots of news, Poppy. It is the

most anticipated post, so the question is, when will Donald Trump announce his pick for Secretary of State? Of course, Trump's saying this morning that it's likely to be, at some point, next week.

But all eyes have continuously been on the former Massachusetts governor, Mitt Romney. He's been a contender, in fact, sitting down with Donald Trump twice over the past few weeks. Mitt Romney, after the last time he met with Donald Trump, even came out and praised Donald Trump's electoral victory. Interestingly this morning, Donald Trump talked about the fact that the two have come a long way together and that Donald Trump has come a long way in his thinking about Mitt Romney.

But despite that, over the past few days and weeks, we've heard a lot of other names emerge as possible contenders for Secretary of State. In particular, we've heard about General David Petraeus. We've also heard about former Utah governor and former U.S. Ambassador to China, Jon huntsman. Also emerging just in the past day or so, Exxon CEO Rex Tillerson. He met with Donald Trump here at Trump Tower. Donald Trump specifically called him out by name this morning in that interview, calling him a great man.

So what will transpire here? You know, he was asked if he's merely stringing Mitt Romney along. Donald Trump says he is not out for revenge. This is about what's good for the country.

Donald Trump also shedding some light on the fact that he has, in fact, consulted the current president, President Obama, on some of his potential picks.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: I love getting his ideas and I may differ. In many cases, I defer very greatly about changing of the office (ph).

LAUER: Right, but just real quickly thought. In one of the cases where you went to him with a specific person you had in mind for an appointment, did you go with his recommendation?

TRUMP: I would say that, yes, I take his recommendations very seriously. And there are some people that I will be appointing and in one case, have appointed, where he thought very highly of that person, yes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHNEIDER: So Donald Trump talking about his appointments and nominations. We are expecting another announcement happening probably today or tomorrow surrounding Iowa Governor Terry Branstad. It turns out, we've learned from sources, that Donald Trump has offered Governor Branstad the position of U.S. Ambassador to China, and that announcement is expected on the heels or at that Des Moines, Iowa rally that will happen, part of Donald Trump's "Thank you" tour tomorrow. Interestingly enough, Governor Branstad actually has a close

relationship with the President of China, President Xi. It turns out President Xi was studying in Iowa, studying agriculture, and the two did become friends when President Xi was in school. So a close relationship there that will serve them well moving forward. But that announcement, expected today or tomorrow.

But, of course, still waiting on that Secretary of State announcement. Could that be at some point next week? Donald Trump saying, likely, yes -- Poppy.

HARLOW: Keeping us all on our toes. Jessica Schneider, thank you very much for the reporting this morning.

Let's about all of this with my political panel. CNN's Political Director David Chalian is here. CNN Political Commentator Errol Louis, he's a political anchor at Spectrum News. And David Swerdlick, CNN political commentator and assistant editor at "The Washington Post."

David Chalian, let me begin with you. I think two big things to dive into, first, your take on Terry Branstad who obviously knows President Xi. Also, though, this is perhaps more important an appointment for Ambassador to China than even with past presidents given all of the tough rhetoric against China that Donald Trump used on the campaign trail. What do you make of this pick?

DAVID CHALIAN, CNN POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Well, not just the campaign trail but his recent call, you know, as President-elect with the president --

HARLOW: Yes. Oh, and that phone call with the President of Taiwan.

CHALIAN: -- of Taiwan.

HARLOW: That as well.

CHALIAN: So already, the to-do list for Terry Branstad in that job is growing.

HARLOW: Yes.

CHALIAN: The relationship there that Jessica mentioned is real, and as a young man, he was out there in eastern Iowa studying agriculture, so there is sort of a bond that exists. And you also have to remember, Terry Branstad has been a loyal Trump person for much of this campaign season.

HARLOW: Sure.

[09:05:08] CHALIAN: He didn't want to get formally involved in the primary process during the caucus side, but he has been, and his family, really with the Trump movement all the way through. Iowa was a big victory state for him, one of the states that flipped from blue to red. So taking a loyalist, someone with a relationship with the Chinese

leader when you know that, as President, you're planning on being really tough on China, having someone in there who has diplomatic skills and one of the longest serving governor, I think, in U.S. history, those are not bad skills to have when you know your boss is going to make waves.

HARLOW: Make your job a little tougher, keep you on your toes. Errol, he said Mitt Romney is still in the running, and he said we'll likely get an announcement next week on Secretary of State. Given all that even Kellyanne Conway has said about his base hates that, despises that pick, what do you think of Trump still at least keeping Romney right on that shortlist?

ERROL LOUIS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, it's interesting because it sort of shows the two polls.

HARLOW: Yes.

LOUIS: One poll of how you make a big appointment like this is the domestic politics. So you get a Governor who is well regarded within the Party from Iowa and so forth, but then there is the competence issue. There's, can the person do the job? And I took, when Donald Trump said that, he thinks Mitt Romney looks the part.

I don't think that was necessarily a superficial statement. But sort of a more important one, that somebody who's got a certain kind of standing on both globally, is kind of a known quantity, can carry himself in a certain way, maybe temper some of the red meat instincts of the rest of the national security team and the President himself. That somebody who's got a little bit of diplomatic sort of bearing might be what he's looking for.

HARLOW: David Swerdlick, I found it fascinating listening to Donald Trump's interview on the "Today" show this morning when he said to Matt Lauer that, actually, he's taking advice from President Obama on some of these appointments. And he even said that he made an appointment that President Obama liked and approved of and was in his camp on. I wonder whoever who that is?

DAVID SWERDLICK, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yes. I don't have that reporting, Poppy, but I will say that, you know, you've clearly seen a change in posture of President-elect Trump toward President Obama since Election Day, since that first meeting between the two of them two days after Election Day when it looked clear to me, anyway, with the two of them sitting there in the Oval Office, that President-elect Trump had a new sobriety about his demeanor after having sat down and talked about some serious issues with President Obama.

It makes sense that if President Obama is willing to provide advice, that at least during the transition face, President-elect Trump will take it. But 45 days from now, President-elect Trump will be the person in charge and no longer taking advice but actually making those decisions.

HARLOW: Yes. David Chalian, back to you. The cover of the headline here, "President of a divided America," Trump didn't like that. He said at the end of the interview that he thought it was snarky. And he said, I didn't divide them. They're divided now. I'm going to bring them together.

CHALIAN: Right. I mean, this is part of the argument he was trying to make throughout the whole campaign. He obviously was part of dividing America, that he ran one of the most divisive presidential campaigns in history. And I think he's keenly aware that that is not going to be a successful formula for governing. I think if you watched him, Poppy, last night in Fayetteville --

HARLOW: Yes, I did.

CHALIAN: -- I thought it was fascinating. He really was trying. He started to get into a rift about poll numbers. He's like, oh, we're not talking about numbers anymore.

HARLOW: He pulled back.

CHALIAN: We're unifying. When the crowd booed the press, he tried to tamp it down from them, and I don't ever recall Donald Trump doing that. He seems to be aware that he is starting this monumental task as President of the United States in a more precarious position because of the divisiveness of the campaign. And he seems pretty interested right now in trying to, at least, make the effort that he indicates to everyone he is aware that he's going to be the president for everyone.

I don't know if it will be successful. It was a pretty, you know, burn the bridges kind of campaign. But that is clearly what he's doing right now, which I find really interesting.

HARLOW: Yes, I did too. That line, you said that to me last night in Fayetteville, you know, I'm the president of all Americans. I will unite us.

Errol Louis, let's listen to what he said to Matt Lauer about his Twitter habits.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LAUER: I have not seen you backing off fights on Twitter in the time since you've been elected. You've targeted the cast of "Hamilton," "The New York Times," China, Boeing, the media, and "SNL." Is this proving to be a habit that you're finding a difficult time breaking?

TRUMP: No, I think I am very restrained and I talk about important things. I talk about, you know, as you know, recently, China, and the fact -- we talked about their devaluation. We talked about they are building this massive military fortress in the middle of the South China Sea, which they're not supposed to be doing, and other things.

And frankly, it's a modern day form of communication. I get it out much faster than a press release. I get it out much more honestly than dealing with dishonest reporters because --

LAUER: On that --

TRUMP: -- so many reporters are dishonest.

LAUER: On that subject --

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: It is a modern form of communication, Errol. I mean, you heard the worker from Carrier last night in Van Jones, his fantastic town hall, "THE MESSY TRUTH," talk about Donald Trump's tweets as the way he gets information. Can he keep doing this from the POTUS account? What did you make of that answer?

LOUIS: Well, not only can he, I expect that he will.

HARLOW: Will he, is my better question.

[09:10:02] LOUIS: No, I expect that he will. I expect that he will. And I think what will happen is -- and he'll figure this out sooner or later, I think -- is that this whole question about bringing the nation together is 180 degrees at odds with his habit of spouting off quickly. You know, he's talking about the speed of it. Well, why do you quickly have to tell us what you think about "Saturday Night Live," you know? I mean if --

HARLOW: So Matt Lauer asked him about "Saturday Night Live" and, David Swerdlick, very quickly, Matt Lauer said, why can't you stop watching "Saturday Night Live" if you really don't like it very much? And he just kept saying, I think it's a really bad show. I don't think it'll be on the air very much longer. Should he drop this?

SWERDLICK: Yes, I think Errol is right. It reflects a thin skin-ness that we saw on the campaign trail. Twitter is a good tool for him to go above the heads of those of us in the media, but it is a document. It's not any less his quote than a press release or a speech. If he says something, unless he says that he was hacked or that someone else had their thumbs on his phone when the tweet went out, it is a presidential statement. And he's got to start sort of getting his arms around that idea. He can use the tool, but what he says matters.

HARLOW: And you can't delete them because they're all part of the federal record there once you're president.

SWERDLICK: Yes.

HARLOW: Guys, thank you. David Chalian, Errol Louis, David Swerdlick, we appreciate it.

Much more to talk about ahead, obviously, in the next hour. First, we are following some breaking news. A passenger plane crashing in northern Pakistan. Officials say that Pakistan international airlines, this plane lost control and contact with the control tower as it was heading to Islamabad. It was an hour-long flight it was on. The plane was carrying 48 people. Of course, this is early hours and all of these, as soon as we get more information, we will bring it to you. I'll be right back. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:15:41] HARLOW: President-elect Donald Trump talking tough last night on terror at a "Thank You" rally. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENT-ELECT: We're not going to be a depleted military anymore.

(APPLAUSE)

From now on, it's going to be America first. We will stop racing to topple foreign -- and you understand this -- foreign regimes that we know nothing about, that we shouldn't be involved with. Instead, our focus must be on defeating terrorism and destroying ISIS.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: Donald Trump said this yesterday and this just hours after President Obama delivered his final address on national security at the MacDill Air Force Base in Florida.

The president was speaking to U.S. troops. And one thing was clear: his message was aimed at least, in part, at his successor.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Adhering to the rule of law is not a weakness in the long-term, it is our greatest strength. The whole objective of these terrorists is to scare us into changing the nature of who we are and our democracy. And the fact is, people and nations do not make good decisions when they are driven by fear.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: Our Athena Jones is live this morning at the White House.

Good morning, Athena.

ATHENA JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Poppy.

This was a wide-ranging speech. The president used it to tout his administration's accomplishment when it comes to counterterrorism. He talked about the killing of Osama bin Laden, weakening al Qaeda, the progress made so far against ISIS in Iraq and Syria. And he also talked about the important work of protecting Americans, a more broadly. He talked about his administration's success in thwarting attacks on American by foreign terrorist organizations.

Here's more of what he had to say there.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: No foreign terrorist organization has successfully planned and executed an attack on our homeland. (APPLAUSE)

And it's not because they didn't try. Plots have been disrupted. Terrorists have been taken off the battlefield.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JONES: Now, of course, critics might point out while a foreign terrorist organization hasn't been able to carry out a plot on American soil, there have been others, lone wolf attackers who have been able to successfully attack America, whether in Orlando or San Bernardino, people who are inspired by foreign terrorist organizations.

And, Poppy, you mentioned this being some sort of message to the incoming president. The White House insists that this is a speech that was in the works, that was being planned since before Donald Trump was elected. So it wasn't written for him or in response to him. But it's very clear that the two leaders do not agree on how to approach the world on several fronts.

So, you did hear the president continuing to make his case for closing the prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. That's a prison that President- elect Trump says he wants to keep open and fill up with more bad dudes. The president also talked about the need to maintain the ban on torture. Trump during the campaign talked about bringing back waterboarding.

So, it's very clear the two leaders have a different approach to the world. The message, if anything, that the White House says the Trump team should take from this speech is that it's a complex world. And resolving or solving the world's problems will require complex solutions. No easy answers that may fit into a campaign slogan -- Poppy.

HARLOW: Athena Jones, live for us at the White House, thank you for that. We appreciate it.

And as President Obama and President-elect Trump deliver their speeches, they also strike different tones when it comes to the war on terror, as Athena just said.

With me once again, our panel, CNN political commentators Errol Louis and David Swerdlick. Also with us now, CNN military analyst, retired Major General Spider Marks.

Welcome, gentlemen.

And, Errol, let me begin with you because Donald Trump said this yesterday, this stood out to us, the script for what we are doing has not yet been written. To some, that is music to their ears, to others, that is scary to hear. What's your take?

LOUIS: Well, the script for -- the notion that the script has not been written, I hope he was talking about the particulars of policy. [09:20:02] Because there's a great deal of change going on in the

world, right? We have had changes in leadership in Britain following the Brexit, in France going on right now, millions of protesters in the streets right now in South Korea, there's a lot that's going on.

If that's what he meant, that's one thing. When it comes to the underlying values, the underlying doctrine, including the defense doctrine that's going to guide this country over the next few years, it is a little bit startling to hear, because with all of those kind of changes that I just listed, and there are a half dozen other countries you can talk about from Saudi Arabia on, where there's act of shooting wars and other kinds of instability, the notion that the United States is anything other than a rock of stability, guided by core values and principles that others can't sort of understand and build around, is really not going to work out for the world in general and for the United States, in particular.

HARLOW: It goes to the question of was it the latter, the call with Taiwan, for example, and what the goal is in all of that.

General Marks, to you, there is quite a difference in how President Obama and the president-elect deliver their message, right? Especially when it comes to the war on terror. Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Radical Islamic terrorism, words that some people don't like to say, an ideology of death that slaughters innocent men, women and children.

OBAMA: We are fighting terrorists who claim to fight on behalf of Islam. But they do not speak for over a billion Muslims around the world. And they do not speak for American Muslims, including many who wear the uniform of the United States of America's military.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: Here is how my colleague, our colleague, Stephen Collinson, put it, the headline of his piece -- he said, "A commander in chief who prizes nuance and restraint put his legacy in the war on terror Tuesday in the hands of a brassy successor who embodies gut-check leadership."

When it comes to how our allies react when President Obama was inaugurated, there are major differences there. What's your take?

MAJ. GEN. JAMES "SPIDER" MARKS, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Well, here are major differences. I think the key thing is the most important ingredient that the United States commander-in-chief or president needs to take is the motion of predictability in his leadership style.

In other words, as we all understand, what has to happen is enemies need to take pause when they listen to our president. And our friends need to be emboldened and ensured. And they need to feel that we have a steady course, we've got some predictability, and we have some measured response to what is going on. And, in fact, we need our alliances and we need our friends wherever they are. And we need to pick those very, very, very precisely.

We also need to try to convert those that want to do us harm. That doesn't take place if you're unpredictable and kind of all over the map in terms of your proclamations.

Where we are right now is we have an exiting president and incoming president. And it's difficult for us not to juxtapose what might be again what has been over the course of the last eight years.

HARLOW: One thing we know on that point, General, for example, is that President-elect Trump has said, why would we ever talk about our strategy? For example, in Mosul, right? He was very critical of that.

I spoke not long ago with someone who was a Clinton supporter who voted for Clinton who said, but I think Trump is right, not to publicize our strategies. Now, there's a lot of complexity to that and a lot of reason why, as you know, you know, the military does that. But he is very different in terms of what he will say or will say publicly about U.S. strategy going forward.

MARKS: Yes, what we are doing is we're conflating strategy and operations at the tactical level. I can't speak for the president- elect, but when he says, we don't talk about what we are going in Mosul, guess what? That's a tactical engagement that involves Iraqi security forces and the support of the United States and other partners.

At the strategic and in fact, I would argue, at the policy level, policy drives strategy. And what we would all want our president to do is be very determined and very focused on what his policies are. Then, we can derive what those individual strategies might be and tactics are.

What's happening in Mosul has nothing to do with strategy and everything to do with tactics. You do want to keep that classified.

HARLOW: David Swerdlick, back to you, what he said last night after General Mattis gave brief remarks there saying, you know, I hope I get the waiver approval from Congress and would love to serve. And then here's what Donald Trump said about that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEN. JAMES MATTIS (RET), TRUMP'S PICK FOR SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: With our allies strengthened, with our country strengthened, I look forward to being the civilian leader, so long as the Congress gives me the waiver, and the Senate votes to consent. Thank you very much.

TRUMP: You'll get that waiver, right? You're going to get that waiver.

Oh, if he didn't get that waiver, there would be a lot of angry people. Such a popular choice.

(END VIDEO CLIP) [09:25:00] HARLOW: What did you make of the way that the president- elect put that, David?

SWERDLICK: So, the way he ended that statement, it was a little bit dismissive of Congress who has to confirm General Mattis as secretary of defense. That being said, I don't anticipate that this is the kind of issue which our Republican Congress is going to defy the incoming Republican president in his first 100 days. I anticipate, I don't know, but I anticipate that General Mattis will get that waiver, I anticipate that he'll be confirmed as secretary of defense.

The challenge comes down the road when policy meets practice in terms of whether President-elect Trump has to shift in the Middle East, wants to shift in Iraq and Syria, wants to shift on the Iran deal, and how General Mattis carries out his directives from the White House. Going back to what General Marks said a moment ago, I really think that what you'll see from President-elect Trump as we go 45 more days until he's inaugurated is getting closer and closer to the realization that what the challenges are militarily and of the foreign policy, Poppy, have to do with policy. Not things like the element of surprise, right?

I mean, I defer to General Marks when it comes to strategy and tactics, but the element of surprise is not our challenge with ISIS yet.

HARLOW: Errol Louis, David Swerdlick, General, thank you all very much. Appreciate it.

MARKS: Thanks, Poppy.

Fareed Zakaria sits down with President Obama, speaking about the triumph and struggles of his time in the White House. This is a CNN special report, "The Legacy of Barack Obama". That is tonight at 9:00 p.m. Eastern.

Donald Trump is speaking out about why he apparently sold all his stocks worth millions of dollars before the election.

CNN business correspondent Alison Kosik is with me just moments away from the opening bell on Wall Street.

Good morning to you.

ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Poppy.

HARLOW: This was an interesting revelation. He said he sold them back in June, I believe, and gave a different answer now as to why he did that to what he was saying about the market back then.

KOSIK: Right, two different reasons. I want you to listen to the reason he gave today for cashing out of the stock market in June. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

INTERVIEWER: Why did you sell all your holdings in June?

TRUMP: Because I felt that I was very much going to be winning. And I think I would have a tremendous -- a really big conflict of interest owning all of these different companies.

INTERVIEWER: So why not announce it back in June when you were under fire for a lack of financial transparency?

TRUMP: I let everybody know. I let everybody know. I was never a big stockholder, but I bought a lot of different stocks. And I had a lot of stocks before then, too. And what I did is I sold them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KOSIK: A very different answer from what he said in August of this year right after he got out of the stock market saying it was a very scary stock bubble that pushed him out of the market. You know, either way, we kind of have to take his word for this as far as whether or not he did sell his shares. It's hard to verify because he's yet to file a current financial disclosure form. The next time he's required to do so, it will be May of 2018.

But we do have an idea of some of the stockholdings. You can see them there. They include Boeing, Pepsi and GE because of a financial disclosure form that he did file in May.

One closing note to give you, Poppy, if he would have stayed in the markets he would have made some money because the S&P 500 is up 5 1/2 percent since June -- Poppy.

HARLOW: You took the words out of my mouth. That's what I was going to say, no bubble yet. We'll watch.

Alison, thank you.

KOSIK: You got it.

HARLOW: Opening bell is in two minutes.

Still to come, Donald Trump knows the art of the deal. He ran on being a billion-dollar businessman. But can he use the same tactics, tough negotiating, when he's in the White House? What about conflicts of interests in doing that. We'll talk about that all, next.

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