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Sen. Graham Leading Inquiry on Election Hacking by Russia; John Boehner Talks Presidential Transition; Bob Dole as Taiwan Lobbyist Arranged Trump/Taiwan President Phone Call; Trump Picks Iowa Governor Terry Branstad as Ambassador to China; Neighbors Previously Reported Oakland Warehouse as Safety, Health Hazard; Trump N General John Kelly as Homeland Security Secretary. Aired 2:30-3p ET

Aired December 07, 2016 - 14:30   ET

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

[14:30:00] ANA CABRERA, CNN ANCHOR: Plus, "Thank god, I'm not the middle of this." Those words, reaction from John Boehner on what he calls a down-right bizarre political year. What else the former House speaker said in this post-election interview.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CABRERA: A couple of breaking political stories right now. First, former House Speaker John Boehner weighing in on the presidential transition. He's not mincing words.

Then there's this, South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham saying he plans to go after Russia by leading an inquiry in claims of hacking and possible links to the U.S. election.

CNN's Manu Raju joins us from Capitol Hill.

Manu, let's talk about Senator Graham, this hacking investigation. What is he going to do?

MANU RAJU, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: He's launching two investigations by two of his subcommittees that he chairs next Congress to look into broadly how Russia has affected not just the domestic elections here but its role internationally and how he views Russia as meddling with foreign policy decisions and hurting the domestic security of the United States.

Lindsey Graham talking very tough about Russia just a few moments ago. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[14:35:13] SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM, (R), SOUTH CAROLINA: I am going to lead the charge to investigate Russia's role not only in the elections but throughout the world. So, I'm going after Russia in every way you can go after Russia. I think they're one of the most destabilizing influences on the world stage. I think they did interfere with our elections and I want Putin personally to pay a price.

RAJU: Should Trump take a tougher tone with Russia?

GRAHAM: I think Trump should take a real tough tone with Russia because, if he doesn't, you're going to allow Russia to begin to break apart alliances, the European Union.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: The reason why this is significant is the fact that Republicans will be controlling Congress next year and they can make decisions on what to investigate and not to investigate and right now we have not heard from a lot of Republicans about whether they will go forward with investigations. We've heard Democrats calling for investigations into Russia and Russia's influence and whether he helped Donald Trump, but not a lot from Republicans, so the decisions by Lindsey Graham very significant. He believes there should be sanctions imposed on Vladimir Putin. This is something he's working with John McCain on as well. So, Donald Trump will get a lot of pressure from some Republican hawks on Capitol Hill to do more about Russia next year.

CABRERA: Let's turn Boehner and the comments he made today. You talked about it being a Republican-controlled Congress a whole and John Boehner not there to be part of. He is not so sad to be missing, is he?

RAJU: He's very happy. That abrupt decision sent Republicans into a tail spin last year when he decided suddenly he was going to resign as speaker of the House and resign his seat in the House. But telling a local Cincinnati station that he said, "Thank god, I'm not in the middle of this," calling it the most bizarre political year in a hundred years. And he is actually friends with Donald Trump. They're texting buddies. They've played golf together in the past. And he said Trump is not really a Democrat or Republican. He compared him more to Teddy Roosevelt. So, the former speaker making his views known about what everyone believes has been an unusual political year -- Ana?

CABRERA: No doubt about it,

Manu Raju, thanks so much.

RAJU: Thank you.

CABRERA: Let's pull back the curtain on that controversial phone call between Donald Trump and the president of Taiwan. "The New York Times" now reporting that former Republican Senator Bob Dole worked for months behind the scenes to set the stage for this phone conversation. Now according to the report, Dole did it as a paid lobbyist of the Taiwan government, earning more than $140,000 for this call for this firm.

Now I want to bring in CNN political commentator, Lanhee Chen, a fellow at the conservative think tank, the Hoover Institution, served with both the Romney and Rubio presidential campaigns.

And for transparency, you are the son of immigrants from Taiwan. In fact, you just got back from there. I want to get your reaction to this report that Dole worked as a paid lobbyist for Taiwan to arrange the call.

LANHEE CHEN, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, look, think it's not unusual, Ana, that you see different governments trying to curry favor with the United States. I think obviously, in many cases, the relationship is going to be the most important relationship that many countries have.

Now with respect to Taiwan, I think that relationship, the Taiwan/U.S. relationship is extremely important to the Taiwanese and, from the American perspective, as Donald Trump pointed out, we have some interests in our relationship with them as well. So, I did see the reporting. I don't frankly find it that unusual but it's a very sensitive time with everything that's going on.

CABRERA: And Taiwan Ministry of Foreign Affairs calling Dole an important friend. Let me read you more about this report. He says Dole lobbied Trump's team for months. He arranged for a Taiwan delegation to attend the Republican National Convention.

Now Trump made a point to drain the swamp, get lobbyists out. Isn't this the exact opposite?

CHEN: I think this is the challenge, Ana that comes with transitioning from campaigning to governing. In many situation, you have people that have been very involved with U.S. foreign policy or U.S. policy issues generally and have the potential to be a helpful voice, like Senator Dole. And it's a challenge trying to balance people that have been involved in this for a while with fresh voices. And I think that's what they're trying to do with the transition now. And I think you're seeing how the process can move in fits and starts as they try to accommodate new voices with those that have been around for a while.

CABRERA: This one call broke decades, four decades with the U.S. policy dealing with China, dealing with Taiwan in this region. Given your insight, perspective and closeness to the situation there, how big of a deal do you think that phone call is in the big picture?

[14:40:00] CHEN: In the big picture, Ana, I'm not sure it's as significant as some have made it out to be.

Look, the U.S. and Taiwan do have a relationship. It's gone back decades. It's not as if the president-elect was proposing a change in the One China policy this government has had for some years. I think he was merely reiterating the friendship that exists between the U.S. and Taiwan.

As you noted, I was just in the region last week. I think people, generally speaking, are curious about what the Trump administration will do but I think, broadly, didn't see it as a change in policy. Perhaps it was a difference in protocol. Perhaps it's something that hadn't been done in some time. But the U.S./Taiwan relationship is important, as is the U.S./China relationship. So, we'll see how the U.S. administration navigates this.

But to put so much stock into one phone call may be overdoing it a bit.

CABRERA: And I want to get your thoughts on Trump's pick of Iowa Governor Terry Branstad, a friend of China, now named ambassador to China. What do you think about that?

CHEN: I think it's a very strong pick, because Governor Branstad has a personal relationship with President Xi Jinping of China. Obviously, they've known each other for some time. And it signals the importance of that bilateral relationship between the United States and China. Obviously, picking someone with familiarity not just with the Chinese but President Xi specifically, particularly as it looks as though President Xi may be poised to hold on to power for a few more years I think signals the importance of that relationship to the Trump administration to the United States.

CABRERA: Do you think his pick is reassuring to China given the back- and-forth we've seen in the past couple of days, in those tweets of Donald Trump, attacking China and going after them on trade and their difference the South China Sea, for example?

CHEN: I do think it will be reassuring in the sense that Governor Branstad is a familiar figure to many in the Chinese high command. It demonstrates the value the president-elect places on the relationship.

But I think, from the Chinese perspective, they have a tendency to see Donald Trump as a pragmatist, someone who will focus on the economic issues of the United States and China have. And I think nominating Governor Branstad to be ambassador reinforces some of that pragmatism. So, I think they have some optimism about the relationship, notwithstanding the tweets, but some of that is the public diplomacy versus the very important private diplomacy that will take place once Trump takes office.

CABRERA: Thanks for the great information, Lanhee Chen. Good to have you.

CHEN: Thank you.

CABRERA: Coming up, more on our breaking news, Donald Trump naming retired Marine General John Kelly to lead the Department of Homeland Security, the third general tapped for Trump's cabinet. We'll discuss straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:46:46] CABRERA: A pop singer who gave up stardom to focus on religious music was among 50 people who was killed in a plane crash in Pakistan. This is amateur video of that fiery wreck. Authorities say there are no survivors. 46 bodies have been recovered, along with the so-called black box. Pakistan International Airlines says 48 people were on this flight. The twin-engine propeller plane was on its way to Islamabad.

Closer to home, the search for bodies in the Oakland, California, warehouse fire ended, but the investigation continues. Police say 36 people died. This fast-moving fire started during a party, trapping dozens of people in this two-story warehouse that we know has been called the Ghost Ship.

And we're learning it's a building that neighbors reported as a safety and health hazard.

CNN correspondent, Paul Vercammen, is joining me live from Oakland.

Paul, the search of this building is done. What's the latest word on the cause?

PAUL VERCAMMEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Ana, just moments ago, we saw agents with Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, federal agents, walk into the warehouse now that it's safe and secure. Their focus, an area on a back wall where they say there were a lot of appliances. Off camera, one of the residents said to me he felt like that fire may have started on the first floor in that area. That's what we'll look into and, hopefully, we'll learn more when they come back out.

CABRERA: I know you're learning more previous complaints regarding the warehouse. What details have you uncovered?

VERCAMMEN: They're just stacking up. It goes back in time. There are things such as pests inside and they had garbage complaints and the piling up of more serious, that there were all sorts of illegal construction going on, construction that would have allowed for this honeycomb, if you will, of residences inside. And at one point, people saying some 20 to 25 people lived in there. So now you have an investigation within an investigation. How could all of this have fallen through the cracks? The city of Oakland going to look at that and its processes to see why nobody got in there and blew the whistle on how Ghost Ship became this vast maze where so many people were residing -- Ana?

CABRERA: Paul Vercammen, live from Oakland, thank you.

The artists who lived and worked at that Ghost Ship warehouse were a close-knit community. Firefighters found some bodies intertwined, hugging, a sign some victims had been trying to protect each other as they took their final breaths.

Gabe Meline joins me live from San Francisco. He is the online arts editor for KQED, the San Francisco public radio.

Gabe, thanks for joining us.

I know you wrote a moving piece about the warehouse fire for KQED titled, "It Could Have Been Any One of Us." You have played inside some of these spaces, despite safety concerns. You say they are a safe haven in other ways. Explain.

[14:49:52] GABE MELINE, ONLINE ARTS EDITOR, KQED: They are. For all of the focus that's been on the dangers of this particular warehouse, there are a lot of warehouses similar to this that are DIY underground spaces that are really the only places that a lot of people have to go to play their art, to play their music. And there's a lot of fear and anxiety in this community right now.

CABRERA: You lost a close friend and a colleague in this tragic fire. Tell us about him.

MELINE: Alex Cassan (ph) was a film producer at KQED. He was a talented filmmaker, eternally curious about other people's stories, and he was a close friend of us. He leaves behind two beautiful daughters, a fiance, his mother. And we're all trying to get over this news.

CABRERA: It breaks my heart when you see the picture and put the faces with the names of people who have died.

Some people have called the Ghost Ship a death trap. I know you want to see these places live and survive and thrive. What's the answer to making sure that happens but, yet, can prevent a tragedy like this from happening again?

MELINE: Well, my friends and other people who work in these spaces take this incredibly seriously. There is a concerted effort to make these places safe, if they are not already safe and legal. Cracking down on these spaces, evicting people, as we've seen, people holding press conferences about other warehouses they're worried might be the next Ghost Ship, that's not the answer in this case.

What we are focused on, especially, we know the way the news cycle works, we know they're in the criminal investigation stage of the psyching, the "what went wrong stage" of the cycle. We want to honor the people that were lost. After the national media leaves Oakland, there are people that we are going to continue to remember. People like Chelsea Faith, Johnny Egaz (ph), Joey Cassio (ph), Farrell Pines (ph), Arejo Kyomi (ph). We refuse to forget these people's contribution to a very thriving underground community here in Oakland.

CABRERA: What's your next step?

MELINE: We are working on an online memorial dedicated to spotlighting the talents and contributions of these people.

If you knew these people, if you are family, please get in touch with us at KQED's Facebook page or e-mail us at arts@KQED.org.

CABRERA: Gabe Meline, thank you for sharing your thoughts with us.

MELINE: Thank you.

CABRERA: Up next, back to our breaking news, Donald Trump naming his pick for Homeland Security. Who is General John Kelly? We have his back story.

Plus, we are watching Capitol Hill where Vice President Joe Biden is about to be honored on the Senate floor. We will take you there live as it happens.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:57:66] CABRERA: Hello, I'm Ana Cabrera, in for Brooke Baldwin, on this Wednesday. You're watching CNN.

We have a transition-of-power alert. Donald Trump has just revealed the nomination for a major role on his national security team. Retired Marine General John Kelly is now the president-elect's choice for secretary of Homeland Security.

Let me bring in CNN chief national security correspondent, Jim Sciutto.

Jim, what do you know about General Kelly?

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: First, we should say he's the third general to be nominated to be in Donald Trump's cabinet. You have Michael Flynn, as national security advisor; James Mattis, as defense secretary nominee, pending a waiver; and now you have John Kelly. Like Mattis, a Marine general, respected by both parties and certainly up and down the military ranks, combat commands. Some of the toughest assignments going back to the gulf war, frankly, but also in Iraq and Afghanistan.

In terms of positions -- and this could very well be one of the things that caught Trump's attention about General Kelly -- and that is, when he led Southern Command, he spoke specifically about the danger, the need for greater security along the U.S. southern border, the border with Mexico, less about immigration, more, in his view, about the risk that terrorist groups might use that border -- al Qaeda, ISIS and others -- to infiltrate soldiers. He testified on the Hill about this in 2015. So, on that issue, a potential meeting of the minds with the president-elect.

Just one final thing I would mention, Ana. This is something that particularly for the military ranks that has enormous meaning. And this is that General Kelly is a Gold Star father. He lost his son in combat, Second Lieutenant Robert Kelly, also a Marine, killed in Afghanistan. One of the Marine units, as my colleague, Barbara Starr, notes, that had some of the heaviest casualties in that war. So, a person to run this position who has made the ultimate sacrifice in terms of warfare, military service, losing one of his own.

CABRERA: Jim, you point out this is the third retired general that Donald Trump has now selected or nominated to one of these cabinet positions. How do you think it came to be him versus some of the other names that had been floated for this position, Rudy Giuliani, Representative Michael McCaul?