Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Newsroom
Report: Senate Pays Tribute to Vice President Biden; Veteran Recalls Horrors of Pearl Harbor Bombing; Carrier CEO on Trump Deal -- I Wasn't Born Last Night
Aired December 07, 2016 - 15:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[15:30:00] ANA CABRERA, CNN ANCHOR: Right now, senators on both sides of the aisle honoring the legacy of the legendary former Senator Joe Biden. This is Senator Harry Reid, the senate minority leader.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HARRY REID, SENATE MINORITY LEADER: One of his college buddies got a tax return. They were going to take a vacation from the cold of Delaware. They went to Florida. They didn't like it. They had a few dollars left over from the tax returns and they went to the Bahamas and they got kind of an inexpensive hotel. I was going to say cheap but let's say inexpensive.
But right next to them was an exclusive hotel and they noticed when the people came out of the fancy hotel off that private beach many times they would lay their towel on the fence. So, Joe and his pal said, well, those towels aren't even wet. So, they went down to that private beach and it was there that he met a young woman by the name of Nelia Hunter. I'm sure just like Jill she must have been a knockout to look at.
She went to the University of Syracuse. She was on the dean's list. She had been homecoming queen. That was the beginning of a relationship they had, Joe had been smitten. After graduating from the university of Delaware he enrolled in Syracuse to be closer to her. The story of his and Nelia's relationship was stunning. I repeat, it was something movies were made of.
Without being too personal but I'll just say it the way it is because it's a wonderful story and I can identify with it so well because of Landra and me -- Landra and I, I should say -- there came a time when her father came to her and said, you know, he's not that much, he's -- he comes from a family that isn't like ours. And she said "dad, stop, because if you make me choose between you and Joe, I'm going to choose Joe." so that was that relationship.
As I repeat, Landra and I understand that story quite well they were married a short time later, they had three children, Beau, Hunter and Naomi. After starting his law practice, starting as city councilman Joe in Newcastle, Delaware, Joe stunned and embarrassed a few of his friends and relatives by saying he was going to run for the senate. You run for the senate?
Against a two-term incumbent Caleb Boggs? I think I can do it. I'm sure he said to himself a lot of people said I couldn't overcome certain things, I did and I'll do my best to overcome this race I'm in, I'm starting way behind. Joe and his family went at this as hard as they could, canvassed the entire state and they pulled off an upset. Joe Biden was elected to the United States senate. In every respect Joe's life, has been unique.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CABRERA: So, again that is Senator Harry Reid sharing stories about Vice President Joe Biden as they give him a tribute, honoring prior to him leaving his seat in the White House and moments ago, we heard from Senate Majority Leader Republican Mitch McConnell who paid tribute in this way.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MITCH MCCONNELL, SENATE MAJORITY LEADER: Presiding officer back in the senate, good news for everyone when he's in the chair. Good news for him because as the senator pointed out, the rest of us have to call him Mr. President. Good news for the rest of us because he has to let everyone else talk.
The amazing thing is, the man we honored today wasn't always a talker. He suffered a debilitating stutter for most of his childhood. He was teased for it. But he was determined to overcome it with hard work, with determination, with the support of his family,
[15:35:00] it's classic Joe Biden, he's never stopped talking since. He cites overcoming that stutter one of the most important lessons in his life. It led him down a path few might have foreseen. Winning an election to the county council. Securing an improbable victory for the U.S. senate, becoming our nation's 47th vice president.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CABRERA: Who knew about that stutter? Joe Biden, that was new to me. With me now, CNN presidential historian Doug Brinkley and CNN chief political analyst Gloria Borger. It's fun to hear stories from these friends, these colleagues, obviously, some of these folks who have been there in Washington a long time and know Joe Biden well. Because he has been there since 1972 when he was first elected to the senate. He wasn't even 30 years old at the time now he leaves as vice president age 74. Gloria, when you reflect back on what we have known and learned about Joe Biden, his time in Washington, in politics, what do you think has been his defining moment or calling or champion issue?
GLORIA BORGER, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, there are a bunch of issues that he has championed, prominent among them is the violence against women act which he shepherded and is incredibly proud of. When I think of Joe Biden -- again, he's the definition of a fixture in the United States senate. He'd been there for 36 years before he was tapped to become vice president. In his adult life, he's really only known public service. He's not a wealthy man. He is somebody who has only served in lots of different ways. He was chairman of the senate foreign relations committee as well but
the word that comes to mind when I think about Joe Biden -- and I'm curious to what Doug thinks about this -- is authentic. We talk about politicians who just are -- stick on their talking points and we know Joe Biden does not do that. Ever. Much to the chagrin of his staff but with Joe Biden what you see is what you get. He is an authentic person who has a set of beliefs who is not afraid of talking about them and who tried a couple of times to run for the presidency. In 1988 about again in 2008 and decided not to this year because his life has also been beset by tragedy. He lost his first wife and a one- year-old daughter in a car accident right after he was elected to the senate when he was 29 years old. Lost his son Beau Biden, who was 46 years old, to cancer last year.
CABRERA: Well, and Gloria mentions this challenge for Joe Biden Near the end of his term. We heard from mitch McConnell, some of his earlier challenges, overcoming the speech impediment. Doug Brinkley, when history books write their stories about Joe Biden, how do you think they will reflect on him as a human being and as a public servant?
DOUG BRINKLEY, CNN PRESIDENTIAL HISTORIAN: Well, everybody calls him Joe. I once did a profile of him for a magazine and walked around with him and people would say "hey, joe." Not "hi, Mr. Vice President." So, there was a familiarity people had with Joe Biden. He seemed like the every man.
He always talked about growing up in Scranton and taking the Amtrak train to Delaware and his presence in Washington, D.C. with his wife Jill, they're beloved here. They know everybody and so they are almost institutions in the town of Washington but I think he'll be remembered in history being Barack Obama's two-term vice president. The fact that when President Obama had difficulty doing business on capitol hill, Joe Biden would get in there and work with Mitch McConnell, work on unemployment issues, work on tax relief issues, work on a variety of measures when things seemed stuck, including keeping the government running.
I don't know if we've ever had a vice president that was so important as Joe Biden in the sense of his friendship with Barack Obama and so his role in both the senate and as vice president are very large indeed.
CABRERA: We'll have to leave it there. Thank you both for sharing your thoughts.
Up next, 75 years since the bombing of Pearl Harbor. CNN speaks to a veteran who was there.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KYUNG LAH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Do you think "I'm a war hero"?
B.C. WILBORN, PEARL HARBOR SURVIVOR: Oh, no, no, gosh. Just the opposite.
[15:40:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CABRERA: 75 years later, the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor remains the most devastating attack in U.S. naval history. Vice President- elect Mike Pence and Senator John McCain honored the fallen heroes of Pearl Harbor laying a wreath at the World War II memorial in Washington. And Former President George H. W. Bush, his wife Barbara and Bob Dole were present at a Pearl Harbor ceremony at the Bush library in College Station, Texas.
[15:45:00] CNN correspondent Kyung Lah has a look at the horrors of Pearl Harbor through the eyes of a young naval officer who survived it.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LAH: Ask B.C. Wilborn the secret to reaching age 95 in good health, he'll say a love of horse racing and a lot of experience in surviving. Do you think, "I'm a war hero."
WILBORN: No, no, gosh. Just the opposite. Think what you could have done or didn't do.
RADIO ANNOUNCER: The Japanese have attacked Pearl Harbor.
LAH: 75 years ago, Wilborn stood aboard the USS Oklahoma as the Japanese launched an early morning attack on Pearl Harbor just a was a 21-year-old petty first class officer in the Navy. What did it feel like to be in the middle of that?
WILBORN: I didn't have no fear because I see everything is happening and it just seemed like a -- unreal.
LAH: Daughter Edie and her husband Ron.
EDIE, DAUGHTER OF B.C. WILBORN: They paid a big price for us to be free.
LAH: How old are you here?
WILBORN: I was 24. 25.
LAH: They had pictures and saw their father's purple heart but Wilborn never talked about World War II until, for reasons no one can explain, a few years ago. Just started talking?
RON STANTON, WILBORN'S SON-IN-LAW: Just started talking, I'm sad to say I didn't have a tape recorder to get.
LAH: He hasn't stopped talking. Wilborn sharing horrors of the men he couldn't save on board the capsized USS Oklahoma.
WILBORN: You could hear tapping on the wall, people thinking they were going to get rescued. After about two days, maybe in the third day it stopped and no more.
LAH: More than 400 men died on the Oklahoma. 75 years later you can still recall that sound.
WILBORN: Oh, gosh, yes. It was about the saddest thing I saw in the Navy because I don't know, you seem so helpless.
LAH: Unlike many survivors, Wilborn never went back to Pearl Harbor. That's changing this year, 75 years later he's returning for the first time since that day of infamy. What changed? Why did you start thinking about it?
WILBORN: It's a sad day and -- but -- I don't know, you try to get it out of your mind and it don't go.
LAH: So, this survivor faces one last battle of his own memories, Kyung Lah, CNN, Collinsville, Illinois.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CABRERA: What a man.
Up next, new details about the deal President-elect Trump says he made with Carrier to keep hundreds of jobs in the U.S. Well, now the CEO of Carrier's parent company says they there really was no deal at all and he admits the Indiana plant will still have fewer jobs in the long run.
[15:50:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CABRERA: More now about Carrier, the company whose Indiana jobs President-elect Donald Trump took credit for saving. Carrier says in a few weeks prices are going up by as much as 5 percent on heaters and air-conditioners. The CEO of the parent company, United Technology, spoke to CNBC about his conversations with the President-elect. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GREG HAYES, CEO, UNITED TECHNOLOGIES: I was born at night but not last night. I also know that about 10 percent of our revenue comes from the U.S. government. And I know that a better regulatory environment, lower tax rate can eventually help UTC over the long run. So, we weighed all those things in making the decision, with the board --
JIM CRAMER, CNBC HOST, MAD MONEY: But you weighed it not the President -- the President-elect didn't say, Greg, have you seen how many engines we buy from you? It did not come up.
HAYES: It did not come up. There was no deal. There was no quid pro quo for him saying, I am not going to tax you if you do this. He said take a hard look at it. We worked with Governor Pence and I think we came up with a good solution for everybody. Keep the plant open. 1100 people employed in Indianapolis. We get to do the preponderance of the restructuring that we were going to do anyway.
(END VIDEO CLIP) CABRERA: Bringing in Cristina Alesci. One of the union reps here tells CNN they felt like they were part of a dog and pony show at the big announcement. How do you think this will shake out long term for Carrier employees?
CRISTINA ALESCI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's an excellent question. Carrier the company is happy to let Trump take a victory lap, like many other companies have been. They know in the long term they might get fewer taxes, less regulation. So, they're willing to take the long view here. The problem is that people get hurt in the intervening period, right?
I spoke to the union today. They told me there were people who believed their jobs were saved and then only to find out, oh, no, you know, there are a certain part -- there's a certain part of the plant that is going to Mexico indeed. So, the problem with the way Trump is handling these announcements and these deals is that, when he puts it out on twitter that he is saving jobs or that he is encouraging investment here in the U.S., he only gives part of the story.
The part of the story that makes him look good. He doesn't talk about what the costs are to these particular deals. For example, with Carrier, taxpayers of Indiana are going to burden some of the costs associated with keeping these jobs because the state is giving the company some tax breaks. So, the larger question is, do Americans want the president to negotiate these one-off deals, behind closed doors, without fully understanding all of the unintended consequences?
CABRERA: And you're learning there weren't as many jobs saved as initially reported, right?
ALESCI: That's exactly right. So, when the deal came out and Donald Trump and Pence announced it, they referenced 1100 jobs. In fact, the number is 800 jobs. So, again, when people heard 1100, especially the people in Indiana who I went to go visit, they thought all of the jobs are saved. But in fact, that wasn't the case. There were -- there is a line -- there is a particular part of the factory that is actually getting shipped to Mexico to do that work.
[15:55:00] CABRERA: Interesting. I know we couldn't play the whole clip for time reasons. But there is another section where he references the shift towards automation, which means longer term we could see --
ALESCI: Longer term, how do you save jobs from technology and intensely cheaper labor overseas.
CABRERA: Thank you for staying on top of it.
Up next, President-elect Trump picks a third general for his inner circle. What we know about retired general John Kelly now chosen to be the secretary of homeland security.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CABRERA: This just in. An update now on the wildfires in Tennessee that left 14 people dead. Two juveniles are now under arrest for allegedly starting the fires there. The suspects charged with aggravated arson in the wildfire that spread to Gatlinburg, Tennessee, and burned more than 1600 buildings.
That will do it for me on this Wednesday. Thank you for being here. "The Lead" with Jake Tapper.
