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Trump Picks Climate Skeptic to Head EPA; Trump Admiration for Obama Surprising; Trump Refusing to Believe Russia Hacked DNC, Podesta E-mails; Syrian Rebels Plead for Humanitarian Ceasefire; U.K.'s Johnson Headed to Saudi Arabia; Trump Chinese Ambassador Pick Meets Chinese Approval. Aired 1:30-2p ET

Aired December 08, 2016 - 13:59   ET

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

[13:30:00] A.B. STODDARD, ASSOCIATE EDITOR & COLUMNIST, REALCLEARPOLITICS: I think David's right. First of all, with Donald Trump, his hallmark is to be consistently inconsistent and to sort of be really animated by the last conversation that he had or the last sort of debate that took place. And so, he obviously made a point to have Al Gore there. He was apparently on that letter to "The New York Times" a few years ago, talking about -- I mean, to the Obama administration -- excuse me -- about the need to act on climate change from 2009. He's been inconsistent on this issue.

But it is true that he really needs to placate conservatives. He wants these symbolic box-checking appointments that makes everybody happy. Conservatives brought him to town. They have to keep him in town. At the same time, it is true, he's hiring several people to jobs who are in favor of the TPP trade deal, which he opposed and said he's going to rip up. So, we don't really know yet what he's going to do once he's in office.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: He's confusing some people. In "The New York Times" interview the other day, he said humans do have a role, some role --

STODDARD: Yeah.

BLITZER: -- in climate change, if you will.

All right, everybody, stay with us.

There's a lot more. We're also learning new details about the growing relationship between President Obama and President-elect Trump. We'll discuss that, and much more right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:35:25] BLITZER: A surprising development in the Trump transition has been Trump's admiration of President Obama.

Let's bring back our panel, Zeke Miller, A.B. Stoddard and David Chalian.

David, Donald Trump has been very effusive in his praise of the president. DAVID CHALIAN, CNN POLITICAL DIRECTOR: He likes him a lot. We

learned from M.J. Lee, had done some reporting about what went inside a closed-door fundraiser Trump was at. Not for purposes of cameras. How much affection he has for President Obama these days. And President Obama, of course, is making use of the relationship for really trying to protect some of the things that he feels most attached to for his legacy. To just try to make sure, as he described it, that Donald Trump understands what these items do and that if you roll it back what the implications of that will be.

BLITZER: A.B., Dana Bash, our chief political correspondent, says that the president almost sees himself as an educator in chief as far as these conversations with the president-elect are concerned. One of his most important issues, climate change, listen to what the president told Fareed Zakaria in our CNN special report last night.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: If 20, 30, 50 years from now, we look back and we say we dealt with this in a serious way, I'll be happy to say that was one of my proudest achievements, even though I didn't do it by myself.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: He clearly wants the incoming president to continue part of that legacy.

STODDARD: There are indications that President Obama is going to be a climate leader once he leaves the presidency. I think he's probably let Trump know that. And obviously, Donald Trump has his own interest from his daughter on this issue.

But with regards to other issues, you know, it was clear in the first meeting that he talked about Obamacare in a way that really made it more compelling to Donald Trump and made him come out of that meeting saying he was ready to -- and everything else. He also reportedly frightened him about North Korea. So, an opportunity for him not only to protect his own legacy but to really help someone who needs information about this very single experience.

And the very interesting thing is to see how much Donald Trump appreciates it. The way he's being so effusive about Obama. The only person in the world that Donald Trump really needs is President Obama. And Obama's been gracious and helpful. You can just see how appreciative Donald Trump is by all these nice things he's saying.

BLITZER: The president has been very gracious in making sure that the outgoing administration provides all the help possible to the incoming administration.

One sensitive issue that came up in the "Time" magazine interview -- and you were part of that Zeke -- is Donald Trump still refusing to accept the notion that Russia interfered in the U.S. presidential election by hacking the DNC or John Podesta, the chairman of the Hillary Clinton campaign, e-mail. He said this, "I don't believe they intervened. That became a

laughing point, not a talking point, a laughing point. Any time I do something, they say, oh, Russia interfered. It could be Russia. It could be China. It could be some guy in his home in New Jersey. Democrats pushing for an investigation."

That was the quote from Donald Trump, the interview with you guys at "Time" magazine.

"Democrats pushing for the investigation. I have a very different analysis." Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. ELIJAH CUMMINGS, (D), MARYLAND: Experts agree that there is overwhelming evidence that Russia interfered with the 2016 presidential election. Overwhelming. It's not disputed. It's overwhelming.

REP. ERIC SWALWELL, (D), CALIFORNIA: Our intelligence community has publicly stated with high confidence Russia was responsible. You know, I think, you know, Donald Trump should take his intelligence briefings.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: So why do you think the president-elect is still skeptical?

ZEKE MILLER, POLITICAL REPORTER, THE NEW YORK TIMES: Not only did he not think Russia was behind it, he also, when we asked him, was the assessment of the intelligence said he thinks so. They're making assessments for political reasons. I think with Donald Trump often there's the reality and the perception. With Donald Trump, often perception is more important than reality. He doesn't want it to be true. Even if it is true, he doesn't want to have to deal with it that way. He wants to maintain a closer working relationship with Vladimir Putin. He's made that clear over and over again. If this would get in the way of that, he doesn't want to acknowledge that it's factually true. So, he's willing to even put blame on the hard- working professionals in the intelligence community whose intelligence briefings he's supposed to have every day.

CHALIAN: And no just consume, but rely on to make decisions. This raises a serious question. If you are questioning political motivations of the information providers that you need desperately, not just that he's going to lead them, but he has to rely on that information to make decisions.

[13:40:24] BLITZER: This is going to be a big issue in the days, weeks, months ahead.

Guys, thank you.

Coming up, a look at the growing humanitarian crisis in Aleppo, Syria. As government forces push further into the besieged city, what's being done to help the hundreds of thousands of civilians, including so many children, who are trapped inside? We're going live to Aleppo when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: The Syrian army claims that it has stopped military actions in Aleppo, focusing efforts on evacuating residents. That, according to the Russian foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov, who calls it the largest ever evacuation of eastern Aleppo residents.

Our senior international correspondent, Frederik Pleitgen, is in Aleppo with the very latest.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(EXPLOSIONS)

[13:45:03] FRED PLEITGEN, CNN SENOR INTERNATIONAL CORRSEPONDENT (voice-over): This is what rebel desperation looks like during the nights, firing at jets in the sky, unable to stop them from dropping their deadly load.

And this is what the rebel's defeat looks like when day comes, thousands of civilians fleeing the old town of Aleppo only hours after government forces took most of it back.

Among them, this woman with her seven children, one of them, her baby.

"There was a lot of shelling behind us, a lot of shooting in front of us, and air planes above us," she says. "We barely managed to get out."

Most seemed weak and malnourished. Some resting, finally in safety in this former school. The smallest, a baby girl, is only seven days old, born as the battles were at their worst.

(on camera): It's remarkable some of the scenes we are witnessing here. Hundreds of people have come across the border crossing between eastern and western Aleppo. And many are taking shelter in buildings like this one, carrying only a very few possessions they could take as they fled.

(voice-over): Soldiers take us to the places they recaptured from opposition forces only hours before. We've seen Syrian troops evacuating elderly, and rebel barricades showing how intense the fighting was.

(on camera): Just look at the destruction here. We are actually in the old town of Aleppo right now. This entire area until a few days ago, was on the front line.

(voice-over): While this may not be the end of the opposition's fight in Aleppo, many of those fleeing describe the rebel's moral sinking and the harrowing conditions of the area.

"We didn't have food and barely any bread," this man says. "We were eight people. They would only give us two loaves of bread every two days, and that was it, for all of us." While much of eastern Aleppo has been reduced to rubble, one thing

expanding was the cemetery. This one ran out of space as the bodies kept coming.

Now that much of eastern Aleppo has changed hands, Syrian soldiers plant their flag on the ruins of the place have just conquered.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: Fred's joining us live now from Aleppo.

This humanitarian crisis is so, so awful, Fred. Update our viewers. Is anything getting through to those hundreds of thousands of people who are trapped, including so many children?

PLEITGEN: Well, that's the thing, Wolf, is absolutely nothing is going into those besieged areas of eastern Aleppo. It was really absolutely tragic to see some of those people coming out of eastern Aleppo. You can tell how defeated they were. You can tell they hadn't been able to change their clothes, to wash, to get any real food. The Syrian soldiers gave them a couple of pieces of bread, and even those they absolutely devoured, dry bread, simply because they hadn't had anything real to eat over the past couple of weeks, over the past couple of months. At the same time, of course, it's very cold here right now so they were suffering from that as well. It was really some tragic scenes. When they get out, they do get a little bit of help. It isn't enough for all the needs that those people have. They do get a little bit of help. But going in, there is absolutely nothing at this point.

You know, the Russians have just announced that they say they've halted -- or the Syrian military has halted its air strikes on eastern Aleppo and its strikes in general. We are, however, hearing still some mortars going off here in Aleppo, even though the Russians have said that has now stopped -- Wolf?

BLITZER: Those shells, then blown-up buildings, so, so awful to think people were inside.

Fred, thanks so much for your reporting. Fred Pleitgen is on the ground in Aleppo for us. We'll check back with him.

The British foreign secretary is headed to Saudi Arabia. But Boris Johnston may receive a chilly reception following rather undiplomatic remarks he made about the U.K. ally.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BORIS JOHNSON, U.K. FOREIGN MINISTER: That's why you've got international -- you've got the Saudis, Iran, everybody, moving in and puppeteering and playing proxy wars, and it is a tragedy to watch it. We need to have some way of encouraging visionary leadership in that area, people who can tell a story, that brings people together, from different factions and different religious groups, into one nation. (END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: For more on this, let's bring in our international diplomatic editor, Nic Robertson, who's joining us.

Nic, this was a bit awkward since Theresa May has just returned from her own visit. How have they responded to Boris Johnson's comments?

[13:49:54] NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Pretty harshly, Wolf. They said this was not the view of Number 10 Downing Street, British Prime Minister's Theresa May's office. They say this is Boris Johnson's own view. Theresa May was, only in a couple days ago, having dinner with the Saudi king in Bahrain, praising his leadership. Britain does a huge amount of trade in terms of military trade, billions of dollars worth of trade with Saudi Arabia. That's what Theresa May was in the gulf shoring up those relationships because Britain is leaving the European Union and it needs those links. So, Boris Johnson saying this is very untoward for the British government at the wrong time.

He is, as you say, just about to go to Saudi Arabia. I was talking to a Saudi source a few minutes ago, and he tells me the Saudis have already sent Boris Johnson's office a very strongly worded letter -- Wolf?

BLITZER: And he's still planning on going.

What was really irritating, I take it, to the Saudis, is that the British foreign secretaries lump the Saudis and the Iranians in the same basket, admonishing them equally, if you will, and the Saudis see themselves totally different than their rival, the Iranians, is that right?

ROBERTSON: Absolutely. The Saudis see Iran as an expansionist Persian Empire moving into Iraq, moving into Syria. They see themselves as a stable monarchy that is sort of a key player on the global stage, attends the G-20, helps set -- a major leader in setting the global oil price. The view on Boris Johnson is that this is a man who, when he came to office, many people wondered how long he could hold the job because of the gaffes that he makes. A few weeks ago, after Donald Trump was elected in the United States, he accused other European leaders of winching. He refused to attend a foreign ministers dinner to meet about it. He later, when meeting with those foreign ministers, said that the European Union should allow Turkey to join, when only weeks or months ago, in the summer, he'd been campaigning against that. Putting the European Union's foreign ministers, particularly the German foreign ministers' nose right out of joint at a time when Britain is going to have to go and negotiate very delicate diplomatic terms over Brexit, over negotiating Brexit.

Boris Johnson really, here again, has perhaps made his most significant gaffe. It's not his first one. People wonder how many more of those he can endure and still keep his job.

BLITZER: Nic Robertson joining us live from Amsterdam in the Netherlands. Nic, thank you very much. Still to come, President-elect Donald Trump taps the Governor of Iowa

for the job of U.S. ambassador to China, but despite being thousands of miles apart graphically, the governor shares some close ties with the Chinese president. A special report from Beijing when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:57:] BLITZER: President-elect Donald Trump's pick for U.S. ambassador to China, the Iowa Governor Terry Branstad, is meeting with approval, lots of it, from China. Branstad, who has had a long-time relationship with China's president and other Chinese leaders, will appear with Donald Trump later tonight in a thank-you tour. That appearance taking place in Des Moines, Iowa, his state.

CNN's Matt Rivers is joining us live from Beijing.

Matt, what can you tell us about the Chinese, the reaction to the choice of Terry Branstad, the governor of Iowa, as the next U.S. ambassador to China, assuming he's approved, confirmed by the U.S. Senate?

MATT RIVERS, CNN ASIA-PACIFIC EDITOR: Well, the reaction here in Beijing has kind of been a 180 from what we saw in the last couple of days. It's safe to say that relations between the U.S. and China under the incoming administration perhaps haven't gotten off on the best footing, given the phone call President-elect Trump took from the president of Taiwan and some of the anti-China rhetoric we heard from him throughout the campaign. But this particular appointment of this governor is being met with really, really high praise here in Beijing. It's not something we hear from top officials calling out specific American officials regularly with this kind of laudatory words.

Let's show you a little bit of what was said at a Ministry of Foreign Affairs press conference earlier today by the spokesman.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LU KANG, SPOKESMAN, CHINESE FOREIGN MINISTRY (through translation): As Iowa governor, Terry Branstad has made great efforts in pushing forward cooperation and communication between the United States and China. We hope he'll make a greater contribution to the development of U.S./China relations.

The U.S. ambassador to China serves as an important bridge linking the governments of the U.S. and China. We're willing to work with whomever takes this position and strive for the continued sound and steady development of bilateral ties.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RIVERS: It's no surprise you're hearing that statement from Beijing officials because of the relationship between President Xi and Governor Branstad. It goes back to 1985 when 31-year-old Xi made his first visit to the United States as part of a delegation going to Iowa study agricultural policy. In 2012, Xi had risen to the vice- presidential position in China, about to assume the presidency, goes back to Iowa, and says part of his vision of America is because of what he saw during his visit in Iowa.

So, this appointment of Governor Branstad, assuming it goes through, certainly an olive branch towards the Chinese from the incoming administration.

BLITZER: Very important relationship, indeed.

Matt Rivers, in Beijing, thanks for joining us.

That's it for me. The news continues right now on CNN.

[14:00:11] BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: Wolf, thank you so much.

Hi, everyone. I'm Brooke Baldwin. Thank you for being --