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Exxon-Mobil CEO Top Secretary of State Contender; Trump Continues to Irritate Chinses Government; Israel's Netanyahu to Meet with Trump on Iran Nuclear Deal; Trump Squares Off against Congress, Intelligence over Alleged Russian Hacking; Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid Talks Russian Hacking of Election; Civilians Desperate to Escape Aleppo. Aired 1:30-2p ET
Aired December 12, 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] MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERANTIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The hope now is Trump can seal the deal. And hope, too -- and this is a result of what Donald Trump said during his campaign -- some kind of agreement can be reached about Crimea or at least it can move away from the center of the relationship between the United States and Russia. Of course, Russia annexed Crimea back in 2014 from Ukraine. Also, NATO expansion. Trump and Russia appear to share similar misgivings about continued expansion of that military alliance. So, a lot of expectation.
The problem is, of course, in reality, once Trump takes up his position inside the Oval Office, he may not be able or willing to deliver on any of those issues, from a Russian point of view. Could be a lot of disappointment here in Moscow over the next several months as what the presidency actually means, as it becomes apparent.
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Clearly, hopes it will bring improvement in the U.S./Russian relation.
Matt Rivers, let's talk about the U.S. and China during a Trump administration. The president-elect creating more waves with China, his phone call with the Taiwanese president, first time since the late '70s that an American president or president-elect has had a direct phone conversation with the president of Taiwan. Listen to how Donald Trump is explaining that.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT-ELECT OF THE UNITED STATES: I fully understand the One China policy, but I don't know why we have to be bound by a One China policy, unless we make a deal with China, having to do with other things, including trade. I mean, look, we're hurt very badly by China, with devaluation, with taxing us heavily at the borders when we don't tax them, with building a massive fortress in the middle of the South China Sea, which they shouldn't be doing and, frankly, no helping us at all with North Korea.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: So, Matt, did China -- I know China reacted, but were they caught off guard by this? MATT RIVERS, CNN ASIA-PACIFIC EDITOR: Well, I don't necessarily think
they were caught off guard, given the fact that President-elect Trump had that phone call with the Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen but maybe they thought there could be controversy stirred up in the U.S./China relationship given what we've seen over the last week or so. But we did hear strong words from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, a spokesperson at the regular daily briefing today in Beijing. Perhaps not surprising the strong words from them, given that anything that has to do with Taiwan and any perceived threats to the One China policy is very, very sensitive to China's government. Let's hear a lot of what that spokesperson had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GENG SHUANG, SPOKESMAN, CHINA MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS (through translation): Adhering to the One China principle is the political bedrock to the development of U.S./China relations. If is compromised or destructed, the sound and steady growth of the bilateral relationship as well as bilateral corporation in major fields would be out of the question.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
RIVERS: And just this afternoon, we're getting reporting from CNN's Jim Sciutto that a senior U.S. defense official telling CNN China, for the first time, flew nuclear-capable bombers over the conflicted areas in the South China Sea, an area expanded aggressively militarily. Those flights took place a few days ago, according to this defense official, after that phone call between Taiwan's president and President-elect Trump. He can't say why those flights happened, but timing, certainly very interesting.
BLITZER: Very interesting, indeed.
Elise, you've been looking into the Israeli/U.S. relationship. The prime minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, was on "60 Minutes" last night. Listen to what he said about the president-elect.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER: I know Donald Trump. I know him very well. And I think his attitude, his support for Israel is clear. He feels very warmly about the Jewish state, about the Jewish people, and about Jewish people. There's no question about that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: So what do you hear about the emerging U.S./Israeli relationship? You know, at times, over the past eight years, occasionally some friction between the prime minister and President Obama?
ELISE LABOTT, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: And relations between the U.S. and Israel, while tense, particularly over the Iran deal, you know, still remain strong in terms of U.S. defense for Israel's security. I think that will only you know, increase under Donald Trump. Particularly things will get better over the Iran deal. Donald Trump made no secret of the fact he doesn't think this is a very good deal. He wants to strengthen it. He may want to renegotiate it. And I think some of the acrimony between the two leaders does hamper relations. This will only, I think, get better. Donald Trump is expected to talk very early on with Prime Minister Netanyahu about the Iran deal.
I think what you'll see, once Donald Trump's cabinet comes in, takes a look -- for instance, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis had said he doesn't think tearing it up is a big deal. But I think things will get better with Israel.
And we also know, Wolf, Donald Trump wants to move the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, a controversial policy. I don't know if that will actually happen. Again, Jim Mattis might come in, say, look, that could be problematic. And I think they're expecting that across the board on a lot of issues, for Trump to moderate. Certainly, on Israel, I think both leaders are expecting to have a very warm and cordial relationship. These are two men that have done business together and likely to do a lot more -- Wolf?
[13:35:27] BLITZER: Rex Tillerson, if he becomes secretary of state, he may have different views about Israel than Donald Trump -- than Donald Trump has. But in the end, it's up to Donald Trump. If he wants to move the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, no matter what General Mattis or Rex Tillerson might say, he can do it, if he wants do it. He will be the president of the United States.
LABOTT: We'll see.
BLITZER: We'll see in fact what happens.
Guys, to all of you, thanks very much.
Coming up, Congressman Steve Scalise, one of the House of Representatives' top-ranking Republicanss -- you see him there -- discussing what's shaping up to be Donald Trump's first confrontation, potentially, at least, with Congress over Russia's involvement with the U.S. election. The reports out there. We'll discuss with Congressman Scalise, right after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: President-elect Donald Trump says nobody knows for sure who was behind the hacking during the 2016 presidential election. That puts him at odds with the U.S. intelligence community that's pointing the finger at Russia.
Joining us now to talk about that and more, the House Majority Whip Steve Scalise, Republican Congressman from Louisiana. He just emerged from a meeting with Donald Trump's chief of staff, emerging White House White House chief of staff, Reince Priebus, over at Trump Tower.
Congressman Scalise, thanks for joining us.
REP. STEVE SCALISE, (R-LA), HOUSE MAJORITY WHIP: Good to be with you, Wolf.
BLITZER: I want to talk about you and Reince Priebus discussed. But what do you make of the president-elect the skepticism and the even dismissal of the U.S. intelligence communities' findings that Russia was responsible for hacking the National Democratic Committee and other Democrats, like John Podesta, chairman of the Clinton campaign?
[13:40:19] SCALISE: You're seeing divisions within the intelligence community. The FBI is not on the same page with the CIA on this. You know, so if they're going to investigate, that's a good thing. I'd like to see President Obama a little more concerned about hacking that's occurred across the board by countries, not just like Russia, but North Korea, China, going after our retailers, individual personal accounts of families across the country. Pretty much every business hacked by foreign countries. They should have been aggressive a long time. Look, let's go find the facts.
BLITZER: The FBI and the CIA -- I should point out, not just the CIA -- director of National Intelligence, responsible for 16 different U.S. Intelligence communities, all agree it was Russia that was responsible for the hackings. But the FBI and the CIA apparently disagree whether it was specifically designed to help Donald Trump or simply disruption the U.S. election system, to embarrass the U.S., if you will. Seems to be the only difference, but agree Russians were involved. Donald Trump isn't convinced yet. Are you?
SCALISE: That's why I say, let's go investigate it, let's get all the facts out there. That's what everybody should agree upon. It shouldn't just be Russia we're concerned about, because many countries that are not our friends have been hacking into American accounts across the board. Again, retailers, we've seen many stories of massive breaches. A lot of individuals have had their personal information compromised. And then we've seen just about every corporation in this country hacked or attempted to be hacked by foreign countries
BLITZER: Sources tell us the Exxon-Mobil CEI Rex Tillerson appears to be the lead are candidate to become the next secretary of state, though no final decision has been made. Final decision is made only after Donald Trump makes that final decision.
Are you concerned, like some Democrats and Republicans, for that matter, about Tillerson's close relationship, close ties with Russia over the years?
SCALISE: Well, if you look at Rex Tillerson -- I've met him a few times, he's testified from the committee I sit on, and presents himself incredibly well. He's known for and frankly, respected for around the world, his ability to negotiate, international agreements. That's a good thing. That's something you would want in a secretary of state. Some say the only person with more experience in dealing with countries like Russia is Henry Kissinger. I don't think anybody knocks Henry Kissinger's credentials. If you look at Tillerson's background, he's head of one of the largest companies in the world, an American-based company in Exxon. Employs tens of thousands of Americans. This is the kind of person that's got very respected credentialed around the world. He can negotiate tough deals with foreign countries. And that would be a big asset to the incoming Trump administration.
BLITZER: I know you just emerged from this meeting with Reince Priebus, incoming White House chief of staff. Did you reach an agreement on the first 100 days, what are going to be the two or three most important issues the new president wants you, the House of Representatives, and the Senate, for that matter, to enact?
SCALISE: We're excited about working with the Trump administration in that first 100 days. Our main focus will be on jobs, rebuilding our economy, creating more jobs, and if you listen to Donald Trump he talks about that all the time. Also, strengthening our military. We've got a plan in place to, number-one, go not only unravel job- killing regulations but go after Obamacare, probably one of the biggest job killers in this country. Premium increases that have been unbelievable. You saw families just a few months ago, got billed over 25 percent higher. In March, we're already hearing that the projections are increases on health care because of Obamacare will be another 20-plus percent. This law is failing millions of families across the country. So --
BLITZER: Your top priority --
SCALISE: -- repealing and replacing it.
BLITZER: Your top priority is getting rid of Obamacare, lowering taxes? Is that what I hear you say?
SCALISE: What I'm saying is, to rebuild our economy, to create jobs, and it starts by rolling back regulations that killing jobs in America. Making the tax code competitive is a big part of that. We're seeing too many job leaving the country because was have the highest corporate tax rate in the world. It makes no sense for us to lose our competitive advantage to countries like Ireland, Canada. Let's get those jobs back in America. We're going to be working really hard the first 100 days to get the economy moving again and build the middle class back up again and strengthen our military.
BLITZER: We know that Donald Trump wants to reduce that corporate tax rate from 35 percent down to 15 percent. The speaker wants it at 20 percent. They're not far apart on that.
Congressman Scalise, thanks very much for joining us.
SCALISE: Great being with you, Wolf.
[13:45:00] BLITZER: Coming up, the Senate minority leader, Harry Reid, what he thinks about the Russian hacking controversy. And why he didn't mince any words at all when it came to the FBI Director James Comey. The candid interview with Harry Reid, when we come back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: The Senate majority leader, Mitch McConnell, says he has, quote, "the highest confidence in the U.S. intelligence community, despite President-elect Donald Trump's calling their conclusions that Russia hacked the U.S. presidential election ridiculous." McConnell was also asked this morning if he supports Congress conducting a bipartisan investigation.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL, (R-KY), SENATE MAJORITY LEADER: It's an important subject, and we intend to review it on a bipartisan basis. The Russians are not our friends.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: Our senior political reporter, Manu Raju, was there at McConnell's news conference.
He also had a chance to sit down with the Senate Democratic leader, the minority leader, Harry Reid, who is leaving the Senate right now.
Manu joins us from Capitol Hill.
Senator Reid, Manu, had been pushing before the election for the FBI Director James Comey to release information on Russia's hacking. What does he think about the state of the investigation right now?
MANU RAJU, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL REPORTER: He thinks James Comey has suppressed information about Russia and Donald Trump in order to help Donald Trump. He made it very clear that he believes that what James Comey did, in intervening late in the election about Hillary Clinton's e-mails, actually cost Democrats the Senate, cost Democrats the White House.
Now, I had a chance to ask him specifically about his very explosive charge that there was coordination between Donald Trump and the Russian government before the elections. And I asked him about what evidence he has. This is what he had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
[13:50:26] SEN. HARRY REID, (D-NV), SENATE MINORITY LEADER: The DNC was hacked. Everybody knew that. We knew WikiLeaks was coming on drip by drip by drip. They wouldn't do it all at once, of course, because they were coordinating this obviously with the Trump folks and the Russians.
RAJU: So just to be clear, are you saying that the Russian government was, in fact, trying to steer this election to Donald Trump?
REID: My opinion is yes. And we got no basis in fact from the FBI. They ignored. Now we are hearing, and you guys are reporting all of this stuff from the intelligence agencies. They clearly see it.
RAJU: Do you think that Trump, in any way, is an illegitimate president because of the Russian involvement?
REID: No, I never said that. Of course, I wish someone else had won, even though Hillary Clinton got three million more votes than him. We have a system, an Electoral College system, and he won. We accept that.
RAJU: Would Trump have won this if Russia didn't get involved?
REID: All I know is that Russia helped a lot. Those WikiLeaks coming out, drip, drip, drip, hurt her. And Comey helped Trump significantly. A week before the election, he came out with this, oh, we've found some more e-mails, and as result of that, we lost Senate seats, and I think we lost the presidency.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
RAJU: Now, Reid also said he does not think Rex Tillerson, Trump's likely secretary of state pick, would get the 51 votes needed to be confirmed.
He also said that he thinks Joe Manchin, a fellow Democrat from West Virginia, is running for a spot in the administration. Manchin, course, Wolf, meeting with Trump right now.
BLITZER: Very quickly, Manu, what evidence does he have that the Trump campaign was coordinating with WikiLeaks and the Russians before the election?
RAJU: He didn't offer that. I asked him three times. He said, there are press reports, he said the DNC hack, WikiLeaks, but he did not say explicitly what evidence he heard, particularly in those classified briefings.
BLITZER: Manu Raju, reporting from Capitol Hill. Thank you.
Coming up, thousands of civilians are caught in the middle of the battle for Aleppo right now, and the only way to flee is through the front lines. We'll take a look at this very dangerous journey for men, women, and a lot of children. An uncertain future, that's next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[13:56:26] BLITZER: After weeks of intense air and ground assaults, it now appears the city of Aleppo in Syria may fall back into regime hands, at least parts of it.
Our senior international correspondent, Fred Pleitgen, is with us in Beirut, having just left Aleppo.
Fred, what is happening to the civilians, first of all, in the neighborhoods?
FRED PLEITGEN, CNN SENIR INTERNATIONAL CORERSPONDENT: It's an awful situation for the civilians there in Aleppo. You're absolutely right, this could be the final hours of the rebels having a foothold in Aleppo. You know, even by the standards, the horrible standards, of the Syrian civil war, the amount of firepower that was unleashed on Aleppo the past couple of days was probably more intense than anything that we've seen in the past five years. Of course, you have these civilians that were trapped there in the middle. And the only way for them to get out, Wolf, was to go right through the front line. Here's what we saw.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
(EXPLOSION)
FRED PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This is as close as journalist can get to Aleppo's southern front line. Air strikes, artillery and gun battles, the shrinking opposition enclave is getting pounded by Bashar al Assad's forces.
(EXPLOSION)
PLEITGEN: For tens of thousands of civilians trapped inside, the only escape is to walk right through this front line.
And a situation where the rebel area is so bad, and many are, an exodus under fire.
(on camera): There is a massive almost avalanche of people trying to make it to safety. As you see, there are people who are carrying their children, but also a lot of children left to make the trek themselves. It's so difficult for many of them. Of course, they've been under seize for such a very long time.
(voice-over): This is what total exhaustion from starvation and war looks like this.
This woman was wounded when her house collapsed during the fight.
"It is indescribable inside," she says, "Hunger, suppression, it's everything bad you can imagine. No medicine. We have nothing. Literally, we could not get any treatment for our injuries."
(on camera): All of this, of course, as the rebels continue to lose control of those eastern districts of Aleppo. And also, while the fighting is going on, we're hearing constant barrages of artillery. We're hearing rockets being fired. It's a very dangerous trek that these people are making. And it's a trek into a very uncertain future.
(EXPLOSION)
PLEITGEN (voice-over): We found this family about half a mile from the front line, too tired to walk any further.
"I left my house," the father said. "I don't want my house. I want to be safe. I want my children to be safe."
(EXPLOSION)
PLEITGEN: And thousands like them are also risking their lives, going through one of Syria's most-violent front lines hoping somehow to reach a safe place.
(END VIDEOTAPE) PLEITGEN: So there you can see the utter desperation that's making these people make that very dangerous journey. What they found on the other side, Wolf, is a lot of uncertainty. They try to get to some of these displaced shelters but those aren't a very good standard. There are some mattresses on the floor of a warehouse and they can get some food, but it really isn't much more than that. Of course, they still have that uncertain future as well.
At the same time, you see the battle for Aleppo and it really looks like the rebels are probably going to lose all of it within the next couple of hours. What we're hearing from sources inside the Syrian military is they say they are in the final stage of the operation to clear all of the city -- Wolf?
BLITZER: Fred Pleitgen, out of Aleppo now in Beirut. Thanks for that report.
That's it for me. I'll see you at 5:00 p.m. eastern in "The Situation Room."
The news continues right now, right here on CNN.
[15:00:13] BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: Here we go. Top of the hour. I'm Brooke Baldwin. You're watching CNN.
