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Sebelius: Clinton White House Doubled Down on Abusive Behavior; Trump Tweet Feuds with NFL, UCLA Players' Father; Trump Criticizes Some GOP Members over Tax Reform; Trump Soho Hotel Cutting Tries with Trump; Mueller Russia Investigation Getting Closer to Trump's Inner Circle; Facebook to Tell Users if They Interacted with Russia Propaganda; Deal Made to Return Rohingya Refugees to Myanmar Following Violence. Aired 1:30-2p ET

Aired November 23, 2017 - 13:30   ET

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

[13:30:00] BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: Doug, Kathleen Sebelius not the only Democrat talking about this reckoning and how it applies to the Clintons. Last week you had Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, who replaced Clinton in the Senate, saying Hillary Clinton should have resigned. She sort of back-pedaled. Do you think times have changed to the point where someone needs to apologize for the behavior that took place in the '90s now?

DOUG HYE, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, I think times have changed in ten different ways. And the question of whether or not Bill Clinton would survive isn't just based on how we're now listening and believing women. It also comes with how we communicate, the means we use. But I think important for Democrats whether or not Bill Clinton apologizes or not, if you listen to what Maliyah said -- I agree with what Maria said. The problem is Democrats and Maria are talking about Bill Clinton's presidency, which was 16 years ago. Democrats have an amazing opportunity to take back the House, potentially take back the Senate. If they're instead of don't stop, think about tomorrow, Bill Clinton, don't stop thinking about 16 years ago, Bill Clinton, and they're not looking forward, they have this real risk of squandering the opportunity to take back the House and Senate. They really need to challenge Donald Trump and not look back at past sins.

(CROSSTALK)

MARIA CARDONA, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I agree with that.

SANCHEZ: Let's talk about President Trump and his recent Twitter feuds. He's taken on NFL players for kneeling during the national anthem. He called LaVar Ball, one of the fathers of the players detained, in China, quote, "an ungrateful fool."

Is this deliberate? Do you think this is trying to shore up his base in a designed distraction, dog whistle-type way, or is it just that the president can't help himself and loves these hostile interactions?

HYE: I don't think they're necessarily mutually exclusive. When we talk about Donald Trump fighting with the father of a basketball player or a Hispanic judge or the gold star family who lost their son in the war, we're not talking about those things that Donald Trump doesn't want us talking about. So what have we not talked about this week? We haven't talked about Jared Kushner and the investigations that are looking further into potential problems there. That's the benefit for the president, but it's also two sides of a coin. It also means we're not spending as much time talking about tax reform, which is something we need the president out there very proactively talking about if Republicans hope to pass it.

(CROSSTALK)

SANCHEZ: Maria, I get the impression you might think that the president should continue tweeting and not try to push for tax reform.

(LAUGHTER)

CARDONA: By all means I welcome his tweeting every day, every single min of the day.

But I actually agree with Doug. He does this because I do think that he knows the White House knows -- I think the White House is actually frustrated by his tweeting. But he knows he doesn't have any real legislative wins to show for. After a year in office, after so many promises he made the country, the only way to shore up his base, which is where he kinds of goes to save face is do this thing, attack and double down on those attacks. His base loves that, and it also keeps them distracted from the fact he hasn't really met any of the promises he promised them. And what you're going to see going into 2018, to Doug's earlier point, is that Democrats really are going to focus on Donald Trump's massive failures. There's a reason why he is historically the president that has had the lowest approval ratings after a year in office. You know, the majority of Americans did not vote for him. The majority of Americans do not believe he is fit for this office, has a temperament for his office and is good for the country. And those are the things Democrats are going to focus ongoing into 2018.

SANCHEZ: Doug, you mentioned the president going out there to sell tax reform to the American people. But he, also to some degree, has to sell it to his own party. And there are precious few votes Republicans can lose to get this thing passed. The president has been vocal in his criticism of some. One before included Arizona Senator Jeff Flake. Is the president hurting his chances by going after members of his own party that way? Should he tone it down?

HYE: Absolutely, he should. We know in Washington you talk about carrots and sticks. If you're Jeff Flake and you're retiring, you don't have any tic sticks that can be used against you. He would do a great service to his own legislative agenda. The problem is the president often can't get out of his own way.

[13:35:06] SANCHEZ: Maria, very quickly to you. How do Democrats try to fight this tax reform bill? It seems like it's heading toward a direction they don't like.

CARDONA: I think they emphasize what a big wet kiss this would be to billionaires and millionaires and corporate America. And that middle class and working-class families are essentially going to get screwed. And it goes against many of the promises Trump made even to his own base. And those are the kinds of things Democrats are going to continue to underscore.

SANCHEZ: Maria Cardona, Doug Hye, enjoy the turkey and cranberry, and please save some for me.

(CROSSTALK)

SANCHEZ: Happy Thanksgiving.

HYE: Thank you.

CARDONA: You, too, Boris. Thank you.

SANCHEZ: Robert Mueller's Russia investigation is hitting a critical point as the president's inner circle will soon be interviewed. We've compiled the numbers on the Trump orbit's contacts with Russia.

Plus, the Trump Organization walking away from another struggling hotel, raising the question whether the presidency is hurting his brand.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:40:26] SANCHEZ: The Trump Organization is walking away from a struggling real estate project. So is this another sign of trouble for the brand? The Trump Soho in Manhattan is cutting ties with the president's organization and dropping the Trump name altogether. The condominium hotel first opened in 2008, but it has been struggling in recent years.

CNN White House reporter, Jeremy Diamond, joins us.

Jeremy, not the first property to drop the Trump name. What does it mean for this property and the Trump Organization?

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: What it means concretely is you're going to be seeing some workers get up on scaffolder and take off those letters. This comes after this property has struggled financially particularly in the last year. They've struggled to fill rooms in the hotel part of the building, even dropping rates below what would be standard for a luxury five-star hotel in New York. They've struggled to sell some of the condos in that building. And they've even seen a restaurant close. All of that happening in the last year. So the Trump Organization and the cim group that actually owns the company, parting ways meaning the Trump name is gone from the property and the Trump Organization will no longer be managing those day to day operations.

SANCHEZ: Do you think this is sign that the Trump brand has lost some of its luster over the controversies this president has had to face?

DIAMOND: It's interesting. This is not the first building, Trump Organization building that has suffered in the last year or so. You know we also saw a Trump International Hotel in Toronto dropping the Trump name. We saw owners of three residential buildings in New York also deciding to drop the Trump name. And Mar-a-Lago, of course, where the president is spending Thanksgiving, that property has also struggled with about 19 charities, according to "The Washington Post," deciding not to hold previously scheduled events at that property. So they have definitely seen a hit in revenue at a lot of these Trump branded properties.

And a lot of that is attributed, of course, to the divisive nature of this president's time at the White House. However, we have also seen the flip side of that, which is that properties like Trump International Hotel in Washington and even Mar-a-Lago now are starting to attract a lot of these Republican conservative groups and even some foreign, you know, foreign diplomats who want to perhaps try and curry favor with this White House. The president, of course, still owns these properties and seized part of the profits here. We don't quite have that spreadsheet here to get whether it's a net positive or a net loss? But certainly, what we're seeing is some properties struggling, some properties benefitting all because of the Trump brand.

SANCHEZ: Jeremy Diamond, always a pleasure to see you, sir. Happy Thanksgiving.

DIAMOND: Thanks. You, too.

SANCHEZ: Three key White House officials, Trump's inner circle, set to interview with Special Counsel Robert Mueller. The details on that.

Plus, the growing list of Trump associates with Russia communications. We break down the numbers for you. Facts first, next on CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:47:53] SANCHEZ: Whether Donald Trump says it is a hoax or not, the Russia investigation is inching closer to the president's inner circle. Investigators on Special Counsel Robert Mueller's team will soon be interviewing key White House officials as part of his ongoing probe into whether the Trump campaign colluded with Russian officials to influence the 2016 presidential election. On the list, White House communications director, Hope Hicks, White House counsel, Don McGahn, and Josh Raffel, a communications aide to Jared Kushner.

CNN's crime and justice reporter, Shimon Prokupecz, joins me now.

Shimon, give us the big picture on the Russia investigation.

SHIMON PROKUPECZ, CNN CRIME & JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Right, so our researcher here, Marshall Cohen, put together this great list. And what we have found if you look at the numbers, just a large number. It's kind of staggering there have been at least 19 face-to-face interactions between Trump associates and Russians. Some 51 communications, meetings, phone calls, exchanges involving Russians or discussions of Russia. And lastly, we calculated about 12 Trump associates who had contacts with Russians. Now, some of them, like the attorney general, Jeff Sessions, who didn't reveal he met with the Russian ambassador during the campaign, to Donald Trump Jr and Jared Kushner, who attended a meeting at Trump tower where a Russian lawyer claimed to have dirt on Hillary Clinton.

And there's also former national security advisor, Michael Flynn, who's under investigation for communicating with the Russian ambassador. And then, you know, there are the big bombshell that came last month that George Papadopoulos, a campaign advisor pleaded guilty for lying to the FBI about meetings with Russians in Europe. And he is now cooperating with the FBI.

And despite all this, there have been nine blanket denials by Trump and his senior officials there have been any contacts with Russians during the campaign or that there were any ties between the campaign and Russians.

And, Boris, as you said, we expect in the coming weeks Hope Hicks and others to be interviewed about all this by the special counsel.

[13:50:00] SANCHEZ: Shimon, tell us about this. By the end of the year, Facebook will have a new tool that will tell users whether or not they have interacted with Russian propaganda?

PROKUPECZ: Yes, so this is kind of an interesting way of perhaps being somewhat transparent for Facebook. This has to do obviously with some of the fake news, some of the ads that the Russians bought on Facebook. And the only way that users are going to be able to know if they've interacted with a fake ad or a fake news let's say report would be if they liked it or commented on the -- perhaps whatever it is that was on Facebook. But, you know, this doesn't take into account whether someone may have just read something on Facebook or seen something on Facebook without liking it or commenting on it. And they estimate that some 150 million people may have read something, received something that was connected to Russia.

But this is a step, perhaps, their way of being more transparent. They've come under some fire, taken some heat because of the revelation that Russia was buying these ads.

SANCHEZ: I can think of a couple of family members that are going to be seeing that thing pinging on their Facebook pages.

Shimon Prokupecz, happy Thanksgiving. Thank you so much, sir.

PROKUPEZ: Thank you so much. Thank you.

SANCHEZ: A deal has been reached to stop a massacre unfolding in Myanmar, but as thousands are brutally murdered at the hands of militants, will it actually help?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:55:36] SANCHEZ: They fled from Myanmar to neighboring Bangladesh to escape violence, rape and death. Now hundreds of thousands of Muslim refugees may soon return to their homes following a deal between the two countries. Many of the details of the plan are still being worked out but we do know it's set to begin in two months.

The group, known as the Rohingya are Muslims who live in majority Buddhist Myanmar. They're often described at the world's most persecuted minority. They've been fleeing since August, running from a military crackdown that the U.S. said constituted ethnic cleansing. But there's questions whether the refugees even want to return after the horrors they've witnessed.

CNN senior international correspondent Clarissa Ward travelled to the border of those two nations to speak with refugees.

We should warn you, there are some disturbing scenes in this piece.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED BOY: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

CLARISSA WARD, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's just a few hundred yards to safety, but it doesn't take long to see that something has gone very wrong. A woman's limp body is rushed through the no man's land between Bangladesh and Myanmar. As anxious families wait to see what has happened.

(SHOUTING)

WARD: On this day, it is a husband and wife. The crowd says they were shot dead as they tried to leave Myanmar.

(CROSSTALK)

WARD: They're among more than 600,000 Rohingya Muslims who have flooded this border to escape what the United Nations has called a textbook example of ethnic cleansing. Each, it seems, has a tale more harrowing than the next.

This man says he fled a brutal massacre in his village of Tula Toli.

"My sons and daughters were shot on Thursday, I can't find them," he says. "There's no one left."

He claims local officials told residents it was safe to remain in the village but that days later the Myanmar military poured in and carried out a bloodbath.

"Please, someone kill me," he cries. "This is God's will."

Other who escaped Tula Toli tell a similar story. Rehana says the soldiers rounded them up on the river bank and separated the men from the women.

"We couldn't escape. Many children were shot, and they fell on their faces," she recalls. "Those lying on the ground were picked up, chopped, and later they were thrown into the river."

Cell phone footage given to CNN by Tula Toli residents appears to show the bodies of three children wash up on the shore -

(CROSSTALK)

WARD: -- as witnesses cry to God for mercy.

(CRYING)

WARD: CNN cannot confirm the authenticity of the video or verify the many accounts.

Access to the state is heavily restricted, but we wanted to find out more about what happened in Tula Toli. So we traveled to a sprawling refugee camp along the border, and met 30-year-old Mumtez. She says that Burmese soldiers raped her before setting the House alight with her inside. But the burns that cover her body only hint at the horror she survived.

(on camera): Describe to me what happened to you. What did you see with your own eyes exactly?

(voice-over): "My sunu, my boy, was just behind me and they hit him with a wooden stick and he collapsed to the ground dead. His head was split open," she says. "Then they took my other son from my lap and threw him into the fire."

She managed to escape with her 7-year-old daughter, Razia. All three of her sons were killed.

"Oh, God," she cries. "Why didn't you take me?"

But for the survivors of Tula Toli, there is no justice in this world.

(CRYING)

WARD: Clarissa Ward, CNN, on the Bangladesh/Myanmar border.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANCHEZ: That is tough to watch, but important to, if only to give us perspective of everything we have to be thankful for.

NEWSROOM with Brooke Baldwin starts right now. Thanks so much for joining us.

[14:09:11] BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: Boris, thank you so much.

Happy Thanksgiving to all of you. I'm Brooke Baldwin.