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Trump Kids Take Part In Transition Work; Trump: Media Overstate Conflicts Of Interest; Evacuation Begins From War-Ravaged Aleppo; Trump Graydon Carter Feud Goes Back Decades; Trump Aides Hint Daily Press Briefings Will Change; Yahoo Says Data Stolen From 1 Billion Accounts. Aired 12:30-1p ET

Aired December 15, 2016 - 12:30   ET

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

[12:30:01] NOAH BOOKBINDER, CITIZENS FOR RESPONSIBILITY AND ETHICS IN WASHINGTON: ... strategic interest, economic interest, not in the interest of what's going to help his companies. And so if you have the same people who are trying to make the Trump organization as profitable as possible also making decisions about what the president does, there's a real danger that they're going to be motivated by what's in their own financial interest, not what's in the best interest of the country.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: And maybe it's hard to kind of separate the things. Edward, your colleagues at Politico, they write that while the president is exempted, obviously, from the federal conflict of interest law, another federal law could post problems. This is the stock at which is pretty new and actually CNN did some pretty incredible reporting on this, how vulnerable is Trump's family when you look at this new law?

EDWARD-ISAAC DOVERE, SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER, POLITICO: Well, some of this content we just don't know because we don't now what their financial entanglements are within the company and what -- how that will end up playing into these things.

KEILAR: These are stocks, right?

DOVERE: Right.

KEILAR: But the ideas that there could be other businesses interest that are encapsulated under this?

DOVERE: And if we had a full picture of the family's finances, then we would be able to understand it. But, you know, we looked at what happened last week when Trump after taking the shot at Boeing for the contract for Air Force, one saying it was so expensive. His transition staff announced that he had actually sold all the stock in June, which they never said before. And we don't know if it's true.

KEILAR: It's not verified, yeah.

DOVERE: And we don't know if he was, in fact, influencing his own wealth by the decision that he made to tweet about Boeing or Lockheed Martin earlier this week or any of the other things that he'll be getting involved in the businesses. GLORIA BORGER, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL ANALYST: You know the idea generally is that you can't use insider information to make money. It is a rule that applies to Congress now and the question is whether this rule ought to now apply to the president of the United States.

And the question that I have for you is really the sort of how do you ensure that even, say, Donald Trump, you know, comes out with a statement that says my boys are going to run the company, Ivanka is going to come work in Washington for no salary. How do you ensure that there is a wall that his sons have no idea what's going on inside the government, and don't get the inside information that might help them make business decisions internationally? How do you even do that?

DOVERE: I mean, there are certainly are steps you can take. You can have, you know, formal agreements that they're never going to talk to any White House employees. That they're only going to talk to their father about personal matters. But truly given the kinds of roles that Donald Trump's children have had, we just don't have any confidence if that would happen. Really the answer to your question is you sell the business, you put the money in an account that's controlled by somebody outside of the family and then all of this goes away.

KEILAR: Yeah, and that we have no expectation that's going to happen. And now the announcement on how they're doing this is delayed. Noah Bookbinder, Edward-Isaac Dovere, Gloria Borger, thank you to all of you for chatting with me today.

DOVERE: Thank you

KEILAR: And up next, it's finally happening, a pause in the shelling in the bombing to allow people to escape from Aleppo, but where will they go? The situation in Syria growing more desperate every day.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[12:36:44] KEILAR: In war ravaged Syria today, finally some much needed relief came for tens of thousands of families and children in the city of Aleppo, a safe way out. These green buses and ambulance vans today were allowed to carry people out of Aleppo where shooting and shelling and air strikes make it simply too dangerous for people who are not fighting the civil war.

Take a look at some these pictures. We have some aerials that were taken just this morning. They show not only long lines of evacuation buses, but the near complete destruction of Aleppo. This is one of the world's oldest cities and the most populous in Syria.

CNN's Frederik Pleitgen who was in Aleppo just a few days ago is watching these developments from Beirut. Fred, we were expecting this large-scale evacuation yesterday, what happened?

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTENATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: What happened was that the cease-fire fell apart, Brianna, in the last minute and then shelling actually resumed. There was some heavy fighting yesterday where people who were locked up in that last little rebel enclave inside Aleppo recorded as many as 100 artillery shells falling on that neighborhood. They also said that there were air strikes by warplanes as well.

And so today they tried to get all of it back on track to make sure those people are able to evacuate. And even that got off to a very rocky start. The first convoy of those vehicles that you were talking about before actually got shot at when it came to the checkpoint between the rebel held area and the government held area, and then had to turn back.

One person was actually killed and several wounded in all of that. But then the people who were organizing this came together and said, "Look, we're not going to allow this to fall apart. We're going to suspend it and then try to get it back on track. And then a few hours later, those convoys did indeed start moving.

And if you look at those convoys, you'll see that many of them have a lot of ambulances in them and that's because the first people who were being evacuated from that rebel enclave are the ones who needed most, the ones who are sick, the ones who are wounded, the ones who need immediate medical attention and are only going to be able to get it if they get out of those areas. So that's what's been happening.

So far, the latest numbers that we're getting is that more than 1,000 people have already been evacuated. Apparently, several thousand are supposed to get evacuated today, but that's only part of the people who are still in there.

And the next phase, they're going to have more civilians come out. And then also those rebel fighters who are still in there and that's going to be key, because once the rebel fighters are out, that's when Syrian government forces are going to move in and that's when the Syrian government is going to once again have full control over Aleppo. There won't be a rebel presence there anymore, which is of course, a bitter moment for the opposition fighting against President Bashar al-Assad, Brianna.

KEILAR: All right. Frederik Pleitgen, thank you so much for that update as we continue to follow the story that is changing each day there in Syria.

Up next, Donald Trump's newest feud actually goes way back with the guy that he called -- he's called a loser and a dummy for years.

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[12:42:54] KEILAR: President-elect Donald Trump let loose a barrage of tweets this morning, half of them aimed at one of his favorite targets, the media. He even called out the editor of a major national magazine by name.

This one, "Has anyone looked at the really poor numbers of 'Vanity Fair Magazine,' way down, big trouble, dead. Graydon Carter, no talent, will be out." This is who he's talking about, the longtime editor of "Vanity Fair," Graydon Carter. He and Donald Trump have been trading insults for decades. Trump calls Carter a dummy and a loser on Twitter. I believe this all began after in the '80s Carter called him a short-fingered Bulgarian and that is something that has always stuck with Donald Trump and certainly stuck in his craw.

In yesterday's edition of "Vanity Fair" featured a unfavorable review of a restaurant located in Trump Tower. CNN's Brian Stelter is here, our Senior Media Correspondent, also Lisa Lerer, Politics Reporter for the A.P. OK, so this has been going on for some time.

BRIAN STELTER, CNN SENIOR MEDIA CORRESPONDENT: Oh, yeah.

KEILAR: We know that. And broadening this out to the struggle between Donald Trump and the media, your expectations as we, you know, just days, few weeks out now from inauguration.

STELTER: Well, Trump has continued to belittle and battle private individuals on Twitter. Graydon Carter, of course, a more public one then say that the local union leader recently. You know, Trump has been written for years that "Vanity Fair" would fail and that Graydon Carter would fail, maybe some day it will be true, but he's been saying the stuff for years. It is remarkable what random things Trump chooses to pick on from time to time and this is the latest example.

LISA LERER, ASSOCIATED PRESS: I mean there's little question if this is a difficult time for the media. It's not only Donald Trump picking off individual publications as you point out, it's also that the public's trust in the media is basically at the lowest point that it's been in decades and you're dealing with the president.

You know, the presumption has been always that the president is telling the truth and you fact-check it, you make sure, but you're working from a place of truth. And I think as, you know, someone who's covering this White House, people who are covering this White House, you just can't work from that place anymore. Even today he tweeted something that was just factually inaccurate. So that does change how you approach this presidency, you know, from reporting it out.

[0:05:05] STELTER: Yeah, even those assumptions have to be tested right now.

LERER: Yes.

STELTER: I think bottom line, be fair, but do not be intimidated. A lot of what we're seeing, whether it's in tweeting or complaining or rallying up this crowd is to intimidate, so do not be intimidated.

KEILAR: Yesterday we heard Reince Priebus, now -- incoming Chief of Staff for the president-elect. He was talking about changing up the seating in the White House briefing room, which is odd because it's the that actually deals with that, not the White House. He even talked about maybe not giving a daily press briefing. What are your expectations, Lisa, as someone who covers this day and day out about access? LERER: Well, I think its worth, first of all, clarifying a few things about what he said. The assigned seating, which you and I have both benefited from being in the first row with our organizations, was started in 1982. And it was something that the administration asked the media to do because they didn't want to be seen as playing favorites. They didn't want to be rewarding or being seen as rewarding certain publications with better seats and, therefore, better access. So that's the concern there. You want to make sure there's a level playing field.

KEILAR: Now, we get argue amongst ourselves about it.

LERER: Right. Now we get argue, then it switch, you know, the duties (ph) switched to the White House Correspondents' Association. You know, I don't -- I think the issue here is you can debate the value of the daily briefing, but it's not as if -- it doesn't seem as if at least they're going to replace the daily briefing with something else.

What we've seen from this transition is that this is an operation that's very hard to get even basic information out of. So I think the problem with access is always that you never get more. Once you dial back the measuring stick, you don't gain afterwards.

KEILAR: I know that many administrations, Democratic and Republicans sometimes bemoan the utility of the briefing. Of course, we do not. But you spoke to Josh Earnest, the sitting Press Secretary about this.

STELTER: Yeah. I was asking about this yesterday interviewing him kind of coincidentally on a day when Reince Priebus is questioning the value of the briefings, suggesting maybe things will change. I asked Earnest, "Do you think is it real chance the briefing could go away? He says he has no idea. He doesn't think even Trump knows. But here's what he said about his concern about that as an American.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN EARNEST, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: As an American, I'm concerned about that, because I do think that it is -- the interaction that takes place in here on a daily basis is one that's good for our democracy. It is value. It's instrumental to holding people in power accountable for their actions, accountable for their statements, and accountable for their promises.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STELTER: Earnest point is that it's good for both sides to be having these day to day interactions.

KEILAR: That's right. And, of course, they find it annoying. It was interesting he said as an American, because, of course, it's annoying if you're at the White House, you know, it's a lot.

STELTER: There are days where he doesn't want to go out there.

KEILAR: I'm sure there's a lot of Trump ...

STELTER: Trump administrations not going to want to go out there.

KEILAR: Yeah.

STELTER: But there is value in the back and forth.

LERER: And it also gives transparency for the public. They can see what's being asked and how they're responding.

KEILAR: That's right. That's a very good point. Sean Spicer speaking of transparency, he is a contender for -- to replace Josh Earnest basically. He said on CNN that the Trump transition team has been very transparent. What do you think, Lisa?

LERER: That's not the word I would use. Certainly, there's been very little, you know, insight into their process. As I said, it can be very hard to get routine inquiries answered. So, I -- and, you know, in terms of financial, he hasn't been transparent at all. He didn't really release his tax returns. We have no signs of getting those tax returns, so I would disagree with that statement.

KEILAR: There's a lots of people who do sometimes -- it's not organized at all, but sometimes you're seeing how the sausage is made in the Trump transition team. That's one way that I think it's a little different in other groups, but Spicer also argues, "Hey, there's a camera in the lobby of Trump Tower, so we're seeing all this coming and going that is kind of extraordinary." What do you say to that?

LERER: Well, I mean, the press is traveling on a separate plane. That's not usually how this is done. There's a press pool, but it's not really tracking the movements of the president.

KEILAR: And the pool is reporters who essentially adhere to ...

LERER: Right.

KEILAR: ... whether it's a candidate, the president-elect, the president. And this was born, of course, out of the assassination of JFK.

LERER: Right.

KEILAR: To always have eyes on the president. How important this is, right?

LERE: Right. I mean, look, you know, when the president's whereabouts are unknown for 90 minutes or three hours, that's a kind of situation that can take -- think markets cause global unrest. And I also think there's value for the administration in the pool.

If the president has to get out a statement quickly, he can -- or she, but he in this case can just go out in front of the pool and have cameras that will stream to all the major networks and all the major publications.

KEILAR: Yeah. All right, Lisa Lerer, Brian Stelter, thank you so much. Great conversation, you, too.

And coming up, Yahoo hacked, more than 1 billion accounts breached. So what should users do now? We're going to have a live report for you.

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[12:53:35] KEILAR: Yahoo has announced yet another huge security breach and this time it's affecting 1 billion accounts. That's about double the amount of users affected during the separate incident that was announced back in September.

CNN Tech Correspondent Samuel Burke joining us now to explain this to us and tell us how it affects us. Samuel, tell us when this happened and for all those Yahoo users sort of wondering, what do I do now? What do they do?

SAMUEL BURKE, CNN TECH CORRESPONDENT: Brianna, it is astonishing that this hack happened in 2013 and Yahoo is just now finding out about this. This is clearly a company which has not invested enough in cyber security according to many experts and the proof is in the pudding quite frankly.

Take a look at the information that these criminals made off with. Stolen information includes names, e-mails, phone numbers, passwords and dates of birth. The breach does not include credit card data or bank accounts information, but that should not give you a sigh of relief.

Remember, you can change your credit card numbers, but you can't change your date of birth and you're likely not going to change your name. And that's the information that these hackers will use to get into your other account. So what can you do if you're one of the millions of people who are affected? A few simple steps, yes, change your e-mail. You want to delete old e-mails, especially if you have sensitive documents like copies of your passport.

And the most important thing, if you only remember one thing from this report, Brianna, use two-factor authentication, that means going into the settings of your account and receiving a unique code to your cell phone every time you log in.

[12:55:10] Annoying, but if it means that if a hacker gets your password, they can't get into your account because they don't have your phone.

KEILAR: And sometimes that's just if you're at a new computer, right? They might recognize your computer, so maybe it's only annoying some of the time, though, annoying, I would say.

BURKE: Exactly.

KEILAR: OK. So what happens now to Verizon's offer for Yahoo? It's a $4.8 million offer.

BURKE: And remember that this is the second time that Yahoo has reveal the hack since Verizon announced this offer. Take a look at what Verizon is saying in a statement, looking like they're going forward with this deal. "As we've said all along, we will continue to evaluate the situation as Yahoo continues its investigation. We will review the impact of this new development before reaching any final conclusions." But sometimes just paying out credit monitoring can cost billions for these tech companies.

KEILAR: Yeah, certainty can. And the takeaway, two-factor verification, we're on it.

Samuel Burke, thank you so much for your report. And thank you so much for watching "Newsroom." Wolf starts after this quick break.

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WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Hello. I'm Wolf Blitzer. Its 1:00 p.m. here in Washington, 6:00 p.m. in London, 8:00 p.m. in Aleppo, Syria, wherever you're watching from around the world, thanks very much for joining us.

President-elect Donald Trump raises new doubts about Russia's election hacking here in the United States, while an operation to --