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Trump Makes Final Stop On "Thank You" Tour Today; Trump Nominates Representative Mulvaney As Budget Director; Russian Response To Hacking Claims: "Prove It"; Three Killed In Accidents Due To Icy Conditions; China Says U.S. Is "Hyping Up" Drone Issue, Will Transfer Drone; Trump Locked In Legal Battle With Celebrity Chef; NC Governor Signs Bill Curbing Successor's Power. Aired 12-1p ET

Aired December 17, 2016 - 12:00   ET

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

[12:00:00] BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: One of the most packed highways typically across the country is empty. We'll have more on the icy conditions affecting more than 150 million people today in just a moment.

But first, the president-elect is continuing his "Thank You Tour" today in Mobile, Alabama. He is returning to the same stadium where 30,000 supporters came out to see him during the primaries, and last night in Florida, Trump making a campaign succession, his supporters fought dirty.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT-ELECT: You people were vicious, violence, screaming, "where is the wall, we want the wall," but now you are mellow and you are cool, and you are not nearly as vicious or violent, right, because we won.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: Meantime, Trump just announced another choice for his cabinet, South Carolina Representative Mick Mulvaney, will be nominated for budget director. The name already drawing criticism because of his role in the controversial Freedom Caucus.

And as the Pentagon is demanding China return this underwear drone that belongs to the U.S., President-elect Trump is weighing in, tweeting this out, quote, "China steals United States Navy research drone in international waters, rips it out of water and takes it to China in unprecedented act."

And just before President Obama began his holiday vacation in Hawaii, he warned both China and Russia to comply with diplomatic agreements even vowing retaliation against Russia for its interference in the U.S. election.

A lot to get to. Let's begin in Alabama with the president-elect's big rally before the holidays. His final stop before he is expected to head to his Mar-a-Lago estate for the next few weeks. CNN national correspondent, Ryan Nobles, is live in Mobile. Ryan, what kind of message are expecting when Trump takes the stage, more of that conciliatory tone?

RYAN NOBLES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Boris, what we are expecting that he will follow that same script that he's used throughout this "Thank You Tour" stops across the country. You can see behind me we're inside the stadium now and it's a bit of festive backdrop.

He is going to make reference to the fact that we are coming close to the Christmas holiday. But you're right. Donald Trump has taken somewhat of a different tone when he has spoken to these big crowds throughout this "Thank You Tour" thanking them for being there for him since the very beginning of his campaign.

This stop in Mobile is very appropriate. This was one of the first places where he brought out an enormous crowd, some 30,000 people back in August of 2015. It is where we got the first glimpse of that passionate support that he was going to collect from working class voters in particular.

So they're expected to come out in big numbers again here tonight. There is already a significant line forming outside of the stadium and we're still several hours away from the president-elect taking the stage here in Mobile, Alabama -- Boris.

SANCHEZ: The music already under way. Ryan, Trump officially announced Representative Mick Mulvaney as his pick for budget director. Mulvaney calls it a great honor. What sort of reaction to this choice are you hearing so far? There is a lot of criticism about this guy.

NOBLES: Yes, I mean, it will be interesting to see how Democrats react to this, Boris, as time goes on. As you mentioned, Mulvaney, a member of the Freedom Caucus, one of the initial founders of that Freedom Caucus, but generally the response from Republicans has been pretty positive, both House Speaker Paul Ryan and Senator Rand Paul putting out statements in support of Mulvaney.

They like the fact that he is a deficit hawk. He is a numbers guy. This is someone that knows the budget backwards and forwards serving on the House Budget Committee. So Republicans like the fact that he is the type of guy that is going to rein in spending.

Democrats may be concerned that he is going to be the type of person that calls for deep budget cuts. So we'll have to see how this place out. But right now in terms of the Republican establishment, they seem happy with Congressman Mulvaney as that pick.

SANCHEZ: Quickly, Ryan, we mention that Trump is headed to Mar-a-Lago after this. Are we expecting any other major cabinet announcements before the New Year?

NOBLES: It's always possible. You know, we have a full week before the Christmas holiday. Even though the president-elect is expected to spend his time in Mar-a-Lago, it is always considered to be a working vacation for the president-elect. The transition hasn't given us any specific idea as to who those cabinet picks could be this week, but it's certainly possible that we could have some more major announcements before the Christmas holiday.

SANCHEZ: All right, Ryan Nobles in Mobile, Alabama, before the president-elect takes the stage, thank you.

President-elect Trump continues to dismiss claims that Russia meddled in the election. President Obama is making it crystal clear, he believes that Russia was behind the hacks on the DNC. The president going as far as to personally warn Vladimir Putin to back off during that face-to-face meeting at the G20 Summit in September. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: In early September when I saw President Putin in China, I felt that the most effective way to ensure that that didn't happen, was to talk to him directly, and tell him to cut it out.

[12:05:03]There were going to be some serious consequences if he didn't. In fact, we did not see further tampering of the election process.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: The Russian government, as you might imagine is firing back. Putting out this statement, reading in part, quote, "Either stop talking about that or produce some proof at last. Otherwise it all begins to look unseemly."

For more on this, I'm joined by CNN senior international correspondent, Clarissa Ward. Clarissa, what is the mood there in Russia over all the attention that these hacks have gotten?

CLARISSA WARD, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, I think that the Russians have steadfastly denied having any involvement with these attacks since the allegations first emerged in October. There hasn't been much of a shift in that tone at all.

We've heard the kremlin spokesman call the accusations indecent. He's called them ludicrous, nonsense. In Russian media this is very much being portrayed as an attempt by the Obama administration to kind of poise in the well ahead of a possible warming of relations between the U.S. and Russia with the election of Donald Trump.

So I don't think people here are worried too much about this scandal. I think if anything, possibly even they're kind of enjoying it, they're relishing the attention they're getting as a result of it.

Many people also relish the idea, even though they say it's not true, that Russia could have this kind of sway, impact that Russia could pull off an audacious move like swinging the U.S. election.

Underpinning the sense of sort of nonchalance, I would say is an understanding that President Obama is likely pretty limited in what he could do in terms of a retaliation, because of course, next month a new president will be taking office and that president, of course, is expected to have a much more conciliatory tone towards Russia -- Boris.

SANCHEZ: All right, Clarissa Ward reporting live from Moscow. Thank you. A lot to get to here. So let's bring in Larry Sabato. He is the director of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia, and CNN political commentator, Matt Lewis, a senior contributor as well for "The Daily Caller."

Larry, Obama has pledged to respond to the Russian hacking, but President-elect Donald Trump has been not quite as aggressive about responding to Russia. He's called these allegations ridiculous.

Does any response from Obama in the way of sanctions or covert operations potentially damage the relationship they might have with the president-elect moving forward?

LARRY SABATO, DIRECTOR, UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA CENTER FOR POLITICS: Well, I doubt it, Boris, because certainly the Russians understand that there is no love lost between President-elect Trump and President Obama even though they're putting a brave face on the transition. They're certainly not going to hold Trump responsible for what Obama does.

Trump has been rather supportive of Russia, shall we say, throughout the campaign and even after the election, so I don't think that will do it. What will be interesting is as the Trump administration proceeds in office, over the years, the United States' interests will undoubtedly clash with Russia's probably time and time again.

Will the Russians turn on Trump? Will they use some of the same techniques on the Trump administration or the Republican committees of one form or another? We'll have to see.

SANCHEZ: But Larry, it's interesting you say that, it's funny to see the shift, when Obama initially took office hitting the reset button with Russia to where we are now. Matt, we've seen this before, several American administrations have started out with a positive outlook on Putin.

George W. Bush famously said he looked into his eyes and saw his soul and that Vladimir Putin is a good man. Obama hit the reset button. Trump appears to be very friendly with Putin now. Do you expect these positive relations to continue or are we in for a repeat of what we've seen before?

MATT LEWIS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I think it will be very interesting to see. Vladimir Putin is a guy who laments the decline of the Soviet Union and wants to restore Russia's stature on the world stage and I think he manipulate -- I think he is former KGB agent, I think he knows how to manipulate people psychologically.

I think that that is what we saw with the way that he buttered up George W. Bush. I think that we've seen that with Barack Obama. I think that Vladimir Putin saw the red line that Obama drew in Syria and then did not back it up and calculated that he could push America around. And that this president would not respond and saying to cut it out sounds -- does not sound terribly threatening, you know, so I think that President Obama has invited some of this.

I'll be very curious to see how Donald Trump responds when -- as Larry noted, I think at some point our interests will clash and does Donald Trump push back or does he acquiesce?

[12:10:04]SANCHEZ: Now, Larry, Matt brought up a point. The president has appeared to hesitate going after Russia aggressively. Even yesterday he didn't really point the finger directly in Vladimir Putin's face. It was kind of backward. He said that not much happens in Russia without Putin. Why the hesitation to confront him directly?

SABATO: Well, maybe he wants to save the bombshell for the report, one assumes will be released before January 20th. Because if it isn't released by January 20th, I doubt we'll see it unless a whistleblower leaks it to the press.

You know, what is really interesting here is two things. The administration probably made a serious error, it's easy to say that in retrospect, but they made a serious error by not making a bigger deal of this during the actual election campaign.

And partly as a result, Donald Trump's response to Russia has been positive enough, incredibly, I think matt is probably shocked by this, too. The response to Russia is now positive enough among Republicans that Vladimir Putin's approval rating has tripled from around 10 percent, 11 percent, before the campaign started to 37 percent positive.

It's just -- anybody remembers the cold war has a hard time grasping this, but it's true and I don't expect that to last throughout the Trump administration.

SANCHEZ: I should mention, Larry, that poll you put out from "The Economists" and ugov is not a CNN approved poll. We'll take the point but it comes with that caveat. I want you to listen to some sound from Hillary Clinton yesterday commenting on Russia's election hacking. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HILLARY CLINTON (D), FORMER 2016 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Today we have to recognize that as the latest reports made clear, Vladimir Putin, himself, directed the covert cyber-attacks against our electoral system, against our democracy, apparently because he has a personal beef against me.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: Matt, very quickly, do you think Clinton is right? Is this really a personal vendetta?

LEWIS: Yes. I think that there is no doubt that Russia is behind the hacks. I think it's very likely that Vladimir Putin hates Hillary Clinton and prefers Donald Trump and I do not think that is why she lost the election. Vladimir Putin did not stop her from coming to Wisconsin to campaign.

He did not cause her to set up a private server which caused the Comey revelations to come out. I think both those things can be true. The Russians probably did try to mess with her and I think she still would have lost.

SANCHEZ: She did mention in her comments to donors recently that she lost because of two unprecedented things, the Russian hacking and the Comey letter. Interesting points. Larry Sabato and Matt Lewis, thank you so much for the time.

Coming up, we have more on the Russian hacking from the perspective of former CIA and FBI agents.

Plus, winter weather wreaking havoc on the streets, traffic accidents across the country, and a deadly pileup in Maryland.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[12:15:55]

SANCHEZ: The intelligence community is reinforcing its belief that the Russian government meddled in the U.S. election. An internal memo to staff, CIA Director John Brennan said that he met with the directors of the National Intelligence and the FBI this week and, quote, "There is a strong consensus among us on the scope, nature and intent of Russian interference in our presidential election."

Let's talk about this. I'm joined by former CIA covert operations officer, Mike Baker, and CNN senior law enforcement analyst and former FBI assistant director, Tom Fuentes.

Tom, first to you. The perceived dispute between the FBI and the CIA that we talked about last week now seemingly has been resolved. They agree about Russia's interference and the motive in the hacking. So what bridged that gap, perhaps some miscommunication?

TOM FUENTES, CNN SENIOR LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: No, I honestly don't know what bridged it because originally the point of contention was the f was suspicious of how they knew that Putin himself absolutely ordered the attacks. You know, there is the assumption that nothing happens in Russia without him and he is the supreme leader and he must have orchestrated it.

But there was no indication, at least initially for the FBI that he actually did. So they were willing to agree that the Russian, somebody in the Russian system was causing the hacks, but they weren't willing to contribute it directly to Putin personally.

SANCHEZ: Mike, Russia has said put up or shut up in response, saying show us the evidence or drop the issue. Some experts have told us that if there are informal actors taking part in this hacking, it might be difficult to get any kind of evidence. So are you expecting anything from this investigation that might make it indisputable, the Russian influence on the election? We lost both of these -- actually we have Tom, so we lost Mike there. Tom, that question to you. Are you expecting any kind of indisputable evidence perhaps?

FUENTES: I doubt it. I think, you know, this isn't like the Cuban missile crisis where we showed the photographs of the missiles being placed in Cuba and presented at the United Nations. I don't think the intelligence community is going to want to reveal the trade craft that helped them identify that they believe this came from Russia.

SANCHEZ: Now, Julian Assange, the head of Wikileaks has come out and said that Russian hackers actually were not the people that gave him the hacked e-mails. Listen to this sound bite.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JULIAN ASSANGE, WIKILEAKS FOUNDER (via telephone): Our source is not the Russian government.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So in other words let me be clear, Russia did not give you the Podesta documents or anything from the DNC?

ASSANGE: That's correct.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: From what we've heard from others, it takes a sophisticated operation to go through with this kind of hack. So if it wasn't Russia, who else could have done it?

FUENTES: You know, there are a lot of people in a lot of countries that could have done it. The problem I have with this is that what we've learned about the DNC system and what we learned about the Clinton private servers, were that practically a 12-year-old could hack into them.

These were very unsecure systems so this constant narrative that this is one of the most sophisticated hacking operations in the world, what the Russians can do or China or the United States or Iran, that may be true.

But you are talking about master burglaries breaking into a building that wasn't locked in the first place. So I don't think it required that level of sophistication and also, when they're that sophisticated they don't usually leave a trail that is easily identified.

So that's another system. That's why Director Comey of the FBI spoke last summer saying that -- especially with Secretary Clinton's private servers that they could easily have been penetrated without a trace, without anybody know they came, stole information and left.

And that is what I have with this thing. This was not a secure system and we're making it like nobody in the world, except maybe Russia and a couple of other key countries could have broken into it. [12:20:04]SANCHEZ: That's an interesting point. Mike, we have Mike Baker back on the phone. To tail off that, some Clinton supporters are disappointed that the president didn't go after Russia more aggressively for meddling before Election Day.

But the reality is these hackers had access to the DNC network for more than a year, and federal investigators warned the DNC, they offered them help almost a dozen times. Why do you think they didn't take action earlier?

MIKE BAKER, FORMER CIA COVERT OPERATIONS OFFICER (via telephone): There is several reasons, I apologize for losing the -- I go on the record as blaming the Russians for the mishap. How do you respond to a cyber-attack? The problem has been, whether it's the Pentagon or anyone else looking at cyber warfare, the problem is you have to get attribution, figure out the point of origin.

Then you have to figure out what is an appropriate response and the concern is that you know, responding in cyberspace could escalate very quickly. Now, I agree with Tom, I think the interesting -- there are so many layers here.

It's very interesting that the signature or the fingerprints left supposedly by the Russians in this hacking attempt were relatively in the scheme of things in forensics easy to find. That is unusual.

Unless they were intending to leave this. Now, that is not out of the question. The Russians have been engaged in covert action and propaganda campaigns since early World War II, when they had a pack with the Nazis, going through the cold war had this is what they do.

The objectives always remain the same as far as the Russians are concerned, is to chip away with faith and democracy, as we were engaged in that cold war with them. Technology has changed, instead of leaflets and newspaper articles, they have cyberspace, is a more effective tool and more difficult in the sense of the response.

SANCHEZ: Some fascinating points. Wish we had more time with you both. Tom Fuentes, Mike Baker, thank you for joining us.

Up next, at least three people are dead as freezing cold air is icing over highways across the country causing multiple accidents.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[12:25:35]

SANCHEZ: You are looking at live pictures of I-95 in Baltimore, Maryland where two people died in a 55-car pileup. Another person killed in an accident in Virginia. Drivers in Maryland are finally able to break away from the highway that has been grid locked most of this morning.

I spoke with the mayor of Baltimore, Catherine Pugh, she had a warning for residents.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYOR CATHERINE PUGH, BALTIMORE (via telephone): Again, encouraging people, please stay off the roads, stay off the streets. Be careful if you have to go out. Be conscious of the fact that this is not snow, this is ice and we've not risen above the freezing and so we're very, very concerned about all of our residents.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: She not only said stay off the street, she also said stay inside your homes all together. It's not just Maryland and Virginia, bad weather is wreaking havoc on Americans across the country. CNN's Sara Ganim is joining me live from New York right now. Sara, what is it like there?

SARA GANIM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, Boris, this snow here is turning into rain, but across the country, people are still dealing with these icy roads. As you mentioned in Baltimore, parts of I-95 still shut down after the 55-car pileup, two people killed, another 11 injured in that accident.

And it wasn't the only one, the only multicar crash across the country today. In Virginia, another person died. State police say it was one of 41 accidents that they are responding to and investigating as a result of this icy conditions in Virginia alone.

In Massachusetts, state police tweeted photos of vehicles that had slid off the road noting that those resulted in only minor injuries. But also drivers in Indiana had to evacuate their cars when it became too slick to travel on and walking difficult.

First responders in Indiana brought in ladders to help people off the freeways in Minneapolis. There were several drivers stuck, pushing their cars out.

We had a lot of snow here this morning, snow covered roads and sidewalks, it is beginning to melt and turn into slush and people here are beginning to come out on the streets.

As you can see, of course, a little bit of reprieve coming ahead in the forecast, tomorrow here in New York City, Boris, it's expected to be 60 degrees. So people who are dealing with this across the country today at least can look towards tomorrow with a little bit more of favorable weather.

SANCHEZ: Yes, a lot of slush ahead of. It's unfortunate it's happening on the busiest shopping weekend of the year. Sara Ganim reporting live from New York. Thank you.

Coming up, China has seized an underwater drone from the United States. Hear how Donald Trump is responding and what China says it's going to do now.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[12:31:31] SANCHEZ: Hello there. Thanks for joining me, I'm Boris Sanchez. China's government says the U.S. is "Hyping up" an incident where it seized a U.S. navy drone in international waters. They're now promising to return the drone in what is being called in appropriate manner.

It all started on Thursday when China grabbed an underwear U.S. navy research drone from international waters in the South China Sea. President-elect Donald Trump weighed in this morning on Twitter tweeting out quote, "China steals United States navy research drone in international waters, rips it out of water and takes it to China in unprecedented act". I want to bring in Peter Hoekstra, he's a former Republican congressman and also the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee. He is now a Donald Trump supporter. There is no question that tensions between the U.S. and China are heating up, Peter, so do you see a connection between that and the rhetoric from the incoming president?

PETER HOEKSTRA, (R) FORMER HOUSE INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN: Well, I think what Donald Trump is doing, he is signaling the China very clearly that the, you know, the relationship with China needs to change. We're very concerned about what they've been doing in the South China Sea. He wants to send a signal that says, hey, in international waters, all nations can traverse those waters freely and they will be -- America will do everything that we can to secure those. He is saying that, you know, we want a good relationship with China, but there's going to be accountability, there's to be expectations, there's going to be responsibilities, it has to be a balanced relationship.

I think at 30,000 feet, he is setting the bar for the kind of relationship that he wants to have with China. He recognizes that in this case, you know, in how America responds to the grabbing of an underwater drone, we only have one president at a time. It's Barack Obama's responsibility to respond to this specific incident.

SANCHEZ: Well, there is this specific incident, but there has been quite a few of them in the past few days, we had the discovery of anti-aircraft weapons on some of the islands in the South China Sea, we also had a Chinese nuclear armed plane fly through that area, and now this. How should the U.S. respond?

HOEKSTRA: Well, I'll tell you what -- it's very clear, I just spent a little bit of time last weekend in Japan, I was in Indonesia, I've talked to the South Koreans, they all recognized and they're looking for new American leadership, because you're right there have been a whole series of incidents that our allies are also concerned about. You know, it's North Korea and their progress towards nuclear weapons and then the intercontinental ballistic missile.

There are the issues with Taiwan. There's trade issues. There's the militarization of the islands. They recognize that the strategies that have been in placed, these or the China have not been working, that we need a collaborative approach with our allies, they're looking for the United States to lead and I think Donald Trump is signaling to them that America will lead and we will collaborate with them to develop a new strategy. SANCHEZ: Senator John McCain would agree with you. He put up a statement overt the incident. He writes in part, "China had no right to seize this vehicle and the United States must not stand for such outrageous conduct. This brazen provocation fits a pattern of increasingly destabilizing Chinese behavior including bullying its neighbors and militarizing of the South China Sea. And this behavior will continue until it is met with a strong and determined U.S. response which until now the Obama administration has failed to provide".

[12:35:01] Ultimately, though, does this add up to more posturing or does this have the possibility to potentially make things worse? There's been to talk about a trade war with China if the situation continues to escalate, do you foresee that?

HOEKSTRA: Oh, I don't foresee that. But I think what Donald Trump is signaling, exactly what John McCain is indicating America needs to do. The U.S., our allies in Asia, need to send a strong signal and the expectation and the hope is that China will respond and recognize that they need to be more responsible and that their relationship with the United States is absolutely critical and if they want to maintain a strong, solid economic relationship, make sure that, you know, we have peace in Asia, that there's going to be expectations for them to change their behavior. Clearly with Governor Branstad being the, you know, the designated new ambassador to China, Donald Trump is signaling, we want a very good relationship with China, but it's going to come with expectations and with responsibilities.

SANCHEZ: It will be interesting to see.

HOEKSTRA: It will be.

SANCHEZ: If they measure up to those expectations. Peter Hoekstra, thank you.

HOEKSTRA: All right. Thank you.

SANCHEZ: Coming up, as Donald Trump readies for inauguration day, he'll be facing dozens of legal battles, we'll break those down, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: These were actually live pictures out of Columbus, Ohio where the funeral procession for John Glenn is under way. He was a former senator, an astronaut. He passed away last week at the age of 95. He was a hero to so many Americans, actually returned to space back in 1998, and again this is a live picture of his funeral procession taking place in Columbus, Ohio.

Back to politics now, Donald Trump will have more than just transition decisions on his plate at the start of the New Year. The president- elect is going to sit for a deposition that could last for seven hours, just weeks before his inauguration.

[12:40:03] This comes after his controversial comments about Mexicans sparked a feud with celebrity chef Jose Andres who had plans to start a restaurant in one of Trump's hotels. Joe Johns has the latest on that legal battle.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE JOHNS, SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: The latest dust up started when the chef Jose Andres, who's from Spain decided to pull the plug on a restaurant he was planning for Trump's the new D.C. Hotel after Trump slammed Mexicans in his campaign kickoff speech.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT-ELECT: They're bringing drugs, they're bringing crime, they're rapist.

JOHNS: The chef's lawyer said Trump's comments made it difficult to hire Hispanic employees to work in what had been planned as a Spanish restaurant. The conflict between the two picked up speed on the campaign trail. When Andres stumped for Hillary Clinton

JOSE ANDRES, CHEF: We are not supposed to mention him until he doesn't apologize to every Latino, to every Mexican, to every woman, to every veteran and any person that he has in consulted.

JOHNS: His remarks come on the same day that Donald Trump was in Washington, D.C., opening his new hotel.

TRUMP: I'm also honored to have a chance to thank the incredible team of people who brought our vision for Washington's historic old post office to life.

JOHNS: Trump was deposed in June in a similar lawsuit with Andres' business partner, restaurant tour Geoffrey Zakarian.

TRUMP: They had a lot of bad publicity because of the way they handled it, they grandstanded. I think we were hurt by the way they did it.

JOHNS: Trump's lawyers tried unsuccessfully to limit questioning of Trump in this deposition to two hours. Arguing in court filings that he is the president-elect, it is not an overstatement that he is extremely busy handling matters of very significant public importance. But the Judge Jennifer Di Toro ruled that a limit on Trump's deposition could be unfair to the chef's legal team as it prepares for trial. Andres for his part is suggested that he would like to settle the fight out of court, tweeting this week, "Mr. @realDonaldTrump can we end our lawsuits and we donate money to a veterans NGO to celebrate? Why keep litigating? Let's both of us win.

TRUMP: I don't want to settle cases when we're right. I don't believe in it. When you start settling cases, you know what happens? Everybody sues you.

JOHNS: Besides beyond Jury's case, there are dozens of other pending lawsuits against Trump. From one involving a Republican consultant who claims tweets from Trump calling her a real dummy ruined her reputation. The one from protesters claiming a security team assaulted them at Trump Tower last year. But the most discussed, Trump University.

TRUMP: The school had a 98 percent approval rating. But yeah, an attorney that felt, oh, may be I can sue Trump and get something.

JOHNS: Last month Trump agreed to pay $25 million to settle a series of lawsuits out of court against his now defunct real estate training program. Joe Johns, CNN Washington.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: All right, let's bring in our panel to discuss the legal challenges that Trump will face and more. We have Republican Strategist Ford O'Connell and CNN Political Commentator and Democratic strategist Hilary Rosen. And Ford you first. Trump's decision not to settle this lawsuit puts him at risk of spending seven hours of deposition just weeks before his inauguration. This is a case he brought up himself, why not settle at this point and as the chef said donate money to veterans.

FORD O'CONNELL, FORMER MCCAIN-PALIN PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN ADVISER: Well, sure these lawsuits could actually cause him some early headaches. But you have to understand, and from what I understand, unless I've see -- unless there's some clause in the contract it looks like he's going to prevail over Jose Andres and unfortunately, if he does settle this lawsuit, even though once he becomes president, he won't be running the Trump organization. This is an open door for everyone under the sun to come after the Trump organization and try to break contracts. Look I'm a former lawyer, it's been a long time since then, but I would advise against settling this thing even though it may look good to give the money to an NGO.

SANCHEZ: So, you think he should sit down for a deposition where just about anybody can come and ask him questions about his legal issues in the past?

O'CONNELL: Look, you have to make this decision on a case by case basis. But you have to understand the merit of this case. Andres may not actually have a leg to stand on here. And what you're signaling is to other people that do business with the Trump organization that this is open season to come and mow us down. I agree in a lot of cases, depending on what's at stake here, Trump should obviously try to settle those suits as quickly as possible and get back to the nation's business.

SANCHEZ: Well, Hilary, to you, this is just one of the several legal battles you heard that Trump is facing. Dozens of pending lawsuits, how do you think this affects his job as president in the first 100 days?

HILARY ROSEN, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: You know, I'd make a couple of points. First, is that this restaurant is actually in a hotel that Trump has a blatant conflict of interest even running now. As president of the United States, he will be both landlord and tenant. It's a public building and it's inappropriate and he has yet to say how he is going to handle his conflicts of interest.

[12:45:08] So, Donald Trump has a habit of suggesting when he is wronged but he has no compunction talking about his own business interests on a regular basis. So the second thing is, you know, there are dozens and dozens and dozens of lawsuits against Donald Trump for not paying -- still pending, not paying contract or screwing over, you know, whether it's painters or lawyers or dishwashers or getting people fired when they accuse him of sexual harassment.

So he is -- he has dozens of people aggrieved and yet now his bully pulpit is going to suggest that he is the harmed party here. I just don't think the American people are going to buy it when they know those facts and I think it's a huge waste of time for him to continue this vendetta against a chef who is essentially saying, you know what, I cannot hire Latinos to work for you so you should not force me to hire Latinos to work for you and by the way, he's got another restaurant in there already. So now, it's nothing more than ...

O'CONNELL: This is demagoguery, let's be perfectly honest. The American people don't care. If Donald Trump keeps taking is his case to the American people, strikes up some early victories in the first 100 days of being in office, guess what? All of this goes by the way side. Here in lies the problem. Hillary Clinton lost the election, the Democrats have the fewest elected office is nationwide since 1920, they never thought he, Donald Trump win and they don't have a plan b. They're grasping at straws, and here is what I want to know. How is this strategy, it may fire up the Democrat base, but how is the strategy get the Democrats out of the wilderness by, you know, cheering on Donald Trump's lawsuits. The problem is ...

ROSEN: Whoa, whoa, whoa, excuse me, Donald Trump.

O'CONNELL: ... you lost the bedrock of the Democratic Party since FDR.

ROSEN: Donald Trump is pursuing this lawsuit, not Democrats.

SANCHEZ: That is true. Ford, a quick question for you.

ROSEN: Donald Trump is the one going after this, being punitive continuing to pursue his business and financial interests and not the business of ...

O'CONNELL: But this lawsuit occurs dead long before he becomes president.

ROSEN: Well, he could then anytime he want.

SANCHEZ: Really quick, Ford.

O'CONNELL: Yes sir.

SANCHEZ: We were expecting this press conference yesterday from Donald Trump detailing specifically how he would separate himself from his business, ultimately it got delayed. He sent out a tweet saying that the media and Democrats were making something simple seem complex, but actually his surrogates have said this is extremely complex. Who is telling the truth here?

O'CONNELL: Well, I think there is a lot of election hearing going on, on both sides. This is extremely complex. And when Donald Trump rolls out how he's going to break with his conflicts of interest he has to make sure he gets this right on the first try because we doubt that the Democrats and Hillary Clinton are going to come after him like hell on earth.

ROSEN: Well, it's important I do think that people want him to separate his business interests from the public interest, and that's why him, pursuing things like private litigation for punitive reasons is silly, it doesn't befit a president.

SANCHEZ: Now, aside from his personal lawsuits, we may see some lawsuits levied against him by states. I want to ask Ford, several incoming Democratic district attorneys have said that they plan to kind of steal a page from Republicans if you will, using lawsuits to keep the president in check when it comes to several policies they may not support or if they're potentially unconstitutional. We saw Republicans do this with Obamacare, with immigration. How does he counteract that?

O'CONNELL: Well, he counteracts it by basically getting a lot of victories in congress and showing, you know, the American worker that he's on their side. What I find totally ironic with this Democratic ploy is that again Donald Trump won, they never thought he would win and now they're looking for a new plan, is that they've blown over the last eight years, states rights and now they decide if they like states rights solely because they despised Donald J. Trump even more.

SANCHEZ: Hilary, do you think this strategy can backfire, your response?

ROSEN: Just two points. First is that, you know, when Barack Obama was president, they had -- Republicans and the country had a check and balances on him because the Republican controlled house had subpoena power to look at actions of the executive office and hold them accountable when they wanted to. And there were many times when they used it.

We do not have that checks and balances against this White House any longer. A Republican controlled congress has already made it clear that they are not going to use any investigative powers. That they're not going to press the president a separate office on conflicts of interest. So it is appropriate for state attorneys general to use their power on behalf of the people and their responsibility is to uphold the law, the actual law. And for them to do that on behalf of their citizens is exactly I think not just what Democrats should have but what all Americans should have.

[12:50:01] SANCHEZ: Last word Ford.

O'CONNELL: I'm not saying it's not appropriate the point though is this is a political strategy. And my only question to you is more than it is about the people, how does this get you out of the wilderness because you lost the bedrock of your party which is a blue collar voter, my question to you is very simple, how does this get the blue collar voter back, because I'm not sure it does.

SANCHEZ: Hilary, Ford. We are out of time ...

ROSEN: Protecting individual rights, you know, is something more important than politics.

SANCHEZ: Both thank you so much for joining us this weekend. A lively discussion.

O'CONNELL: Thank you Boris.

ROSEN: Bye Boris.

SANCHEZ: Still to come, protests in North Carolina as the incoming Democratic governor is having his powers cut by the Republicans. Now, some are calling it an unprecedented power grab.

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SANCHEZ: The Republican Governor of North Carolina Pat McCrory has signed a controversial new law stripping executive powers from his successor, Democrat Roy Cooper. Protesters in North Carolina were detained after speaking out of the proposed law to remove state and county election boards from Democratic control. Republican law makers, say they are simply in acting constitutional checks and balances, but the democrats, this is a shameful power grab. CNN's National Correspondent Polo Sandoval, joining us now with the details. Polo, this was a hard fought nasty campaign and now it just looks like we're seeing more of it.

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: And Boris, how we got here is important, right? That we need to keep that context in mind, it was you mention it was very bitter, highly contested gubernatorial race. So, now what we're seeing is that this highly contentious moment where it's going to be now very difficult for this incoming governor to eventually do his job. A lot of these new laws stripping some of the powers away and that's leading to plenty of criticism, plenty of chaos and rally.

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SANDOVAL: The latest legislative session closing with growing outrage in crowds in North Carolina's capital.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's very difficult to hear because of the disruptive noise outside the chamber.

[12:55:01] SANDOVAL: Demonstrators are angry over a series of bills rolled out during a hastily called special legislative session this week where lawmakers in the Republican controlled legislature want to limit incoming Governor Roy Cooper's powers.

ROY COOPER, (D) NORTH CARLINA GOVERNOR-ELECT: What is happening now is unprecedented. What is happening now, it's going to affect the issues that make a difference to everyday working families.

SANDOVAL: Among the restrictions, requiring the Republican controlled senate to approve all of Governor-elect Cooper's cabinet appointees also, significantly decreasing the number of appointments allowed by the new administration from 1,500 to 300. Additionally, Cooper would be blocked from appointing some members of the state board of education and all members of the board of trustees for the university of North Carolina system. Cooper beat out conservative Republican incumbent Pat McCrory by only about 10,000 votes, McCrory claimed fraud and challenged the outcome before conceding four weeks later.

PAT MCCRORY, (R) FORMER NORTH CAROLINA GOVERNOR: This is majority rule, we have elections.

SANDOVAL: Despite large Republican majorities leaders say they are going to continue to be relevant in the state, but Democrats call it a power grab, makes for what it will be an even more turbulent transition for McCrory Democratic successor.

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SANCHEZ: This is fascinating to watch this on full Polo. How are Democrats expected to respond, are they planning anything?

SANDOVAL: Well, many of them are just watching right now to see what they can do. As for the Governor-elect cooper, who's options are simply to take some of these legislatures to court in fact he's threatened to do so just like yesterday, he did release a statement in part saying that the courts will have to clean up the mess, the legislature made, those are his own words, obviously making reference also to the last litigated process that we saw play out in South Carolina with the bathroom bill, that highly controversial legislation as well. So here we are again obviously a very unwelcome kind of mode happening there at ...

SANCHEZ: Yeah, and it'll be interesting to see because a lot of that takes time from the new governor's leadership in staying.

SANDOVAL: A very turbulent transition.

SANCHEZ: Yeah. Thank you so much Polo, we appreciate the time. We have much more ahead in the NEWSROOM in just a moment, stay with us.

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