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Biden Arrives For Meeting With Xi In Peru; Scrutiny Over Growing List Of Trump Picks; Trump Picks Chris Wright As Secretary Of Energy; Zelensky: Ukraine War Will End "Faster" With Trump In WH; How Trump Could Use Recess Appointments To Fill His Cabinet; Sen. Thune On Recess Appointments: "All Options Are On The Table" Trump Picks Vaccine Skeptic RFK Jr To Be Health Secretary; Deportation Fears Spike After Trump Win. Aired. 4-5p ET

Aired November 16, 2024 - 16:00   ET

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

[16:00:00]

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN HOST: Before we go, a reminder that Dr. Sanjay Gupta is venturing across the globe to see how the new weight loss medications are transforming lives. "DR. SANJAY GUPTA REPORTS, IS OZEMPIC RIGHT FOR YOU?" That premieres tomorrow, 8:00 p.m. right here on CNN.

Thank you so much for joining me today, I'm Fredricka Whitfield.

The "CNN Newsroom" with Jessica Dean starts right now.

JESSICA DEAN, CNN HOST: You are in the "CNN Newsroom" and I'm Jessica Dean.

In Atlanta, any moment now, President Joe Biden is set to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the APEC summit in Peru. He just arrived at the hotel where that discussion is set to take place. And the meeting is coming at a critical time for the future of the relationship between Beijing and Washington.

As Donald Trump's imminent return to the White House looms over the summit of Pacific leaders. Delegates are discussing and strategizing for a future that remains uncertain. And unpredictable.

And we have a team of correspondents with us to look at this from all angles. Our Marc Stewart is in Beijing. Steve Contorno is in West Palm Beach. We're going to start first, though, with Kayla Tausche, who is traveling with the president in Lima, Peru.

And, Kayla, what are U.S. officials hoping to achieve in this meeting, given that it's at this late hour of the Biden presidency?

KAYLA TAUSCHE, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (on-camera): Well, Jessica, U.S. officials have been managing the expectations for this meeting, saying that there are not expected to be any specific deliverables or outcomes, that it's a meeting more for reflection and taking stock of the relationship and how it's progressed over the last four years, where President Joe Biden had a very clear goal, where he wanted to keep the competition between these two global superpowers from spilling over into conflict.

Certainly, there have been many areas of contention, notably on cyber espionage and China's recent support of Russia's war in Ukraine that has been growing in the last couple of years. But there have also been some areas of cooperation, like on climate change and on curbing the trafficking of illicit fentanyl.

And recently they have also established military level communication so that the two countries can deconflict in the South China Sea and the Taiwan Strait, where there have been concerns of a potential accidental conflict in that region given China's operations there.

So, we expect them to highlight some of those issues, Jess but certainly the incoming administration is going to cast a shadow over what they're able to discuss. There is real consternation among the Chinese delegation about what exactly awaits them when President-elect Donald Trump. returns to Washington for his second term. He has already assembled a team of hardline China hoax who are going to be setting to work executing an agenda that has been clearly telegraphed by Trump on the campaign trail that would include steep tariffs that are expected early in his term.

They're trying to figure out what to expect. They're not expecting those answers from President Biden, but we do expect this to be a capstone meeting of sorts as President Biden prepares to turn the page on his own presidency.

Jess.

DEAN: All right. Kayla Tausche for us traveling with the President in Lima, Peru. Thank you so much for that reporting.

I want to go now to Marc Stewart, who is joining us from Beijing. And Marc, President Biden, of course, facing a barrage of questions from China and other foreign leaders about the incoming president -- former President Donald Trump. What is the view from China's capital?

MARC STEWART, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (on-camera): Well, Jessica, if you talk to China observers, the point of this meeting is for Xi Jinping to perhaps send the signal to the incoming administration that it values stability and it values communication because it wasn't that long ago under the first Trump administration that diplomats here in Beijing spent many sleepless nights wondering what was next.

By nature, the U.S.-China relationship is a complicated one. At one point in the first Trump presidency, these two leaders Trump and Xi Jinping had had a very amicable relationship. You may remember they shared chocolate cake together at Mar-a-Lago. But then things turned sour when bigger issues about trade disputes and China's handling of COVID really caused a thorn in this relationship.

The Biden administration has also had rough spots with China. In fact, after that balloon was shut down in early 2023, there was pretty much a diplomatic freeze, but eventually things did evolve. And China and the U.S. now have regular diplomatic conversations. We have seen Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen here as well as National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan. It's that kind of dialogue that Beijing certainly would like to continue, and it's hoped that this final meeting from an optics perspective will send that message to the incoming Trump White House.

[16:05:10]

DEAN: Yes. And Marc, diplomatic worries aside, could a new administration, could this new Trump administration empower China to show its strength on a -- on a broader level, perhaps?

STEWART (on-camera): Yes, there's no question, Jessica. China is using this as an opportunity to really set itself apart from the United States to say it too is a strong world power and perhaps may be a stable alternative to the United States.

In fact, before APEC even began, Xi Jinping went to Peru and unveiled this massive under deepwater port. Beijing contributed $1.3 billion. China, of course, is the world's second largest economy, and so it will be looking for opportunities if these years ahead in this new administration proved to be a little bit bumpy to say to the rest of the world, China's also a formidable partner to do business with.

DEAN: All right, Marc Stewart for us in Beijing. Thank you so much. We really appreciate that.

And let's head now to the current center of the political universe. And right now, that's not Washington D.C., it's West Palm Beach, Florida.

CNN's Steve Contorno near Mar-a-Lago, where President-elect Trump is considering more cabinet selections. Two of his cabinet picks in the meantime are under some very heavy scrutiny as past allegations have surfaced.

Steve, how is Trump's transition team dealing with all of this? And the fact that they were caught off guard by a sexual assault allegation against Pete Hegseth, Trump's choice for Secretary of Defense.

STEVE CONTORNO, CNN REPORTER (on-camera): Yes, Jessica, that one in particular shows just how quickly trump has made some of these decisions and has taking a left turn that caught some of his own closest advisers and allies off guard. Donald Trump had been considering a long list of names, very traditional sort of orthodox names for dissent then secretary and attorney general, two very critical roles in his administration.

But he was not satisfied with the with any of those choices that he made, someone abruptly the decision to go Pete Hegseth as does the secu -- excuse me national security advisor. No, that was (INAUDIBLE) defense secretary. And then attorney general he picked, Matt Gaetz. Now, both thus a considerable amount of baggage and some of that was known Matt Gaetz obviously has for a while been the under an investigation for sexual misconduct, alleged sexual misconduct involving a minor as well as drug use by both the Department of Justice and the House Ethics Committee.

However, the Hegseth accusations that we just learned about were caught his team off guard and they are now trying to figure out just how deep this might cause problems for his nomination. And there are already concerns about several of Trump's nominees, not only Hegseth and -- and Matt Gaetz, but also RFK Jr. who has detractors on both the left and the right for positions he has taken over the years. And ex- Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard, who will be in charge of the Office of National Intelligence as someone who's been quite critical of our national intelligence gathering agencies over the years.

So, they are marching ahead at this time with all four of these picks and they -- Trump is standing by them, both publicly and privately. However, it just shows you how much Trump intends to challenge this narrow majority they have in the Senate, where they just have four votes that can go either way that could potentially sink any one of these picks.

DEAN: And -- and Steve, while you're talking right now, an e-mail just coming in from the -- the transition team saying that President Donald Trump is thrilled to announce Chris Wright will be joining his administration as both the Secretary of Energy and a member of what they're calling a newly formed Council of National Energy that will consist of all departments and agencies involved in the permitting, production, generation, distribution, regulation, transportation and all forms of American energy. Again, the news coming just right now that Chris Wright will be nominated to be the secretary of energy. And then of course talking about this newly formed Council of National Energy, Steve.

And this just underscores how fluid all of this is right now. Decisions being made obviously in real time right there where you are.

CONTORNO (on-camera): Yes, it's fluid and very fast. Just think about where this process was eight years ago where Donald Trump had camped out in Trump Tower in Manhattan. He was putting on this sort of public auditioning of all these roles, having people march in front of cameras that had been waiting to see who was going in and out of Trump Tower and who might be ahead or behind. There was no formal transition plan.

Well, that is certainly not the case this go -- go around. Trump is announcing all these picks at in a relatively fast clip from the moment he was elected all the way through today. As you just said, another name coming through. This is a much faster process than it was last go around. Just shows how orderly and disciplined the people he has put in charge of his operation are this time as well as this is a person who understands government and the inner workings of his -- of the U.S. government and his own administration far better than he did eight years ago when he was still a political fresh face and someone who was walking into a White House in a Washington, D.C. that he didn't quite fully understand and didn't -- wasn't sure who could be a friend and who was potential adversary.

[16:10:44]

Well, now he knows who his friends are. He knows who is loyal to him, and he is putting those people in positions of power.

DEAN: All right, Steve Contorno for us in West Palm Beach with this breaking news that Trump has announced Chris Wright as his nominee for Energy Secretary.

Steve Contorno, thank you so much. We'll be checking in with you a little bit later.

Of course, Trump's cabinet picks are going to have to make it through Senate confirmation, but he's hoping to circumvent the typical process.

Ahead, what Trump's push for recess appointments actually, means in the Senate and it -- what it means for its new Republican leadership.

Plus, what the future of health in America could look like if Robert F. Kennedy Jr. becomes the head of Health and Human Services.

And a little later why Ukraine's President says the war with Russia will end more quickly with Trump in office and what that could mean.

You're in the "CNN Newsroom."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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DEAN: The bad news keeps coming for Ukraine. Russia is not only gaining ground along key front lines, it's also preparing to launch a massive counteroffensive in the southern Russian region of Kursk, the only place where Ukraine has seen major military success this year.

All of this as Ukraine years, three years since Russia's full-scale invasion, and it's now facing, of course, uncertainty with its most important ally, the United States. But during an interview, Zelensky said, one thing is certain is President-elect Trump prepares to return to the White House.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKY, PRESIDENT OF UKRAINE (through translation): I believe that the war will end, and it will not end in the abstract, but there is no exact date. However, the war will end faster with the policy of the steam that will now lead the White House. This is their approach, their promise to their society, and it is also very important to them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: And joining us now, CNN National Security Analyst and former Deputy Director of National Intelligence, Beth Sanner.

Beth, nice to have you here. Thanks for being here.

BETH SANNER, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST (on-camera): Thanks, Jessica. DEAN: I first just want to know what you make of that comment I just played from -- from President Zelensky.

SANNER (on-camera): Right. And I think I couldn't really hear at the end. But the last sentence that I read, he said, was that and it's up to Ukraine to make sure that this war ends in the next year. And with you know, a politically negotiated ending, something to that effect.

And so, I think that Zelensky and the Ukrainians in general are just, you know, the ultimate in realists. If you are a country that is weaker, you have to figure out how you are going to make it. And in Ukraine's case, this is about survival.

So, I think he understands that Ukraine is, you know, at risk of being upon in this. And his statement to me is absolutely about making sure that President Trump knows that he is going to be part of the solution and not the problem that Ukraine is willing to go to the negotiating table.

DEAN: OK. And to that end, Zelensky met with both Vice President Kamala Harris and Donald Trump when he visited earlier this summer, and there's another clip I want to play from this meeting between Trump and Zelensky.

Here's this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R) PRESIDENT-ELECT OF UNITED STATES: We have a very good relationship, and I also have a very good relationship, as you know, with President Putin. And I think if we win, I think we're going to get it resolved very quickly. Very work. I really think we're going to get it.

ZELENSKY: I hope we have more good relations.

TRUMP: (INAUDIBLE) oh, I see. Yes, but -- but --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you think Ukraine --

TRUMP: -- you know, it takes two to tango.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: And I know you were listening, but if when you watch that video, kind of the look on Zelensky's face and he looks at him, he goes, I think we have a good relationship.

You say, you know, your kind of -- your kind of categorization of where Ukraine finds itself right now is they try to prepare to be in as good of a position as possible. What do you think are kind of the best and worst-case scenarios for them if Trump does indeed go forward with trying to negotiate a deal with Putin to end this war?

SANNER (on-camera): Well, I think that, you know, in some ways, a lot of people around Zelinsky, you know, they do not have a great relationship with the U.S. administration right now. It's -- it's not all, you know, rainbows and sunshine.

And so, in some ways, I think that there are certainly parts of Ukrainian society and leadership who welcomes the Trump administration and they're kind of realistic approach. And they're hoping that what happens in the end here is that Trump will realize that Russia actually is not willing to compromise and that he is going to have to support them and force Russia to make compromises.

[16:19:59]

I think the worst case is, is probably not the least like, is not the most likely. I do not think that President Trump wants to go down as the greater, greatest appeaser of Russia in history. you know, like looking like a Chamberlain, I don't think he wants to do that. I think he wants to end this war.

But I think that he believes that it is on fair terms. I think that fairness is in the eyes of the beholder. And so that -- that, that measurement stick is really going to be about how each side sees this and it's going to be a little harder than it looks at first glance.

DEAN: I also want to ask you about one of Trump's picks, former Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard. He selected her to be the director of National Intelligence. You worked as the former Deputy Director of National Intelligence. And I was just wondering if you can explain to our viewers kind of why critics are so alarmed at the selection of Tulsi Gabbard and -- and what -- what the DNI's role is when it comes to our intelligence?

SANNER (on-camera): Yes. So -- so the DNI have these kind of big -- kind of titular responsibilities under the statute of overseeing the 18 agencies that make up the intelligence community. But the power of that person is, you know, kind of as much or as little in some ways as what they want to put into the job. Things just don't happen automatically. Each agency has a lot of power.

But where the DNI has a lot of power is in controlling what message gets to the president and what is published as intelligence community analytic products and what isn't. As well as decisions about programs and personnel. So, this idea of like Schedule F, you know, where you would have kind of political appointee type things that would all go through the ODNI.

So, there is quite a bit of power there in -- in -- in subtle ways, even though agencies have a lot of individual powers well.

And the DCIA also technically works for her.

DEAN: Right, right. And I just quickly want to play a clip from former -- from former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in 2019. She went so far as to say she thought Russians were grooming Tulsi Gabbard. Let's listen to what she said.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

HILLARY CLINTON, FMR SECRETARY OF STATE: I'm not making any predictions, but I think they've got their eye on somebody who's currently in the Democratic primary and are grooming her to be the third-party candidate.

She's the favorite of the Russians. They have a bunch of sites and bots and other ways of supporting her so far. And that's assuming Jill Stein will give it up, which she might not because she's also a Russian asset.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. Yes.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

DEAN: And Clinton's spokesperson later confirmed she was talking about Gabbard there. And she's not the only one who's made these accusations of her being essentially a Russian asset. Do you share that assessment?

SANNER (on-camera): I really think that people should be careful about going down this track of like defining someone as an asset. I mean, that is -- that is a very, that's like being a traitor. So, I think that, you know, you have to have an investigation, you have to have a background investigation, and I don't think those things should be skipped when it comes to the heads of U.S. intelligence.

But that said, you know, clearly, she is repeating the propaganda of places like RT. And she is you know, mimicking these things, but you will find those ideas all over the U.S. Internet. And circulating in these different chat rooms and things.

And so, I don't know if that really tells us where she gets the (INAUDIBLE) you know, to be the head of intelligence, you're supposed to protect it. And -- and you know, she's done some things and said some things that suggest that maybe she doesn't see the same way as an intelligence professor -- professional, like I do.

DEAN: All right. Beth Sanner, as always, thank you so much for your thoughts there. We appreciate it.

SANNER (on-camera): Thank you.

DEAN: Coming up, President Trump wants to use an old political trick, the recess appointment to skip past the usual senate approval process. Is that efficient and powerful or would it cheat the American people and the senate of the right to be the check?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[16:28:54]

SEN. JOHN THUNE (R-SD) MAJORITY LEADER-ELECT: All options are on the table, including recess appointments. Hopefully it doesn't get to that, but we'll find out fairly quickly whether the Democrats want to play ball or not.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: That was the man who will lead the Senate next year. Newly elected Senate majority leader John Thune saying all options are on the table to get Trump's cabinet picks approved, and there are some controversial names on that list.

CNN senior politics writer and author of The What Matters Newsletter, Zachary Wolf, has been looking into the confirmation process.

And so, Zach, tell us about recess appointments and why Trump might try to use them.

ZACHARY WOLF, CNN SENIOR POLITICS WRITER (on-camera): Well, they're kind of a -- a -- an, an anachronism there, left over from the horse and buggy part of a, you know, time in U.S. history when the Senate and the House would be out of session for a long time. It took a long time for people to get to Washington.

The president at that time needed to make appointments when lawmakers weren't here. That's not really the way it's supposed to work because in the Constitution, the Senate is supposed to give advice and -- and consent to all of the people or the top people that work in the administration.

[16:30:00]

So, Trump would want to use these in order to essentially get around that, to not have to worry about confirmation hearings and making sure he could get 50 votes because he's picked some very controversial nominees. People like Matt Gaetz, who might not even be able to get a majority among Republicans.

So this would be a way for him to get the cabinet that he wants without the worrying -- you know, having to worry about getting 50 votes in the Senate. But it's not really the way it's supposed to work at all.

DEAN: Right. And the courts have weighed in on recess appointments before. What did they say?

WOLF: Yes. Well, there was a -- about 10 years ago, it was actually -- things were flipped. It was Republicans suing the Obama administration over three recess appointments Barack Obama to make the NLRB, the National Labor Relations Board function.

It went all the way to the Supreme Court and the Supreme Court essentially said that the Senate must be out of session for 10 days for it be a long enough recess in order to make a recess appointment.

And you see where this is going. In the years since then, the Senate just essentially stopped taking recesses. They haven't recessed long enough to make a recess appointment since 2016.

So in order to do this, Republicans in the Senate would literally have to stop business, take a 10-day break that they probably can't afford to, so that Trump could get around having to having to get 50 votes. DEAN: Yes.

WOLF: And by the way, they have a majority.

DEAN: Right, right. And when they do these things called pro-forma sessions, where one Senator has to go in there and essentially, it's not full recess because they're presiding over the Senate, but they don't really do anything in that moment.

What does history tell us about how likely Trump's picks are to make it through the Senate?

WOLF: Every recent president has had at least one failed nominee. And frequently, they withdraw long before there's a vote.

Ther hasn't been a negative vote for a cabinet official in decades, since the '80s. And the guy, John Tower, he was, you know, a former Senator actually, and that's kind of what brought him down because all of the Senators knew he had a drinking problem.

And that was something the FBI ended up investigating. He was nominated to be the defense secretary.

Trump had some failed nominees, but nobody usually gets to the point of actually having a vote because it's so embarrassing.

You know, Bill Clinton famously, his attorney general pick withdrew after it became clear she had hired undocumented -- undocumented immigrants. President Trump, his commerce secretary in his first term, pulled back. So it's pretty rare for there to be an actual vote. Really rare.

I mean, the John Tower one was the first one in 50 years. So it almost never happens that they get out there and actually have a negative vote.

DEAN: Right. And so bottom line, as people try to kind of metabolize this -- this information, you know, we know that the former president is not concerned or motivated by the norms, I guess, in Washington.

If he decides to push forward with these recess appointments and the Senate Republicans want to support that, is there anything stopping him from doing that?

WOLF: Uh, pretty much -- I mean, it would be Senate Republicans. You saw John Thune there, he didn't really sound excited by the idea of recess appointments, because it would be abdicating the responsibility that he just gained as the Senate majority leader.

And you know, while we always think of Republicans and Democrats as the forces fighting each other you know, the Senate is supposed to be a check on the White House.

And I don't think Republicans in the Senate necessarily want to give up that power they have. But we'll see. DEAN: All right. Zachary Wolf, thanks for the deep dive. We appreciate

it.

WOLF: Thanks.

DEAN: Still to come, the concerns from public health experts after President Trump tapped Robert F. Kennedy Jr as his nominee for HHS secretary.

[16:33:48]

You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:38:30]

DEAN: Former President Donald Trump's appointment of Robert F. Kennedy Jr as HHS secretary is sparking a lot of concern among health experts and others who are sounding the alarm over Mr. Kennedy's extensive history of promoting junk science and anti-vaccine conspiracy theories.

Including claims that Covid-19 was, quote, "ethnically targeted" and that chemicals in the environment are impacting the sexuality of children.

Here's some more of what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERT F. KENNEDY JR, TRUMP'S PICK FOR HHS SECRETARY: Tiny, infinitesimal amounts of mercury at parts per billion will cause profound neurological injury in children it's coming from our own vaccines.

Covid-19 is targeted to attack Caucasians and -- and black people. The people who are most immune are Ashkenazi Jews and Chinese.

(voice-over): The capacity for these chemicals that we are just raining down on our children right now to induce these very profound sexual changes in them is something we need to be thinking about as a society.

(on camera): Even in Hitler's Germany, you could -- you could cross the Alps into Switzerland. You can hide in an attic like Anne Frank did. Today, the mechanisms are being put in place that will make it so none of us can run, and none of us can hide.

They're putting in 5-G to harvest our data and control our behavior.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: Joining us now is Doctor Peter Salk, the son of the scientist who developed the polio vaccine. He's also an expert on infectious diseases. [16:40:07]

Doctor, thanks so much for being here with us.

DR. PETER L. SALK, PROF. OF INFECTIOUS DISEASES AND MICROBIOLOGY, UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH & PRESIDENT, JONAS SALK LEGACY FOUNDATION: You are welcome.

DEAN: Before we get to RFK Jr, I first want to talk about the impact your father's polio vaccine had on the world, had on Americans. I think a lot of people might not realize just how much it and other vaccines, vaccines really changed the world.

SALK: Absolutely. Polio was causing epidemics that were increasing dramatically in this country and elsewhere in the world.

In 1952, there were 58,000 children who were affected by polio, which is a crippling disease, can leave you unable to walk, use your limb or your arms. You may have to be in an iron lung for a prolonged period of time. This was very, very frightening.

My father and his team at the University of Pittsburgh developed the very first effective polio vaccine, which was introduced for use in 1955, and there was just a huge wave of relief on the part of parents.

And I have to say that that research was funded by the March of Dimes. This was not government funding. It was donations from the people in this country. This was the people's victory over a disease.

DEAN: Because parents were really concerned about their children.

SALK: Absolutely. It was very, very frightening.

DEAN: And thanks to that vaccine, we don't really see that in this country anymore. And -- and yet, RFK Jr's support does seem to be linked, in part, to this larger decline in public trust in health institutions, expertise, science.

What do you think is driving that? And how do you think that the trust can be rebuilt?

SALK: Yes. First of all, I think that one thing for people in this country is that the success of vaccines has meant that people are no longer as concerned about the diseases of childhood and so on, that we've been confronted with.

Of course, the Covid pandemic brought things to the forefront in that respect.

Having continued trust in vaccines is really important. If there are issues that need to be dealt with, and there always are with anything that one introduces. One has to be very careful.

I am completely in agreement with that, I think that most people are, that we -- as long as we approach things appropriately. We need to end up in a position where the immunity against these diseases that we're so prevalent in the past continues to be solid.

And that we're in a position of protecting against new disease threats that can emerge.

One of the things that's characterized this last period of time is the great division of thinking and feeling in this country.

So my own personal preference at the moment is to try and look upon this next period as an opportunity to heal those divides.

If we can create a public dialog around issues where there's -- there's great -- are great differences of points of view, and even RFK Jr himself has made these -- these points, that, at times, he has said he's not against vaccines. He doesn't want to take peoples vaccines away from them.

But he's concerned about what these other issues are. If we can reach a point where we are creating and if, through his leadership, he could provide this opportunity, appropriate forums to explore all of the pros and the cons and the ins and outs.

So that, at the other side of this, everyone in this country can feel comfortable that they've participated, that their points of view have been heard, and that we can work together as a united nation in approaching the kinds of problems that are confronting us.

DEAN: And so are you hopeful in what you're describing there about how you would hope we could get back to -- to trust in all of this and kind of building that, bridging that divide, are you hopeful that that can happen if confirmed under Robert F. Kennedy Jr's leadership?

SALK: You know, my feeling is that we have to take whatever happens in the most positive light we can. And whatever takes place, we want -- from my vantage point, we want to move from here, from where we've been to a future where there's more harmony.

DEAN: All right. Doctor Peter Salk, thank you so much for your thoughts on that. We really appreciate it.

SALK: You are very welcome.

DEAN: Thank you.

And when we come back, how two Hispanic families with mixed legal status view Trump's return to the White House as he lays the groundwork to carry out his promised mass deportations and detentions.

[16:45:06]

You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

DEAN: As President-Elect Donald Trump prepares to take office, Trump's allies are discussing their strategies for deporting people. Many in Trump's circle see tackling immigration as a day-one priority. CNN's Rosa Flores sits down with two families, whose lives could

change, to see how they view his immigration promises.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: How many of you are U.S. citizens?

How many of you support Donald Trump?

You're undocumented and you support Donald Trump?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I support Donald Trump for the economy.

FLORES (voice-over): Two Hispanic families with mixed legal status in Houston with two different takes on President-elect Donald Trump's return to the White House.

This is the Espinosas' first gathering since Trump's win.

[16:50:01]

(on camera): How many of you fear that deportation could impact your family?

(voice-over): Cesar Espinosa, a husband and father, was a DACA recipient until this summer when he got a green card. His sister and brother-in-law are DACA recipients. His sister-in-Law is a green card holder.

And the rest of his family here are U.S. citizens. Some who are not present, are undocumented.

(on camera): You're a green card holder. Your wife is a U.S. citizen. Why are you afraid of deportation?

CESAR ESPINOSA, FEARS DEPORTATION UNDER TRUMP: I just became a green card holder after 33 years of being in this country.

I don't think people understand the fear. It's a constant shadow hanging over our heads.

FLORES: What was your reaction to Donald Trump winning?

KARYNNA ESPINOSA, FEARS FAMILY MEMBERS COULD BE DEPORTED: I cried a lot. It was -- it was emotional. Half my family, like if they're going to be here or they're not going to be here. And how do you tell all of our kids? Like my nephews, they're also our kids.

C. ESPINOSA: To tell people that this doesn't live in kids and children's mind and teenagers, in young adult's life is a lie.

FLORES (voice-over): Gelacio Velazquez is an undocumented mechanic who has worked in Houston for 25 years.

GELACIO VELAZQUEZ, UNDOCUMENTED TRUMP SUPPORTER: Oh.

FLORES: He plays in this park with his two U.S. citizen children, ages five and nine, and stands by Donald Trump.

(on camera): So you support Donald Trump because of the economy?

VELAZQUEZ: For the economy, yes.

FLORES: But you don't support the anti-immigrant rhetoric?

VELAZQUEZ: I'm not support of the anti-immigrant action.

FLORES: Do you support his mass deportations?

VELAZQUEZ: No. It is not human.

FLORES: Are you afraid that you could be deported in this mass deportation?

VELAZQUEZ: I'm not afraid. I'm not afraid.

FLORES (voice-over): Espinosa runs a migrant advocacy group and says many people are afraid and have called him in tears.

C. ESPINOSA: I think there's a heightened sense of fear.

FLORES (on camera): Explain why Latino men are going to Trump.

C. ESPINOSA: Democrats forget the promise when these guys are in the office in the Washington. The Latinos want a better nation.

FLORES (voice-over): Espinosa believes some of the Latino support for Trump was a vote against the prospect of the first black female president.

C. ESPINOSA: There's still a lot of machismo. There's still a lot of misogyny. And something that we need to say aloud is there's a lot of anti-blackness.

FLORES: Velasquez says he hopes Trump finds compassion for immigrant fathers like him who are not criminals.

(on camera): If you get deported, would you regret your support to Donald Trump?

VELAZQUEZ: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

FLORES: He's saying that he wouldn't regret supporting Donald Trump.

So, you're really not thinking about yourself. You're thinking about your children and the future of your children?

VELAZQUEZ: Yes. I want the better for my children.

FLORES (voice-over): Cesar says he feels guilty for bringing so much uncertainty to his family.

(on camera): What's it like for you to see your wife go through this and the emotions that she's going through? C. ESPINOSA: I apologize to her a lot. We fell in love right away and we got married almost right away because when you know, you know.

FLORES (voice-over): We asked Velasquez and Espinosa the same final question.

(on camera): Do you have a plan in case you get deported?

VELAZQUEZ: I respect that decision. I leave the country. I'm not coming back.

C. ESPINOSA: There is a plan. We've talked about it openly with our family.

FLORES (voice-over): Turns out, these two Hispanic families with two different takes on Trump's win have the same plan if they get deported. They would go to Mexico as a family.

Rosa Flores, CNN, Houston.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

DEAN: Rosa, thank you.

On September 29, 1982, seven people in the Chicago area died after becoming gravely ill. Doctors then discovered a sinister connection. All the victims had taken Tylenol capsules laced with cyanide.

It forever changed the way your medicines and foods are packaged in the store.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: After Adam Janis died in the hospital, the whole Janis house.

My Uncle Stanley and his wife, they met at Adam's house.

They were all gathered at the house and they were all crying. They were all very devastated. They couldn't believe the fact that Adam died like.

And then I see my Uncle Stanley was like, I have a headache.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Everybody, these people were under tremendous stress, going back to the house to plan a funeral for a young guy.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And then I see my brother, Stanley, coming towards us. He tried to say something, you know, to us and, all of a sudden, he fell down.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And he grabbed his heart and he was like, oh, my god, my heart. And he fell to the ground and he had like kind of like a seizure.

And my aunt, immediately, with my dad, they were like hovering over his body.

[16:55:01]

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I see he's foaming out his mouth. When I see that, I say, oh, my god, he's dying.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: You can catch back-to-back episodes of "HOW IT REALLY HAPPENED" tomorrow night at 9:00 and 10:00 Eastern and Pacific right here on CNN.

Right now, the presidents of U.S. and China are meeting in a hotel in Peru. Hear what the Chinese president told president about the future of the relationship between the two countries.

You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

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