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Erin Burnett Outfront
Awaiting Donald Trump Rally in Iowa; Trump Hires Third General to Serve in His Administration; Trump to Remain Executive Producer on "Celebrity Apprentice." Aired 7-8p ET
Aired December 08, 2016 - 19:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[19:00:10] ERIN BURNETT, CNN ANCHOR: OUTFRONT next, the breaking news. Donald Trump about to speak live in Iowa as the battle between Trump and the Carrier Union which started here OUTFRONT heats up tonight.
Plus, Trump insisting on the campaign trail he knows more than the generals now naming three of the top hosts. Is it a good thing?
And breaking news, Donald Trump will stay on at The Apprentice while he is president of the United States. How much money will NBC be paying him? Let's go OUTFRONT.
Good evening. I'm Erin Burnett. OUTFRONT tonight, breaking news. Donald Trump about to speak live in Iowa, we're going to be taking you there. It is going to be a major campaign-style rally. It is part of his victory tour across the country. Speaking as you can see there are going to be thousands there tonight. These are live pictures from Des Moines on your screen. It is part of Trump thanking voters in crucial swing states that helped put him over the top on Election Day. Trump today also visiting Ohio State University, the Ohio State University just a short time ago, there to meet with survivors of a stunning attack on campus last month.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENT-ELECT: These were really great people, amazing people. The police and first responders were incredible. The job done in particular by one young gentleman was incredible.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: This comes as Trump's battle with a Carrier Union leader escalates. Chuck Jones, the president of United Steelworkers Local 1999 in Indiana saying, he received multiple death threats or threats since appearing on OUTFRONT. Jones claims Trump lied about the number of job saved by his deal with Carrier. Trump on Twitter replying that Jones is terrible at his job. Chuck Jones boss, the president of the United Steelworkers International Union is my guest which is coming up in just a few moments.
But I want to begin with Jeff Zeleny OUTFRONT in Des Moines at the Trump rally. And Jeff, what are we expecting from Trump tonight? Obviously another crucial part of his so called thank you tour. JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Erin, no doubt
about it. And he will be thanking the voters here in Iowa. A state he won by some 10 percentage points and I bet he will also point out that margin of victory. But Erin, what he's doing with these rallies is trying to build momentum for all the change he promised on the campaign trail. That change could be harder to deliver than many people think.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ZELENY (voice-over): As Donald Trump adds new names to his cabinet, it's clear how much his world has changed since winning the presidency one month ago tonight, as he takes to Twitter, it is clear how much still hasn't. He is still blasting his critics personally. And Indiana Union leader is his latest target.
CHUCK JONES, PRESIDENT, UNITED STEELWORKERS 1999: He didn't tell the truth. He inflated the numbers and I called him out on it.
ZELENY: Chuck Jones, president of the Steelworkers Union at the Carrier Factory Trump visited last week appearing on CNN's "NEW DAY." The morning after being attacked by Trump. It started last night when Jones told CNN's Erin Burnett that Trump exaggerated by saying 1100 jobs would be saved from going to Mexico.
JONES: And what they are doing is counting in 350-some-odd more that were never leaving this country at all. We have a lot of our members when the word was coming out of 1100, they thought that they would have a job.
ZELENY: Trump it seems was watching and fired back on Twitter 20 minutes later saying, Jones has done a terrible job representing workers. No wonder companies flee country. And hour later another shot. "If United Steelworkers 1999 was any good, they would have kept their jobs in Indiana," Trump tweeted. Then more time working, less time talking. Tonight, Trump keeps adding to his cabinet. He has selected fast food restaurant executive Andrew Puzder as Labor Secretary. He is the CEO of Hardee's and Carl's Jr. and opposes raising the minimum wage. He has supported some immigration reforms but drawn criticism for racy ads promoting his burgers.
ANDREW PUZDER, LABOR SECRETARY NOMINEE: I don't think there is anything wrong with the beautiful woman in the bikini eating a burger and washing a Bentley or a pick-up truck or being in a hot tub. I think there's probably nothing more American.
ZELENY: Trump's team is now more than half complete. The most anticipated position of Secretary of State is still open. His victory tour rolls on tonight with a stop in Iowa following an afternoon visit to Ohio to meet first responders and victims of the stabbing attack last week at Ohio State University.
TRUMP: We just saw the victims and the families. And we were -- these were really brave people. Amazing people.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ZELENY: Vice President-Elect Mike Pence will also be joining Donald Trump on stage tonight. They will be joined by Iowa Governor Terry Branstad who will nominated to be the ambassador to China here. But Erin, what is so interesting about these rallies is, when you talk to voters they are starting to get a sense of where his campaign promises end and where the real governing begins. All these promises to drain those swamp, some people don't believe he necessarily has. So these rallies are soon becoming a reality check for the Trump administration -- Erin.
[19:05:12] BURNETT: All right Jeff. Thank you very much, on the ground there.
Martin Savidge is OUTFRONT on the ground at Carrier plant in Indiana. And Martin, you had a chance to speak with many people there today. Chuck Jones among them. What sort of reaction is he receiving from this entire situation?
MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: You know a lot of people, the Carrier workers especially are just surprised that Donald Trump would single out a union leader. A pretty obscure union leader and pick on him so harshly. They just feel that a President-Elect at this particular time has a lot better things to do. And Chuck Jones by the way. He doesn't own a smart phone. He has got the old fashioned flip phone. He had no idea that President-Elect Trump had tweeted anything. And he certainly doesn't know much about Twitter.
So it was only when he was bombarded with phone calls that he began to figure out that somehow he was the focus of President-Elect Donald Trump. A lot of those calls initially were threatening. They were certainly mean and then today began to change. There were a lot of people calling into the union I was there. Phone call after phone call, people just saying hey, thanks to you for standing up, one, for the union but also for standing up to Donald Trump. And there was another one in particular they called. Man with the name of Bernie Sanders. Here is some of what was said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (I), VERMONT: You are now the most famous labor leader in America. Congratulations.
JONES: Well, you know. If I did something to piss off President- Elect Trump, so be it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SAVIDGE: Bernie Sanders was also offering his support to Chuck Jones. He said that they could work together to try to save more jobs. And he encouraged Donald Trump to work with Chuck Jones to try to save jobs all across America. Danny Glover, the actor also posted a video message saying that he too was standing with Chuck. So Chuck Jones may be well known even if it is because of the anchor of a President- Elect.
BURNETT: Yes. Standing with Chuck becoming a hashtag today on Twitter. Thank you, Martin Savidge.
And OUTFRONT now, Leo Gerard, president of the United Steelworkers International Union. Chuck Jones of course heads up the local branch of that union. Mr. Gerard appeared tweeted twice against Jones and the union after his appearance on this program last night. Do you think that what Trump did was appropriate in anyway?
LEO GERARD, PRESIDENT, UNITED STEELWORKERS INTERNATIONAL: Look, I'm a bit like chuck, I've only got a flip phone. When I landed last night in Washington and I got the messages that, in fact, I got to tell you, I was a bit sad and a bit disappointed. I really thought that that wasn't a role for President-Elect Trump to go after Chuck Jones. What Chuck was doing was in fact terrifying. He has a responsibility to the members of his local union. And when he heard that there were going to be 1100 jobs saved. Those 1100 families were excited that they at least have a shot at some security.
When he went to investigate it, that is when he found out there were 780 jobs to be saved and 70 management jobs for a total of 800. And he had a responsibility to tell his membership and to get the message out. And then he got slammed. So, and look, our union has said very early on. We wrote to President-Elect Trump after the election. And said look, on the things that you want to work on, were interested in working with you. We want to repeal and replace NAFTA. We want to repeal and replace PNTR. We want to replace the South Korean trade deal.
But we also want to have the same position as the President -- when President-Elect. When a company fires people and brings job to another off shore company or country and then wants to bring those jobs back in and sell them in America, that is just not right and President-Elect --
BURNETT: So you have a lot in common. You have a lot in common on that front. But Trump, I mean, you know, it wasn't just Chuck Jones that he went against, Leo. He went against unions more broadly. Right? I will just read the second tweet that he sent about an hour after his interview here. And Trump said, "If United Steelworkers 1999 was any good, they would have kept those jobs in Indiana. Spend more time working, less time talking. Reduce dues." Does he have a point that if you're union was more effective, you could keep those jobs in America?
GERARD: Look, Erin, that's just malarkey, as Joe Biden would say. Let me tell you this. The local union went to Carrier when they made the announcement and said, what can we do to keep you here? And Carrier said very plainly, we can do $6 per hour in Mexico. You can't do anything. Even if you were worth for $5, you couldn't do that. We couldn't work for the minimum wage and keep those jobs here. Carrier made it clear.
And we thank President-Elect Trump for bringing Carrier to at least save 730 jobs for now. But the fact is that our people could have worked for the minimum wage and those jobs still would have went there. It is not about how good we were. And let me again make one more point of clarification, when they announced that they were moving to Mexico from a warehouse, they actually told our people in that warehouse, it is not because of you. You make a good quality product. You make a product that's needed. You work in an efficient place, we can just go there and pay six bucks an hour as opposed to $20 or $22 or $23. And I think that that is an important part that we need to be in a debate and we want to engage President-Elect Trump in that debate to how we are going to bring those good jobs back.
[19:10:32] BURNETT: OK. So, let me ask you because --
GERARD: Not just like that Carrier but hundreds of others like Carrier.
BURNETT: I understand -- but I just want to interrupt you because you keep talking about the wage differential which is so crucial here. And Trump isn't just tweeting that unions aren't doing a good job. He actually is putting his money where his mouth is. Today he picked Andy Puzder as Labor Secretary, that is the CEO of the company that he owns Carl's Jr. and Hardee's. He is a vocal critic of minimum wage increases. In fact, he wrote about it this fall. On this issue, he said, business unions create jobs. Labor unions do not. To the contrary, labor unions up and discourage businesses from creating jobs particularly entry level ones by increasing the cost of labor without increasing its value. Is he the right pick for labor secretary?
GERARD: No. Absolutely not. And he is completely wrong. Let me just say this. If you look at what goes on when workers have increased over the years until recently -- when workers have increased productivity they got a benefit of that increase in productivity. The system hasn't worked. That is why we saw a so much resentment on the campaign trail by workers from the Middle America, from the industrial heartland who have had their wages basically frozen for 30 years. And so that animosity is there.
And to say that you are going to be able to keep people working for $5 or $7 and 25 cents an hour and you're going to build an economy, you are not going to do that. And you need to have good family supporting jobs. $7.25 an hour does not support a family. You know that and I know that, Erin.
BURNETT: All right. Leo Gerard. I appreciate your time. Thank you very much tonight, sir.
GERARD: Thank you.
BURNETT: And next. We're standing by for Donald Trump about to appear live, that campaign style massive rally in Iowa that you see there beginning any moment. Also, Trump's cabinet of generals. He could have the most generals in his cabinet since World War II. Is this something to celebrate?
Plus, will Trump stay on as "The Apprentice" even as his living in the White House? The answer is, yes. The question, how much will he get paid?
And remembering a truly remarkable life. John Glenn gone today at 95.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:15:47] BURNETT: Breaking news. Donald Trump about to speak in Des Moines, Iowa. These are live pictures of the rally. He is expected to officially announce, Iowa Governor Terry Branstad as his pick ambassador to China. By the way, Trump slammed China. Branstad really close friends with the leader of China. Trump looking to fill out his cabinet. And today he met with the retired NAVY Admiral James Stavridis. He's believed to be on the list for Secretary of State. That crucial position still empty. Trump has already tapped three other generals though to serve in his administration. Can he do more?
Jim Sciutto is OUTFRONT.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TRUMP: I know more about ISIS than the generals do, believe me.
JIM SCIUTTO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (VOICE-OVER): On the campaign trail, he trashed America's generals.
TRUMP: Under the leadership of Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, the generals have been reduced to rubble. They have been reduced to a point where it's embarrassing for our country.
SCIUTTO: Now, his President-Elect, he is surrounding himself with it.
TRUMP: Your next Secretary of Defense, General "Mad Dog" Mattis.
SCIUTTO: The total so far three and counting. Retired Marine General James Mattis for secretary of defense.
TRUMP: How about General Flynn? We love General Flynn. Right?
SCIUTTO: Retired Army General Michael Flynn for National Security advisor. And retired Marine General John Kelly for Homeland Security. A number not seen even in the administration of the last actual general to serve as president.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The supreme commander, General Eisenhower.
SCIUTTO: Dwight Eisenhower.
JULIETTE KAYYEM, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: The idea that a general by their experience is the best experience for each of these different agencies really sort of underestimates what these different agencies do.
SCIUTTO: Beyond retired generals, Trump has also selected people with military backgrounds for key positions. Congressman Mike Pompeo, his choice to lead the CIA is an army vet who graduated first in his class from West Point.
Steve Bannon, senior advisor and strategist was a naval officer.
COL. CEDRIC LEIGHTON (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: That goes against the normal ethos of having civilian control not only the military of the government at large. You have to be very careful than you bring a balance.
SCIUTTO: And Donald Trump is still not done. For Secretary of State, he's now considering retired Army General David Petraeus and retired navy Admiral James Stavridis who met with him today.
ADMIRAL JAMES STAVRIDIS, FORMER NATO SUPREME ALLIED COMMANDER: We talked about the war, we talked about defense. We talked about our state of our military.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The challenges of cyber security --
SCIUTTO: And for Director of National Intelligence, a leading candidate is Admiral Mike Rogers, the current head of the NSA. Other than his high school days at the private boarding school, the New York Military Academy, Trump avoided military service receiving five draft deferments during the Vietnam war, including one for bone spurs in his heel.
TRUMP: I was not a big fan of the Vietnam War. I wasn't a protester. But the Vietnam war was a disaster for our country.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SCIUTTO: Not everyone concern about the number of generals, Adam Kinzinger, you remember of Congress who have been a critic of Trump during the campaign. A veteran himself notes that all of these candidates so far, they are retired. They are not still in uniform as for when that secretary of state announcement is expected, Erin. Donald Trump himself has said he may make it as soon as next week.
BURNETT: Right. Thank you very much, Jim. And now, retired U.S. army general, Major General James "Spider" Marks. Jamie Gangel, our special correspondent. Basil Smikle, New York State Democratic Party executive director. And Jeffrey Lord, former Ronald Reagan White House political director. Basil, Trump has already hired three generals. He's interviewing more. He has people -- Michael Pompeo, of course has military background as well. Too much?
BASIL SMIKLE, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, NEW YORK STATE DEMOCRATIC PARTY: It looks like it initially. As a friend of mine said to me today, he said, he feels like we're in ancient Rome or something. Because he didn't understand why there was this sort of emphasis on the military background in the cabinet. But look, on the one hand, it seems Freudian for Donald Trump to say, I'm smarter than the generals and then hires all of these generals.
But I think he's just attracted to the skill set. Obviously if you are in the military you get to that rank, you are an incredible manager and you know how to work with a lot of different moving parts. I think the concern that some voters are going to eventually have is, do they understand the politics? Not just going to the hill and asking for fun day.
BURNETT: Yes.
SMIKLE: But understanding constituencies. BURNETT: General Marks, you served with these generals.
MAJOR GENERAL JAMES "SPIDER" MARKS, RETIRED U.S. ARMY: All these guys.
BURNETT: Flynn, Mattis, you know them all.
MARKS: All these guys.
[19:20:18] BURNETT: And you think it is a good thing to have Roman style, World War II style, military leadership?
(LAUGHTER)
MARKS: That is what Basil's buddy said, I haven't met. No, but the point is, let's be frank. That is where the experience lies. Over the course of the last 16 years, you know, the existential threat of the United States, that burden has been carried by these military leaders.
BURNETT: So you are saying that is where the mind and the leaders went. So that is where you need to farm from.
MARKS: Absolutely, Erin. That is where the leadership is. The experience is. You know, juxtapose that to World War II. Just very quickly. Post-World War II, the administration could deep in to all aspects of society because everybody carried a burden during that war. There was a nation that was at war. The nation has not been at war for the last 16 years. The military has been at war for the last 16 years. That is where the experience lies today.
BURNETT: He has to get Congress to give waivers. It's one thing because, you know, you only allowed to been out of military -- you have to be out for seven years in order to serve.
MARKS: That is for defense only.
BURNETT: Right. So, Mattis is going to be the only one that needs to get the waiver.
JAMIE GANGEL, CNN SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT: Right.
BURNETT: But you have got all these, you know, Congress is going to look at this and say, wait a minute. Do we want this? And at some point are they going to say, okay, this is where we draw the line, no more military?
GANGEL: No question these are a lot of as Jim Sciutto said, retired generals.
BURNETT: Yes.
GANGEL: They are also very smart, very capable people. And the irony of what he said as we saw on the campaign trail about how he knew more, you know I think he met these guys, and he knows they know more than he does it. And everyone I spoke to today on both sides of the aisle said --
BURNETT: Yes.
GANGEL: -- they think it is actually good for Donald Trump to have this kind of experience and training. Remember one of the things that General Mattis, he went in, Donald Trump said he was for waterboarding, he came out of that meeting and he said, maybe not so fast.
BURNETT: Yes. So, Trump though has said things about the general. So, I mean, Jim Sciutto gave you a little bit of the taste. Here is a little bit more.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLI))
TRUMP: The generals have been reduced to rubble. They have been reduced to a point where it's embarrassing for our country --
They don't know because they're not winning. They haven't done the job.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: The most recent ones of those comments Jeffrey Lord was November 13th. OK? It's not like this was at the beginning of the campaign. I mean, this was very recent. This was November 13th. They haven't done the job. But now he's picking them all to do the job.
JEFFREY LORD, FORMER REAGAN WHITE HOUSE POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Well, I think he's picking the best ones. And you know, like a couple of things here. Number one, we've had generals in government before. Plenty of them. I mean, General Flynn is going to take over the NSC but so is General Brent Scowcroft who I believe are both Presidents Ford and Bush 41 in the same role all the way back in the Roosevelt administration, the Franklin and Roosevelt administration. Admiral William Leahy who was an active military serves as the White House of chief-of-staff.
So there is nothing particularly new about this. They bring their own experience. And the second thing is, I find this somewhat amusing here that we're picking on generals. Nobody says there's too many lawyers and administration. There are too many professor or too many bureaucrats. It's only the generals that have the problem.
BURNETT: Well, maybe the American people do think there's too many of all of those things. That is why they voted for Donald Trump and want the swamp drain so maybe they're happier with more generals.
MARKS: You want somebody to lead something, you can find a leader in the military ranks.
SMIKLE: Absolutely right. Absolutely right.
BURNETT: And, all right. Well, thanks very much to all of you. OUTFRONT next, we're waiting Donald Trump, he is about to speak in
Iowa. The latest stop in his victory tour. And Trump's twitter tirades. They're great for Twitter but are they making private citizens targets for retaliation?
And the breaking news, Donald Trump will stay on at "The Apprentice" and could get a check from NBC while he's president. Just imagine that.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:27:59] BURNETT: Breaking news. President-Elect Donald Trump about to take the stage in Des Moines, Iowa. He's going to be introducing the Iowa Governor Terry Branstad. That is his choice to be the U.S. ambassador to China. This comes as we're learning Donald Trump is going to remain the executive producer of "THE APPRENTICE" while he's president of the United States of America.
Sara Murray is OUTFRONT. Sara, what does this mean?
SARA MURRAY, CNN POLITICAL REPORTER: Well, Erin, it is a pretty stunning conflict of interest when you think about it. He is going to remain as the executive producer of NBC's "Apprentice" which means he's going to be collecting a paycheck from a major media company at the same time that he's serving as president of the United States. Now I want to direct you at Hope Hicks statement that spokeswoman for Donald Trump's transition saying, Mr. Trump has a big stake in the show and conceived it with Mark Burnett. Burnett is of course the creator of the show.
And has been a close friend to Donald Trump over the years. But it does give you an indication that when Trump was on the campaign trail insisting over and over again that his business was far less important to him than the presidency. Now, that may have come with some caveats that we're now learning. The other interesting piece of news we're learning today is that there is really no indication from our sources at this point that Donald Trump plans to divest himself entirely from his company, the Trump organization.
Obviously we're going learn more details at the press conference next week of how he plans to at least distance himself from the company. He plans to transfer more of this, at least the day to day operations to his two sons and potentially to Ivanka. Now a source tells me, it is possible Donald Trump is going to add another person to this management structure to try to help create a little bit more distance to bat back against these claims that there is a conflict of interest.
But the source tells me that that has less to do with Donald Trump carrying about the perception of a conflict of interest and more to do with him wanting to be able to shield and protect his children. So it will be interesting to see just how far Donald Trump is willing to go in putting any distance between himself and his business interest -- Erin.
BURNETT: All right. Thank you very much, Sara Murray. And I want to go OUTFRONT now quickly to Joe Becker of the "New York Times." Joe, you have been breaking so much on this story. You know, it is
pretty stunning here. Can Trump keep his stake in the Trump organization with all of the lack of transparency that would entail?
JO BECKER, THE NEW YORK TIMES: Legally, he can. It is interesting. Conflict of interest laws that govern federal employees don't apply to the vice president or the president.
So, legally, he can keep his company. However there are statutes, bribery statutes. There's a clause in the Constitution, Emoluments Clause, that has come to a sort of foreign all of this, that says that a government official can't take gifts from a foreign government.
Thinking through kind of how all of this is going to work is sort of mind boggling. I mean, if you think about it, he has said the current thinking is he wants to retain his ownership stake in the company. He will turn over the day-to-day operations to his two sons. Ivanka, our sources tell us, is going step aside from the Trump Organization. Her husband is preparing for a role in the White House, and I think that's part of it.
But how do you sort of create a legal structure that separates you from the running of your business, when your sons are running the business. When you know what the assets are. How do you prevent running afoul of all of these laws if diplomats of Russia, for instance, want to hold huge forays month after month in Trump properties? Big questions for next week -- are the sons going to manage the portfolio? Or are they going to expand the business? If so, are they going to expand in foreign countries, what does that look like?
BURNETT: Yes, I mean, it's incredible when you think about it. Really, the only way to avoid a conflict of interest is to sell the whole thing. That's not going to happen.
All right. Thank you very much, Jo.
Jamie Gangel, Basil Smikle back with me. Ben Ferguson is with me.
All right. So, Basil, let me start with the breaking news here. Donald Trump is going to be president of the United States of America and executive producer of "The Apprentice", which would entitle to be paid for every single episode. And he could say, I don't want to be paid, but nonetheless, you are going to see his name. He's not going away from "The Apprentice" but still going to be president.
SMIKLE: It comes on a channel that's going to be covering him as president of the United States.
BURNETT: On NBC, yes.
SMIKLE: On NBC. And so, no, the conflict of interest are huge. And that is why we like to see tax returns during presidential campaigns.
But that said, yes, this is very troubling, because it doesn't appear he can create the legal firewall that's going to be necessary to truly distance himself from this. So, if he goes to another country, if he goes through Europe for example and stays at one of his resorts, or his children do, whatever the case is, is he going to be making money after the fact as of result of that?
BURNETT: Right.
SMIKLE: You know, the Secret Service has to pay to use his space at Trump Tower. How is he collecting money from that? Who's benefitting from that? These are real concerns. Locally, Michael Bloomberg was able to do that when he became mayor. But it doesn't appear that Donald Trump is doing that as president.
BURNETT: Ben Ferguson, do you have any issue with Donald Trump president, Donald Trump executive producer of "The Apprentice" being simultaneous events?
BEN FERGUSON, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: No, I don't because I knew that this was the things that were going to happen when he came into office. This is basically royalties. He created something. Everybody knew what he created. It was the Trump branding.
And to imply that somehow he would leave that branding, and leave what he built and a have fire sale on all these things with 60 or so days after an election was never on the table and voters knew this. Some of these conflicts of interest --
BURNETT: Ben, you are saying he's not going to be paid to be president of the United States, but you're saying it's okay for him to get royalties from NBC?
FERGUSON: I'm saying it is okay for him to keep the interest he has currently in things he built beforehand. I don't want him working on "The Apprentice". But when you created something as a businessman and you get paid back over time back for what you created, everybody that I think voted for Donald Trump understands that and realizes that this is a businessman that was not going to do bad business and fire sale everything he was in or give every bit of it up that he helped create over time.
Let's also be clear, too, there have been many people that have actually made money from the Secret Service. There was I think a cheap shot that's just made. Joe Biden's family has made money from the Secret Service, so is Hillary Clinton and Bill Clinton for space around them. That is normal when you become president or vice president, or you have Secret Service protection.
Many times they rent space from you on your private property, including where your home is. So let's not act like that is some new thing or that is out of bounds either.
BURNETT: You charge them with that? I got to say I would have a problem with that in all those cases. Go ahead, Jamie.
GANGEL: So, I just want to say, not to be a smart aleck, but this is season two of Donald Trump. [19:35:05] And I think we're going to see a lot more of days for the
next four years. We have been told that there are lawyers at work between now and the big announcement, December 15th, let's see what he comes out and says.
But I think that this is -- he says he wants to build walls. And you talked about legal firewall. I think this wall is going to be a wall that has a lot of holes in it. There are going to be lot of blurred lines. He's not divesting.
BURNETT: So, we will have Russian diplomats, Bahraini diplomats, whoever it is, hosting parties at the Trump hotel maybe because they figure that will curry favor with Donald Trump. And that is going the happen all the time and legally there is nothing anybody can do about it?
GANGEL: Correct. And while Ben may be absolutely correct that the voters who voted for Donald Trump knew these were his businesses and accepted and all they cared about perhaps are jobs and safe streets and building a wall and getting ISIS, the reality is this is going to cause a problem for President-elect Trump because of one word, appearance. And these people --
(CROSSTALK)
FERGUSON: And, Erin, let me say this about Donald.
Let me say this -- Donald Trump understands this. I mean, look at one of his biggest lines when he was running for president, was attacking Hillary Clinton with the conflict of interest and the Clinton Foundation and massive donations going to Clinton Foundation while she was at the State Department.
BURNETT: He said quid pro quo. Isn't it the same thing then?
FERGUSON: And this is my point. Donald Trump understands that this is an issue that Democrats will use against him for the next four years.
Let's see what he rolls out before we pass judgment on him because I think he realizes something here. If it is too big of an issue and every single day, the White House is having to answer questions about some scenarios, it will hurt his presidency and that is something I think he's very cognizant of, and that's why we continue to want to know exactly how this is going to look until he comes out and talks about the press conference.
But I think he realizes he doesn't want this lingering for four years where every week he's going to be answering questions about it.
GANGEL: That may be true, but we just found out today, he is staying as executive producer of "Celebrity Apprentice." So, he is not divesting. He is not moving away. There are going to be lots of places for appearance issues to cause him problems.
SMIKLE: And I would just have to say, anything you could have said about Hillary Clinton, this is not that.
BURNETT: The executive producer of "The Apprentice." Certainly not that.
SMIKLE: This is not that.
BURNETT: All right. Thank you all.
Next, Trump's rapid fire response to critics through Twitter. Our guest last night was on the receiving end. Is it smart strategy?
And we are standing by for Donald Trump going to be speaking live any moment from now. As we await his arrival, we'll take a brief break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:41:50] BURNETT: Breaking news: We're standing by for Donald Trump to speak. He just landed in Des Moines, Iowa. You are looking at live pictures of that rally. He's officially expected to announce Iowa Governor Terry Branstad as his pick for ambassador to China.
Also tonight, Trump were under fire for criticizing a union leader on Twitter, part of a pattern for the president-elect, as we await him at this rally.
Brian Stelter is OUTFRONT.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BRIAN STELTER, CNN SENIOR MEDIA CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): If you're ever wondering what President-elect Donald Trump is watching on TV, look at his Twitter feed. It may be a very good indication.
ALEC BALDWIN AS DONALD TRUMP: Another great retweet.
STELTER: Trump often waited on content, especially when it is about him. On Saturday night, he called SNL unwatchable, while the show was still on. He has an instant feedback loop. Watching, tweeting, watching some more.
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENT-ELECT: Having Twitter is great.
STELTER: Trump has some 17 million followers, so the consequences can be serious.
At 7:20 p.m. Wednesday, union leader Chuck Jones told OUTFRONT that he was disappointed by Trump's job-saving Carrier deal.
JONES: I just wish he had had his numbers down and he had been upfront with 800 people's jobs staying here.
STELTER: Twenty minutes later, Trump castigated Jones, saying he's done a terrible job representing workers.
So, Jones came back on CNN to respond, later telling reporters he was getting threatening messages due to Trump's tweet. Trump critic Robert Reich warned of the dangers of a president intimidating a private individual.
ROBERT REICH, TRUMP CRITIC: Because Donald Trump is probably watching right now, let me just say -- stop this. This is actually penalizing people for speaking their minds.
STELTER: Trump tweeted again, telling the steel workers union to spend more time working, less time talking.
Now, it is hard to know for sure what compels Trump to complain, but this TV/tweet/TV/tweet cycle was on display all campaign season long. When he likes a show or when he's on the show, he tells people to watch.
When he hates a show, he gets personal, blasting anchors like Megyn Kelly.
BALDWIN: I just retweeted the best tweet. I mean, wow, I mean, what a great smart tweet.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. Trump, we're in a security briefing.
STELTER: "SNL's" Alec Baldwin, a top target recently.
Some even wonder if Trump's Boeing message, saying a new Air Force One order should be cancelled was triggered by this "Chicago Tribune" story, quoting the Boeing CEO's concerns about anti-trade sentiment. Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey says it's fascinating, and it's clearly good for Twitter.
But is it good for America?
JACK DORSEY, CEO, SQUARE AND TWITTER: We're definitely entering into a new world where everything is in the surface and we can all see it in real time and we can have conversations about it. So where does that go? I'm not really sure.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
STELTER: A big question. And one month after Election Day, Washington still coming to grips with the idea that the president could be live tweeting who knows what, not just about corporations but also against private individuals. We saw this during the campaign against people like Alicia Machado, and we're still seeing it a month after Election Day.
Now, Erin, Trump has said he'll be more restrained as president, but who knows?
[19:45:01] Maybe he'll live tweet the "Celebrity Apprentice".
(LAUGHTER)
BURNETT: All right. Brian, thank you. And next, we are awaiting Donald Trump because as I said, he's now in
Des Moines, on the ground, going to that rally location. So, that could begin any moment.
We're learning more tonight about his possible choice, the crucial open spot, secretary of state, that's next.
And the breaking news, John Glenn dead tonight at the age of 95. We take a look at the life of an American hero.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BURNETT: Breaking news, we're about to hear in President-elect Donald Trump. He's in Des Moines, Iowa, right now as we understand at that rally location, going to be on stage momentarily. He's going to be appearing with Iowa Governor Terry Branstad, which is his pick to be the U.S. ambassador to China.
Trump, of course, repeatedly slams China. Branstad describes the Chinese president as an old friend. They have been friends back since 1985, with a love of agriculture.
Basil Smikle, Jamie Gangel, Ben Ferguson are back with me.
And, Ben, let's start here with China, because as we await the president, I want to, you know, just remind everybody. Terry Branstad is a friend of Chinese president. That would be a very good thing because here is what Trump has said about China.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
[19:50:01] TRUMP: We can't continue to allow China to rape our country.
China is responsible for nearly half of our entire trade deficit. They break the rules in every way imaginable.
America has lost 70,000 factories since China joined the World Trade Organization. Think of it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: "China is raping America". Now, he's going to pick a guy who's going to fight but fix that, Ben? What do you say?
FERGUSON: Look, I think it's a very smart move by Donald Trump because he understands this is an important relationship and he also understands that you need somebody that actually has a real connection and obviously the pick he's chosen has a very real connection with this country.
But let's also know that this governor has been really tough before. He also has had a great relationship with Taiwan directly as well. And so, navigating those waters, I think is going to play well to his advantage, not only for Trump but when it comes to renegotiating. Most Americans believe that China has been getting the best of us.
The governor I think also agrees with that sentiment, yet he understands how to negotiate with them, how to trade with them. They are massive importer of soybean, which is important in his state specifically, and agriculture going into China is big.
And so, you have to have someone who can really walk in there with credibility but also say look, things are going to change. Donald Trump is not going to allow things to be the way that they have been and what you are use to. So, I'm going to be your liaison and work with you and it should work well.
BURNETT: And this announcement obviously, Terry Branstad is going to be with him on stage in just a couple of moments, Basil, when he starts speaking.
SMIKLE: Right.
BURNETT: Does this give you calm and say, wait a minute, everyone criticized Trump for this call to Taiwan, but maybe there is a really smart strategy here? Look, we know what we've been doing with China has not been working. It doesn't stop China from doing anything from military build up to anything else. Trump makes the call, makes them mad. And then puts Branstad in there.
Is he kind of doing good cop/bad cop and is this going to be a very smart strategy?
SMIKLE: I might be. I don't know if it's his smart strategy, but it's someone's smart strategy. And, you know, as Ben has said earlier on a different topic, we'll have to wait and see.
But I do think it is a very interesting pick for Donald Trump. And again, I actually go back to the earlier point about business interests. He does a lot of business in China. And my concern again is, you know, what is the end of all of this? What happens at the end of all of this between Donald Trump the individual and businessman and Donald Trump the president of the United States?
BURNETT: Jamie, you also have new reporting tonight on the crucial question mark, which is the unfilled position here, secretary of state.
GANGEL: And we still don't know. What we do know is this, that Mitt Romney is back in very serious contention. And --
BURNETT: You said he was here. Here in New York again.
GANGEL: He was here in New York. But here is the question that I keep hearing about. There are Trump advisors who clearly don't want Mitt Romney, and we've seen them very, very publicly push back.
I'm also told that President-elect Trump is trying to understand or get comfortable with the fact that Mitt Romney has his own power base. This is not someone like other picks in the cabinet where they will revolve around Trump. BURNETT: They owe everything to Trump.
GANGEL: Exactly.
BURNETT: And not Mitt Romney.
GANGEL: Exactly.
BURNETT: All right. Thanks to all. Donald Trump moments away.
And we want to have time to remember a pioneer of space, one of the giants of the 20th century, John Glenn. We take a brief break and we'll be back with that and Trump live.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:57:18] BURNETT: Breaking news: we're standing by for Donald Trump to speak at his rally in Iowa. Before he left for Des Moines and he's there right now, he spoke about the former astronaut John Glenn. Trump met him. Glenn passed away this afternoon at the age of 95.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: Senator John Glenn today, the passing of -- he was really -- to me, he was a great American hero. A truly great American hero.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: President Obama also remembered the hero, saying Glenn, quote, in his words "lifted the hopes of a nation".
Martin Savidge is OUTFRONT.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SAVIDGE (voice-over): John Glenn, one of America's first astronauts. One of seven men known as the Mercury Seven, chosen to take part on the United States' first attempt to put men in space.
He had already made history in 1957 by breaking the transcontinental speed record, flying from Los Angeles to New York in 3 hours and 23 minutes.
In 1962, the military test pilot became the first American to orbit the earth. As Glenn lifted off in this Friendship VII capsule, fellow astronaut Scott Carpenter in mission control uttered some of the most memorable words in U.S. history.
SCOTT CARPENTER, ASTRONAUT: Godspeed, John Glenn.
SAVIDGE: Three revolutions and four hours and 55 minutes later, he returned an instant legend.
In 1983, the Mercury Seven were immortalized in the movie "The Right Stuff." JOHN GLENN, U.S. ASTRONAUT: I didn't much care for that movie. I
thought it was dramatic enough without Hollywood doing its number. We had no control over that at all.
SAVIDGE: Until Glenn's flight, the Russians had led the space race.
Glenn's success boosted America's spirit and gave credence to President John Kennedy's pledge to put men on the moon. Glenn would not be one of them. JFK ordered NASA not to fly him again. He was too valuable as an American figure. He resigned from NASA in 1964.
After leaving NASA, he spent the next decade as a businessman. But in 1974, he ran for and won a U.S. Senate seat from Ohio. When he announced he'd retire at the end of the 105th Congress, Glenn had served for 24 years.
He was widely regarded as a effective demonstrator and moderate Democrat. In 1984, he ran for president.
GLENN: With the nomination of my party, I firmly believe I can beat Ronald Reagan.
SAVIDGE: John Glenn never gave up on his dream one day returning to space. At the age of 77, he flew on a nine day space shuttle mission.
In 2012, President Obama recognized that and all of his accomplishments by awarding the former astronaut and senator the nation's highest civilian honor, the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
For most people, fame is fleeting. For John Herschel Glenn, it lasted a lifetime.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BURNETT: And thank you so much for joining us. Anderson starts now.
