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Donald Trump Pulls Off Stunning Upset; World Leaders React To Trump Win; Donald Trump Elected U.S. President. Aired 7:30-8a ET

Aired November 09, 2016 - 07:30   ET

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

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: -- then you had the mid-terms where Republicans would win and I think the theory was, yes, but the universe is changing. So, when Hillary Clinton comes along, Obama can sort of transfer that base. It doesn't --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They got -- look, they'll be plenty of time for incriminations and we know they are coming in the Democratic Party, but there was an early red flag. Bernie Sanders, the rebellion on the left, which mirrored a lot of what Donald Trump and all the energy of his supporters represented. She put down that rebellion, but it didn't mean that the party didn't get a real warning sign about what kind of candidate she'd be.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And you are already starting to hear Bernie Sanders fans say, look what they did. If the DNC had played by the rules and Bernie would have gotten a fair shot, we may be in a different spot.

(CROSSTALK)

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: Are they kidding themselves that Bernie Sanders could have beaten Donald Trump? Does anybody at this table think that we would be in a different situation?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It might have been different. I mean, Trump is a weird candidate. Nobody thought he would win. So we don't think Bernie would win --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We can't predict anything. Let's go with that.

CAMEROTA: All right, fair enough.

CUOMO: Fair point. It hurts. It hurts all of us, but we have to own it. The process worked and that's good.

CAMEROTA: The process did work. This is democracy.

We do have to tell you some other breaking news, the global markers are down sharply on the news of Trump's victory. So how are leaders around the world reacting this hour? We'll tell you that, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:35:22] CUOMO: Once the election is over, things start to happen very quickly. We're getting reaction from leaders around the world giving their take on Donald Trump's stunning win.

CNN senior international correspondent, Clarissa Ward, live in Moscow with the global take of a new leader of the free world. Putin weighed in early and positively.

CLARISSA WARD, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Chris. I mean, we've seen global markets tumbling at the news that Donald Trump will be the next president of the United States. With one exception and that is Russia. Russia's markets are holding steady. They're doing well.

President Putin has already reached out and sent a message congratulating Donald Trump saying that he hopes that there will be an opportunity now to improve the U.S./Russian relationship, which is no secret have been incredibly tense over the past few years.

I think on the surface of things politically what you're hearing is sort of a typical restrained, but polite congratulations. When you talk to people privately, Chris, you're getting a very different sense of things.

One Russian senator told me jokingly, today is actually my birthday, but this is the best gift I could ever get. Certainly when you're out there on the streets in Moscow talking to people, they will tell you the same thing.

That is not so much a product of the fact that they love Donald Trump as much as it is that they really dislike Hillary Clinton. People here in Russia see her as dangerous, anti-Russian, aggressive, a war monger, and they're optimistic that things could be better with President Trump.

CAMEROTA: Such an interesting perspective, Clarissa, thank you very much for that news.

So let's bring in our panel. We have CNN senior legal analyst, Jeffrey Toobin, CNN global economic analyst, Rana Foroohar, and host of "QUEST MEANS BUSINESS," Richard Quest, and CNN chief international correspondent, Christiane Amanpour, who just interviewed the NATO secretary general.

Christiane, let's start with you. What did he have to say?

CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, just to build on what Clarissa just said, yes, the Russians definitely wanted not to have Hillary Clinton as president, but not just because they hated her, but because the Russians, it is analyzed and the view is that the Russians want to mess with the very heart of America's global brand, which is democracy, free and fair elections.

This whole notion of how they were hacking in, according to all the American intelligence agencies. How they were trying to disrupt, not necessarily on one side or the other, but to make America's democracy appear illegitimate.

Now that they have the candidate who they wanted win, they are making nice noises and sounds. But Russia will be a major challenge for the next U.S. president as it is for the current U.S. and western alliance.

And I did pose that to Jens Stoltenberg, the secretary-general of NATO because, of course, Donald Trump made huge headlines when in one of his first ever international interviews he said that NATO was obsolete and that allies would have to enter a transactional pay to play relationship. But he's flip flopped since and this is what Jens Stoltenberg told me.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JENS STOLTENBERG, NATO SECRETARY GENERAL: Donald Trump has clearly stated that he's a big fan of NATO and that has been the case for all American presidents. So, I will discuss with president-elect Trump the way forward regarding how NATO shall continue to respond to a new and more challenging security involvement to a more dangerous world.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CUOMO: All right. So, let's discuss with the panel what the impact of this is. And a little bit of, (inaudible) from the RNC, Richard Quest and he said, give us a moment, let us enjoy. Let us savor. You know what, fair point, however, not a realistic point when it comes to the presidency.

RICHARD QUEST, CNN HOST, "QUEST MEANS BUSINESS": Hang on a second. Hang on a second -- Donald Trump --

AMANPOUR: What happened? They took out the last bit of --

QUEST: Donald Trump's problems and policies begin today. Particularly, for example, conflict of interest. Remember his latest -- when he was opening his hotel in Washington just a couple of weeks ago. Now, what does he do about --

CUOMO: He steps away from the business. The kids run it.

QUEST: No, no, no. It's one thing to have a blind trust with a portfolio of stocks and shares that can be changed by your blind trustees. But when your blind trust is accompanied with your name on it and real buildings and your brand name, how does he not know what is happening in the Trump Organization?

CAMEROTA: And if your children are involved.

QUEST: They're running it he said. I'm not saying it is impossible. I'm just simply saying that there are real structural conflict of interest problems that start today.

[07:40:09]RANA FOROOHAR, CNN GLOBAL ECONOMIC ANALYST: And transparency, I mean, He's going to be under so much more pressure now to just release what are the financial deals overseas? We never really got that in full prior to the election.

CUOMO: Or being elected president --

JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: Wait a second. Can I just say something?

CUOMO: Sure, Jeffrey Toobin. Go ahead.

TOOBIN: What pressure is he under? He just won. He's never going to release those tax returns. We're never going to see them. This is a guy who just won. This is what worked for him. So why should he feel pressure to do anything?

This is a guy who made campaign promises and, like most politicians, he is going to keep those campaign promises. He's going to have mass deportations and have an investigation and prosecution of Hillary Clinton. This is what he ran on and this is why he won.

FOROOHAR: And he's going to have to deal, though, with the economic consequences of all this, which is very different than stumping, having a lot of populous rhetoric and talking about 4 percent growth.

He is now going have to deal with the fact that if he implements these policies, if he has tax cuts that are unfunded and run up the deficit and sets off a trade war, we're going to end up in recession. You better believe he's going to be under pressure then.

QUEST: And he is going to have, if there are legitimate conflict of interest questions that arise, there will be investigations.

TOOBIN: And who will do those investigations? There are no Democrats in charge of any committees in Congress. There is going to be Rudolph Giuliani as attorney general.

CUOMO: Maybe. We don't know that.

TOOBIN: Or someone similarly allied to Donald Trump. It will probably be Rudy Giuliani, maybe it will be Chris Christie. The Democrats have no power to investigate him. So, the idea that he is somehow going to be on the defensive, he is going to be on the offensive with a compliant Congress and he can do what he wants.

CAMEROTA: And he has rewritten the rules. I mean, the rules are now Donald Trump's rules. Christiane, when you talked to the NATO secretary-general, which word was he taking Donald Trump at?

AMANPOUR: Well, look, you know, let's face it. Every single world leader has rolled up and done what they do after every single U.S. election and if congratulated the result of a free and fair democratic election in the United States.

However, many of them have talked about concerns for the future. President Hollande said that this was uncertain future now because of the comments that Donald Trump had made during the election.

What is rather troubling is that some of the most eager and jubilant congratulations come from the leaders of the far right nationalist movement in Europe, hurt builders who jumped up and down tweeting now it is time for Netherlands to take back their country or the Dutch read keep others out.

And we've had Nigel Farage jumping up and down saying this is fantastic. I handled with a mantle, this is what he tweeted to Donald Trump, two big revolutions in 2016.

And then you've had the German vice chancellor who has put a word of sort of caution out and I'll read you what he says that "Trump is the pioneer of a new authoritarian and chauvinist international movement. He is also a warning for us."

So, that encapsulates the fear about what is going on out there and all the way to China, very afraid about trade barriers and tariffs and things like that. Japan, South Korea, he's starting to pull the protection on that, as well.

CUOMO: Jeffrey, one quick point. Don't forget about us. We are the ones that started asking the questions about his taxes and conflicts. The media doesn't go away.

TOOBIN: How did that work out?

CUOMO: Well, listen, I mean, you can't reject the process. You know what I mean. You ask the questions and you test the candidates and the people vote and the decision is made. That's how it works.

Now that he is in power. You check power. You speak truth to power. You ask about his taxes and ask about his conflicts and you keep doing it and the people decide what is important and what isn't.

QUEST: And don't forget the state attorneys general and a whole variety of other regulatory authorities that can stop looking into it. I am not saying it is going to be easy and I'm not saying it's going to succeed. What I am saying is there are very real conflict questions and they begin today, even in the transition.

CAMEROTA: Panel, thank you very much.

What should we expect from the new president-elect as well as Congress? We'll speak with two senators about last night's historic, stunning outcomes.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:48:29]

CUOMO: Despite predictions, models, polls, the Republican Party kicked butt all night long. They kept control of the Senate, the House, and they took the presidency. One of the seats that was thought to be at risk was Senator Ron Johnson's, but he went on to win the seat and beat Russ Feingold. He joins us now. Congratulations, Senator. Feingold had been senator. Your

seat to keep. Congratulations, again. How do you describe what happened in your state last night? It was a surprise, not so much your seat, little bit, but how it went in the presidency?

SENATOR RON JOHNSON (R), WISCONSIN: Well, certainly in the last couple of weeks you just saw a sea change here. A lot of enthusiasm and people were looking for real change and they realize career politicians like Russ Feingold and Hillary Clinton helped create this mess and helped build the swamp.

I don't think anybody believed they actually fixed it. So I think it's going to be refreshing to have a businessperson in the White House and somebody I could work with and somebody who understands how business is, how much harder federal government makes it to grow business and create the kind of opportunity and prosperity that certainly every American wants. I am really looking forward to the next six years.

CUOMO: If only it was as simple as, let's do better than the status quo. But this morning you have literally half or more than half of the country because Clinton is ahead in the popular vote right now.

Who are, in different measures, afraid that they'll be excluded and they'll be targeted. That Donald Trump ran on a message that you're very familiar with and struggled with yourself, which was one of division and anger. What do you say to those people?

[07:50:03]JOHNSON: Well, first of all, just take a look at how I conducted myself as a U.S. senator. I'm looking for areas of agreement. Now things I might (inaudible) we use a great, wonderful man, Pastor Jerome Smith identifying people and getting people to succeed in inner city Milwaukee, connected them with life transforming jobs.

So, you know, Donald Trump is going to be the president of every American just like I'm the senator of every Wisconsinite and what you're going to find out of a business person is someone who's used to accomplishing things. Getting results.

And not being divisive but actually looking for areas of agreement. That's how you accomplish things in business. It's going to be completely different perspective than what we get out of career politicians. I think Americans will be amazed at how quickly we can turn this economy around.

CUOMO: Except that that's not what he said, Senator. You know, I mean, he is President-elect Donald Trump and he did say that there are meaningful divisions in this society that he hopes to expose and make more obvious to people whether it's the wall or how he feels about Muslims. Those things matter, too. He got elected on the basis of those. He does have to deliver in an ironic way, no?

JOHNSON: I listened to him last night. He said he wanted to be (inaudible) -- I think business people just bring a totally different perspective to this thing. Business people in the political realm, this is like an ultimate universe to us. We're just not used to the kind of demagoguery, demonization. We always look and try to accentuate the positive, find areas of agreement because that's how you actually --

CUOMO: But that's not how he campaigned, Senator. That's not how he campaigned.

JOHNSON: Now he's going to be president. Now he's going to govern. He's going to have Republican majorities in the House and the Senate. Folks, that also are serious. Certainly I'm serious about solving these problems and it starts with economic growth.

And who better than a business person in the White House understanding the economy, how we need to reduce regulatory board have competitive tax system, utilize energy resource, keep energy prices low so we can compete.

It will be a completely different perspective. I really do think that it's just not going to be that hard to get the economy moving again with that business person perspective.

CUOMO: Well, it's not just moving again, right? He says 4 percent growth is what he wants to see out of the economy and we haven't seen that in a very, very long time.

All right, so let me grant you, especially in this afterglow of the election, right, were just hours into these victories, that some of these more obnoxious things that were said during the campaign aren't put at the top of the list.

OK, your practical concerns where President-elect Trump has very stark disagreement with Speaker of the House Paul Ryan whether it's trade or building a wall, what do you do there?

JOHNSON: Well, again, someone who's been in business, you sit down with your negotiating partner and you lay out all the areas of agreement. You don't accomplish things by arguing and dividing.

So as a business person, my assumption is, and listen, I've talked to Donald Trump, I've talked to his son, talked to just traveled with Eric Trump. He knows both people very well.

He thinks Speaker Ryan and Donald Trump will get along just fine, and certainly I'll do everything I can to bridge that gap as well. Again, Donald Trump ran because he's concerned about Americans so am I so is Speaker Ryan.

Paul Ryan has a better way agenda, it's a really good place to start. Donald Trump I thought did a good job last night saying he's going to be president of every American.

Let's accentuate the positive. Boy, you guys are starting out pretty negative today. Let's accentuate the positive understanding that we all share the game goal.

We all want a safe, prosperous, secure America. If you start there, keep it positive, guys. I think we can really accomplish a lot.

CUOMO: Senator Johnson, I couldn't agree with you more about keeping the positive. But for you to put it on the media for just repeating what Donald Trump said and you ducked for your entire campaign is a little -- little hard to swallow. But I will put it this way, we all want to see better days ahead. Let's hope they happen and soon. Senator, congratulations on your win last night.

JOHNSON: Have a good day.

CUOMO: Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: Joining us now, independent senator from Maine, Angus King. He is a member of the Intelligence and Armed Services Committee. He endorsed Hillary Clinton. Senator, good morning.

SENATOR ANGUS KING (I), MAINE: Good morning, Alisyn. How are you?

CAMEROTA: I'm doing OK, Senator. How are you and where were you last night at the moment where you realized that things were not going your way?

KING: You know, I think one of the first moments that I realized that the election was going to go to Mr. Trump was early -- very early on, when your guys were doing the exit polling and they said that by 68 percent change was the highest priority for the voters.

And I think that was a key moment and I want to just momentarily compliment John King and his -- the software team.

[07:55:01]I thought his analysis last night was the most useful, informative, comparing, you know, 2012 and now and all these counties where the votes are, that was a virtuoso performance. No relation to John King, but he did a great job last night.

CAMEROTA: Well, I will accept your compliment on his behalf. We were all obviously very proud of CNN's coverage last night. But, do you think it was that simple? Was this only about change? Is that it? Could any Democrat have won or do you think that there was something different and special that Donald Trump did?

KING: Well, I think, you know, this is a worldwide movement. You have to put it in perspective. The more nationalistic isolationist, if you will, movements around the world, Brexit. I mean, this was really very similar to Brexit.

I think people were voting for change, even though they didn't fully know what kind of change they were going to get. They just wanted something different.

And I think Secretary Clinton, you know, in this political world, sometimes qualifications can be a disadvantage. And she just looked -- she was running as a kind of quasi incumbent, and it was -- it was a combination of a lot of things coming together.

The other thing is, we got to realize how close this was. I did a quick calculation this morning. I figure if 150,000 votes or so had changed in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Michigan, you would have had an entirely different outcome. She's already leading in the popular vote.

You know, a couple hundred thousand votes out of 117 million, that's one tenth of one percent. If nothing else this election is going to be an all-time argument for everybody get out and vote.

CAMEROTA: Well, Senator, now what? I mean, now that the Republicans hold the Senate, and the House, and the White House, how do you as an independent and your Democratic colleagues, how do you get anything done?

KING: Well, I think the first obligation -- he's going to be the president and I think you call balls and strikes. My philosophy always has been as I call them as I see them. And if he comes forth with a policy that I think is going to benefit the country, for example, more -- better negotiated trade deals, that's going to be a good thing.

On the other hand, if he is comes up with a discriminatory policy towards some segment of our population, you know, I'm not going to support. We do have a system of checks and balances.

CAMEROTA: Yes.

KING: I think the other thing that's very important, Alisyn, is the president has enormous unilateral authority in foreign policy and I really hope he gets quickly up to speed. He should talk to General Dunford, the head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Harry Harris, head of PACOM, really impressive military people.

Checks and balances don't work all that well when it comes to foreign policy. So, that's an awesome responsibility that I hope he'll dive into, and not take lightly. President's words can change things very quickly.

CAMEROTA: Well, Senator, we had a couple of those surrogates on this morning and they say that his first order of business will be to repeal and replace Obamacare. How do you feel about that?

KING: Well, you know, I've often heard this repeal and replace, but I've never hear the replace part. I've heard something about selling insurance across state lines. That already happens. We have large insurance companies that are selling health insurance across state lines.

I think it would be a tragedy, and I certainly won't in any way cooperate or work with an effort to take health insurance away from 20 million Americans, go back to the days where if you had a pre-existing condition you could never get health care. All of those kinds of things.

So, I think, you know, it -- everybody has been saying, I've been saying for four years, it needs to be fixed. It needs to be adjusted. But, repeal, I've never thought was the answer. I think that would be a tragedy, wrong policy, and I will certainly oppose it.

CAMEROTA: All right, we shall see what happens in these next 100 days and beyond. Senator Angus King, thanks so much for being on NEW DAY.

KING: Thank you, Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: We, of course, have much more coverage of this historic election including a live interview with Donald Trump's campaign manager. Let's get right to it.

We want to welcome our viewers in the United States and around the world. You are watching NEW DAY. And what a morning it is here. The American people have spoken and Donald Trump will be the 45th president of the United States.

Trump seizing on voter frustrations to defeat Hillary Clinton in a stunning upset victory. The president-elect came out two hours ago and talked about how he would unify the country.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENT-ELECT: Working together, we will begin the urgent task of rebuilding our nation and renewing the American dream. I've spent my entire life in business --