Return to Transcripts main page

New Day

Trump To Get Presidential Security Briefings; How Did Donald Trump Win?; Hillary Clinton On Pace To Win Popular Vote; How Do Presidential Transitions Work?; Can President-Elect Trump Unify America? Aired 7:30-8a ET

Aired November 10, 2016 - 07:30   ET

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

[07:30:00] CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: So you're going to have to win over that community. A live report, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CUOMO: Donald Trump is President-elect and that means that he has to be informed about the country's most sensitive secrets. Over the next few days he will receive upgraded national security briefings from U.S. intel and military leaders. There's also going to be some tension that is going to meet Trump. Why? Well, because he's been hard on that community and he's called the ongoing battle for Mosul a disaster. So how will he repair?

CNN Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr joins us now with a look at this problem facing our next president. Barbara, good morning.

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Chris. Well, Donald Trump and Mike Pence are about to learn what the generals and the intelligence community already know, the world is a very tough place.

Now, as President-elect, he will begin getting those upgraded intelligence briefings. Some call them the crown jewels. These will be daily briefings, the same that President Obama and Vice President Biden get. The most secret, the most classified intelligence. Overnight threats, covert operations -- all of it. They will now have access to all of it.

[07:35:05] I've talked to people who've been involved in some of these briefings and they say a new President-elect, after they get these types of briefings, usually very sobering. They learn what they are facing. What is Donald Trump facing? He comes to office as the fight for Mosul, the fight to get ISIS out of Raqqa in Syria, will be well underway. A big question, will President Obama put more troops into that fight before Trump takes office?

But one of the big threats coming, perhaps, North Korea. The CIA very concerned that there could be a provocation from North Korea to test a new American Leader -- Chris.

CUOMO: All right, thank you very much, Barbara, appreciate it.

So, President-elect Trump heading to Washington today -- the big meeting with President Obama. The word awkward pops into everybody's mind.

Let's discuss with CNN political commentator and host of CNN's "SMERCONISH", Michael Smerconish. Awkward why? Well, it has nothing to do with one party versus the other. This is the man who tried to prove that President Obama was an "other". You know, not born here, not legitimate. Part of the ugliness towards our first African- American president. Now, he is president, himself. What do you make of it?

MICHAEL SMERCONISH, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR," ON SIRIUS XM: I'd love to be a fly on the wall for each of their spaces before they get together, but when they're together I think it's going to be just fine. I think that -- I have to get used to saying this -- I think that President-elect Trump struck exactly the right chord in his acceptance speech in the wee hours of Wednesday morning.

And, by the way, I thought that Sec. Clinton handled herself admirably yesterday. So our leaders are saying and doing all the right things. It's time to put this result behind us and to oversee a smooth transition of power. And I have great faith in President Obama and in Donald Trump in being able to pull that off today.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: So, Michael, how do you reconcile what you heard in that gracious speech of Donald Trump's on Tuesday night versus what you've heard for the past 18 months? How do you ask voters, particularly who supported Hillary Clinton, to un-hear everything they heard from Donald Trump for 18 months?

SMERCONISH: If my glass is half full, if I'm being optimistic, it comes down to 2 Corinthians. And what I mean by that is that I reflect on the Donald Trump that we've seen during the course of this campaign and I wonder is that the real guy? Is that really how he's going to govern or was he playing to particular audiences along the way? And is he, in fact -- and this is my hope -- fingers are crossed that he's much more of a pragmatist. That he's going to lessen the temperature and that he's going to rise to the occasion.

CUOMO: But is that satisfying? I'm not disagreeing with your premise but think about it. If that's the truth -- if the truth is I don't really believe what I said about people like you -- perfect people -- but I said it because it was helpful to me in the moment, so I don't really mean it. Does that make me easier to accept than if he were an authentic bigot, I guess, would be the term?

SMERCONISH: Well, it doesn't -- it doesn't make it all worthwhile. I mean, it doesn't mean oh, OK, therefore we're all going to be fine. But, hopefully, it's a sign that the future is not to be as divided -- as divisive as the campaign was.

CAMEROTA: Hey, Michael, what happened in Pennsylvania, right? That was -- it's your home state. That's the Republicans white whale that they, every year, say I think we have a chance, I think we have a chance, only for it be Lucy and the football, as we've heard before, and Donald Trump did it.

SMERCONISH: So, yesterday I spoke -- and let me give a shout out to David Urban because he's a guy who should be better known than he is. He ran the Trump campaign in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and I've known him for many, many years. We used to have our friendship and working relationship with Arlen Specter in common.

And something that I pointed out to him that he didn't disagree with is that on any other Election Day, the turnout model for Sec. Clinton would have been enough. The margin that she got out of the city of Philadelphia and out of those well-discussed Philadelphia suburbs should have been sufficient to carry the state.

But as the two of you have been discussing all morning long, I mean, there really was an outperformance by that Trump base -- the "Hillbilly Elegy" J.D. Vance constituency that no pollster took a correct approximation of. It wasn't by a wide margin, by the way. You know, the pollsters are getting hammered and nobody nailed it. But, really, there was about a two-point differential across the country and because it was such a close race, that had enormous consequences.

CUOMO: It's like everything else that we've seen in this election where perception winds up overwhelming reality. People start saying all the projections were wrong and we don't care. We didn't do the projections. You know, our job is to test power. You know, to speak truth to power and to get the issues out. We don't do the measuring. Alisyn and I don't -- we don't even do math --

[07:40:05] CAMEROTA: I don't have a measuring tape.

CUOMO: -- let alone measurements. But, it's one of the new -- it's one of the new narratives, just like everything else. Something's perceived as true and it becomes true. So let's talk about something that is absolutely true. You have the next President-elect -- won the Electoral College the way they need to, to qualify. Did not win the popular vote.

This disconnect we saw 16 years ago in 2000 -- that was caught up in a different mishegoss of what happened in Florida. What do you make of this feeling that will come up every time this happens of that Electoral College, man, it's got to go?

SMERCONISH: You know, I'm going to have that conversation today on the radio. But it's probably the wrong day to have it because everybody suits up in their usual partisan jersey, looks at the election that we just had, decides whether the Electoral College suited their interests, and then decides how they feel about the Electoral College.

Probably two years from now is the right time for the debate. I personally question whether we still need the founding fathers' edict of keeping the unwashed masses at arm's length away from the final result. But I know I'm going to get a distorted picture of that when I open my telephone lines in about an hour or so.

CAMEROTA: All right, we look forward to you sharing with us the results of that little focus group that you'll be doing, Michael. Great to talk to you. Thank you. SMERCONISH: You, too -- all right.

CAMEROTA: How will the transition of power play out, particularly today? Up next, we'll ask the man who led the Bush-Cheney transition team.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:45:00] CAMEROTA: In just hours, President Obama will welcome President-elect Donald Trump to the White House. How does the transfer of power work? What will happen today?

Here to discuss is Clay Johnson. He was the executive director of the Bush-Cheney transition team when they took office -- when they handed -- oh, when they took office in 2000. Is that right, Mr. Johnson?

CLAY JOHNSON, FORMER EXEC. DIRECTOR OF BUSH-CHENEY TRANSITION TEAM: That's correct.

CAMEROTA: OK, so tell me about that. Before we get to what will happen today, tell me about that moment. What that transfer of power that day was like.

JOHNSON: Well, the transition of power began -- official transition of power began on December 13th, not Election Day when the election was decided. And so, it was a very unusual time. We had the transition about half the normal length and so the outgoing administration had half the time they normally have to pass the baton to the new administration, and we had half the time that's normally available to accept the baton and run with it.

It was a very unusual time. We began a lot of -- we had made a plan months in advance. We had begun a private sector funded transition preparation after December 1st --

CAMEROTA: Yes.

JOHNSON: -- so we were doing a lot of things we could do to make up for the unusual situation. It was just a very odd time. But we, I think, hit the ground running on January 20th in 2001 and caught up very quickly by about March or April with what other administrations had done in terms of putting their team on the field.

CAMEROTA: So, Mr. Johnson, what do you think is going to happen today? I mean, take us behind the scenes in terms of whether there's tension when the outgoing meets the incoming, or are they alone for long periods of time? Is there a tour? What happens?

JOHNSON: Well, I don't know for sure, but I'll tell you what I have a good reason to believe. I think this is going to be a wonderful meeting. This is about America now and President Obama has said that -- and President Trump -- President-elect Trump is looking forward to that.

When George Bush replaced Gov. Ann Richards, she said that she wanted her outgoing transition to be the best ever, and it was very magnanimous. It was very productive. It was -- Governor Bush -- Governor-elect Bush was helped tremendously by Governor Richard's staff.

As President Obama has talked about the outgoing Bush administration -- was tremendously well-treated by the outgoing Bush administration. And I was involved in that and it was a wonderful experience. It was the kind of thing you would hope that would happen in a country like ours --

CAMEROTA: Yes.

JOHNSON: -- and it did. And so, President Obama has praised President Bush for that assistance because he got into the job and realized how just incredibly important it was to have that kind of counsel and assistance --

CAMEROTA: Yes.

JOHNSON: -- by the outgoing administration.

CAMEROTA: Is it about --

JOHNSON: So now, he's going to give back.

CAMEROTA: Well, about that counsel, I mean --

JOHNSON: I'm confident of that.

CAMEROTA: But, Mr. Johnson, about that counsel, what do they say to each other? I mean, are there -- is there a moment where they are alone in a room and do they share wisdom as they pass the baton?

JOHNSON: Well, my -- wisdom is passed several different ways. The key is that President Obama -- I mean, President-elect Trump wants to be a very effective president. And he has to be a very effective president starting at 12:01 on January 20th, particularly with regards to national security, homeland security, health matters, economic crises, and so forth that might rear their ugly heads.

He doesn't have -- he hasn't had the freedom or the liberty of waiting until February and March to come prepared to be a really good chief of -- I mean, commander in chief. So between now and January 20th, he has to put a team in the White House of relevant folks to advise him on national and homeland security matters.

And he needs to put Cabinet and sub-Cabinet people in place. And he needs to put more people in place in the Cabinet sub-Cabinet than ever before -- probably 50-60 people --

CAMEROTA: Yes.

JOHNSON: -- within a week or so of January 20th because this world we live in is way more dangerous than ever before --

CAMEROTA: Yes.

JOHNSON: -- so the brisk of problems to deal with is great.

CAMEROTA: Right.

JOHNSON: So, in addition to putting the team together, the outgoing administration has to arrange for team members who may not be confirmed yet by the Senate -- yet --

CAMEROTA: Yes.

JOHNSON: -- to be able to sit in the Situation Room, for instance, and watch a typical Sit Room crisis management kind of meeting take place --

CAMEROTA: Wow.

JOHNSON: -- with people playing the president and presidential advisers, the military people who are typically there be in that meeting and for the new people soon to come in --

[07:50:00] CAMEROTA: Yes.

JOHNSON: -- to understand what the air conditioning sounds like, what the Situation Room is like. The wood paneling and how big is it or how small is it. What kind of conversation takes place? What kind of level of detail is made available to the -- to the participants so that the first time they're in that Sit Room -- the first time they're part of or observing or when they become president as leading and participating in a meeting --

CAMEROTA: Right.

JOHNSON: -- it's not for real.

CAMEROTA: Wow, that --

JOHNSON: And this -- the outgoing administration --

CAMEROTA: Yes.

JOHNSON: -- is critical to making that happen. I know Bush -- the Bush people made that happen --

CAMEROTA: Yes.

JOHNSON: -- for Obama and I have every confidence that Obama's going to make that happen for President-elect Trump.

CAMEROTA: This is serious stuff and you're right, the world moves so quickly now it has to happen quickly. Clay Johnson, thank you very much. Great to have you here on NEW DAY.

Let's get to Chris.

CUOMO: That was interesting. All right, so the election -- boy, it has given us a lot of lessons and it's revealed a fundamental truth about an anger and a divisiveness in this country. Donald Trump exploited that to his advantage. Now, how does he unite the country? A friend and his biographer joins us live, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CUOMO: So, President-elect Donald Trump is preparing to meet with President Obama at the White House this morning. Many are wondering, is he going to maintain his conciliatory tone and message of unity? Probably. But the big question becomes where does it go from here?

Let's discuss with real estate developer and friend of the President- elect, Peter Kalikow. And we have Trump biographer, Michael D'Antonio, author of "The Truth About Trump". Gentlemen, thank you for being with us this morning. Peter, congratulations to you as 'friend of'.

PETER KALIKOW, REAL ESTATE DEVELOPER: Thank you.

CUOMO: Let me ask you a fundamental question that the President-elect is dealing with right now. Which is he? There's a Jekyll and Hyde feeling about him. He came out, he was gracious. He says it's time to bind the wounds, let's unite. But then, there is this feeling about him -- evidenced somewhat in these protests but not too much should be made about them -- that well, he's the one who divided. He exploited that, he played that to advantage, so how can he heal what he exploited? What do you say to people?

[07:55:00] KALIKOW: I think that what you need to remember about him is he does what is necessary for the job. And when you are running a campaign you are appealing to people to vote for you. When you become president, you are now the president of everybody. And I think that was exactly the tone he set, which was the correct tone.

He's very talented, Chris, about things like that and he has that way of understanding what is necessary. But he has another talent which I really like -- his children call -- that he's a blue-collar billionaire. He understands what working people go through. I have a little of that, not as much. But a great practitioner of that was your dad. He was governor of New York.

CUOMO: He just didn't have the billionaire part, which is why I've got to do this job.

KALIKOW: No, but he had the governor part, which was not bad either. But he understood what it took -- what working people are going through. And I think that's interesting about President-elect Trump and I think that's why he won.

CUOMO: He certainly tapped into something and people are going to have that after analysis about what does this mean for white America. They were so dominant in this election. You, on the personal side -- so to understand Peter's point we have to understand who Trump is and in your understanding of him as a person. Do you believe that intolerance is something that's deep-seated in him or do you believe that was deep-seated is the need to win and that that's how he got there?

MICHAEL D'ANTONIO, DONALD TRUMP BIOGRAPHER: Well, he is extremely pragmatic and so he did set about to win, and that is clear. And I don't think -- you know, I wouldn't want to play checkers against Donald Trump because every game he enters, he knows how to win.

So, that was then. He does have the ability to pivot and he may have been waiting to be elected president before he turned to be presidential. There's also this whole idea that the office inhabits the man more than the man inhabiting the office. And I think it's quite awesome to consider what happened to Donald Trump on Tuesday. He suddenly became president-elect.

So he can rise to the occasion. He does have a feeling for the average guy and gal, and I think it is incumbent upon him to do the healing. It can't just be telling people this is what we're going to do. I think he has to act because the fear and anxiety that some people have is real and we don't want a country so divided.

CUOMO: Peter, one more beat on this. One of the reasonsI was happy you accepted the invitation to come on the show is that you're no B.S. guy. People know that about you. You're not going to change your opinion because it makes somebody happy, OK?

But, you know, as ethnics, it doesn't make you feel any better. You know, you're Jewish, you're Italian -- whatever your ethnic background is. You never feel better if someone says look, the reason I said that Italians are criminals is because it helped me get elected here. I don't think you guys are criminals. Don't feel bad about that.

It doesn't make me feel any better. So, how do you reconcile that from those who feel they were put in the category of "other" by Trump's campaign, whether they're gay or whatever minority group they're from that so, you're telling me you only stoked intolerance against me because it got you elected, but you don't actually feel that way and you think I should be OK with it?

KALIKOW: I think that he didn't do that just to get elected. He understood that there were people out there who the world had forgotten and they used to be a really important part of our country. I looked at the Michigan map, I looked at the Pennsylvania map, the Ohio map, and these were rock union towns that he carried because the people and the country forgot those.

D'ANTONIO: Yes, but -- you know, that doesn't address the question that you asked. The question you asked was about the people he insulted, the people that he rejected, and the fact that he did that as incontrovertible. He did it many times and it was an appeal to the worst in use. And I think, now, Donald has to show that he can appeal to the best of us. And, you know --

CUOMO: Can he?

D'ANTONIO: I think it's in him. I really do think it's in him. I hope that he has people that help him to do that. I think that a lot of his campaign surrogates were just as mean-spirited and they're going to have to show that they have this other side of them, too. They're complete human beings so let's pray that that's what comes out. CUOMO: He is --

KALIKOW: Let me say --

CUOMO: Go ahead, Peter, please.

KALIKOW: The main driving force that he's had since I've known him and that's a long time, he likes to win. He doesn't like to lose. And when he becomes president he will want America to win, and that's all Americans because if America wins, that plays into this being of being a winner.

CUOMO: It's -- you know, the biggest fundamental shift that we're going to see is when you're on the way in, you can blame everybody. Once you're in, you're to blame from everybody. It will be interesting to see how President-elect Trump does that one small way. Even with the media, his relationship's got to change.

Mr. Antonio, Mr. Kalikow, thank you.

D'ANTONIO: Thank you, Chris.

CUOMO: You helped us understand things better this morning. Appreciate it.

There is a lot of news for you this morning. Let's get to it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PROTESTERS: Hey, hey, ho, ho, Donald Trump has got to go.

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENT-ELECT: Now it's time for America to bind the wounds of division and unify our great country.