Return to Transcripts main page

New Day

Trump Returns to Twitter, Calls Protests Unfair; President Obama and President-Elect Trump Show a Nice Display of Unity. Aired 6- 6:30a ET

Aired November 11, 2016 - 06:00   ET

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

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I have been very encouraged by President-elect Trump.

[05:58:32] DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT-ELECT OF THE UNITED STATES: We're just going to get to know each other.

REP. PAUL RYAN (R-WI), SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: This is a man of action. He is ready to get working. It's really, really exciting.

REINCE PRIEBUS, RNC CHAIRMAN: He's a hard guy not to like.

SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (I), VERMONT: We have got to demand that Mr. Trump keep the promises that he made.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Not my president!

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Not my president!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Not my president!

OBAMA: It is important for all of us to now come together.

TRUMP: I very much look forward to dealing with the president in the future.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANNOUNCER: This is NEW DAY with Chris Cuomo and Alisyn Camerota.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, everyone. Welcome to your NEW DAY on this Veterans Day. It is Friday, November 11, and we do honor all of our veterans today.

Six o'clock in the east. Up first, post-election anger erupting again. A second night of anti-Trump protests in cities across the country. Things taking a violent turn in Portland, where a peaceful demonstration turned into what police called a riot. Donald Trump responding to the protests on Twitter, calling them unfair and blaming the media.

CUOMO: This is very simple. Protest is your right, riot is a crime. President Obama and President-Elect Trump in a nice display of unity,

meeting at the White House saying the right things, pledging to work together toward a smooth and peaceful transfer of power just 70 days from today.

Let's begin our coverage with CNN Jason Carroll, he has the latest -- Jason.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): President-elect Donald Trump calling protests against his victory "unfair," tweeting overnight that they are professional protesters incited by the media.

This as largely peaceful protesters across the country take to the streets for the second night in a row, the anger boiling over in Portland, police classifying it as a riot. A stark protest to the pageantry at the White House earlier in the day. Trump speaking with President Obama for an hour and a half inside the Oval Office.

OBAMA: We talked about foreign policy. We talked about domestic policy. And, as I said last night, my No. 1 priority in the coming two months is to try to facilitate a transition that ensures our president-elect is successful.

CARROLL: The pair striking a conciliatory tone.

TRUMP: We discussed a lot of different situations. Some wonderful and some difficulties. I very much look forward to dealing with the president in the future, including counsel.

Mr. President, it was a great honor being with you, and I look forward being with you many, many more times in the future.

OBAMA: Thank you.

CARROLL: Kind words shared after years of vitriol, Trump perpetuating the birther conspiracy throughout Obama's presidency and vowing to rip apart Obama's legacy while out on the campaign trail.

TRUMP: Immediately repealing and replacing Obamacare!

CARROLL: Obama, in turn, rebuking Trump's run.

OBAMA: He is temperamentally unfit to be commander in chief.

CARROLL: But Thursday, it was all about respect. First lady Michelle Obama meeting over tea with Melania Trump in private. The president- elect ending his whirlwind tour meeting with two men he had been at odds with, House Speaker Paul Ryan and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell at the Capitol.

RYAN: We had a fantastic, productive meeting about getting to work and going to work for the American people. Donald Trump had one of the most impressive victories we've ever seen. TRUMP: I think we're going to do some absolutely spectacular things

for the American people. We look forward to starting. In fact, truthfully, we can't get started fast enough.

We're going to lower taxes, as you know. We're going to fix health care and make it more affordable and better. We're going to do a real job to the public and that's what we want to do.

CARROLL: Pausing to take in the view from where he will be sworn in 70 days from now.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CAMEROTA: OK, we have a lot to talk about. Let's bring in our CNN panel. We have political commentator and political anchor of Time Warner Cable News Errol Louis: "Washington Post" political reporter Philip Bump; and CNN political analyst and Washington bureau chief for "The Daily Beast," Jackie Kucinich. Great to have all of you.

Errol, there was about a 30-hour period, from the time of Mr. Trump's acceptance speech, which everyone believed was gracious, through his sit down with President Obama, which seemed totally subdued and conciliatory, where Democrats were hopeful, maybe he is a different Donald Trump.

CUOMO: The pivot at last.

CAMEROTA: The pivot and then the tweet about the media, about the protests being unfair, Ducking and dodging the press pool, and it seemed like campaign Trump was back. Where are you on all this?

ERROL LOUIS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Right. Listen, something that -- you know, it shouldn't need to be said, but I guess it needs -- it ought to be said, is that the way the president-elect acts is, by definition, presidential, since he's going to inherit the job. And he is going to redefine some parts of it. And that's not going to go over easy with a lot of people. But I would remind everybody of what happened when Ronald Reagan took office. People thought you couldn't possibly have the inauguration on the western side of the capital.

Well, that's what he did, and every president since then has done the same. You couldn't possibly name, you know, Caspar Weinberger and, you know, Al Haag and remember these names from the past. All these people were part of Watergate, and all these people are going to start a nuclear war. This can't happen. It can happen. And this is what people, 59, 60 million people decided was going to happen.

CAMEROTA: So can he do away with the press pool that has traditionally been following a president for decades?

LOUIS: Well, look, I think he's going to find, like everyone would find, is that you've got to be able to communicate. And for better or worse, thanks to the First Amendment, thanks to the long traditions of this country, you've got to work with the press, or it's just not going to be worth it. So...

CUOMO: But he can, he can ditch the pool, if he wants.

LOUIS: He can ditch the pool, if he wants. There will be a consequence to that. I think they'll discover over time that it's not worth the negative feedback that you're going to get.

And, you know, look, the whole exchange about Twitter. "Hey, the press is inciting these people out on the streets." Well, that's a sign that you've got to get your communications and your messaging under control. Lo and behold, here's this big press pool that's here to help you do that.

[06:05:04] CUOMO: Well, but people actually agree with him. I mean, there was a perception among his followers that the media lost in the election also, that he beat the media. He is keenly aware of that, and I don't think it's a coincidence that he put that in his tweet.

Now, these tweets we're talking about, here's the one that just came out from President-elect Trump. "Just had a very open and successful presidential election. Now professional protesters incited by the media are protesting. Very unfair." Here's Donald J. Trump, not president-elect, after the 2012 race, when he wasn't happy about the outcome with Mitt Romney: "We can't let this happen. We should march on Washington and stop this travesty. Our nation is totally divided."

Philip Bump, what do you see?

PHILIP BUMP, POLITICAL REPORTER, "WASHINGTON POST": I would say that consistency has not been the hallmark of Donald Trump's candidacy or president-electness so far. I am alarmed by this, quite frankly. I think that Donald Trump has an opportunity now. He's already won. This is a moment of graciousness. This is the moment when you, as a winner, build a new relationship with people who voted against you; and that's what not what that tweet does. What that tweet does is it continues to put a wall between the free press that exists in the United States and Trump supporters. It continues to reinforce that divide. And that is not helpful to Donald Trump as president and very much not helpful to the United States of America.

And I think that what we're going to see here is that Donald Trump has consistently fought against the press. He has beaten the press. Instead of even being gracious with the press, he is taking an new direction.

I totally get why it would be frustrating to win an election and see riots literally outside your door at Trump Tower in Manhattan. That said, it is his responsibility to make the case for why he will not be the president that those people are afraid of.

And I have seen those protests. And it is not professional agitators. It is young people; it is people of color who are freaked out by President-elect Trump.

CAMEROTA: Right. I mean, it's called leadership, to try to quell the anxiety that people are feeling or the frustration.

CUOMO: Especially when you called for the same thing after the last election. It's a First Amendment right, and by the way, it could be helpful to the president-elect. Let the protests happen. Show that you can be graceful about it. Show that you are now the biggest man in the room and that you rise above and let time pass. That's leadership.

CAMEROTA: Yesterday, Donald Trump and President Obama sat down together at the White House. It was this sort of jaw-dropping image for lot of people, possibly even President Obama, but President Obama said very encouraging things. He said that they had had an excellent conversation. And Donald Trump changed his tune radically about President Obama. Let's watch this moment.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: We now are going to want to do everything we can to help you succeed, because if you succeed, then the country succeeds.

TRUMP: I very much look forward to dealing with the president in the future, including counsel. He's -- he explained some of the some of the difficulties, some of the high-flying assets and some of the -- some of the really great things that have been achieved.

So, Mr. President, it was a great honor being with you, and I look forward to being with you many, many more times in the future.

OBAMA: Thank you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: It was a great honor being with you, he said.

JACKIE KUCINICH, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: But that's what we should be seeing right now. That right there.

CUOMO: Though his followers might say, Jackie, that's B.S. He doesn't believe that. Obama doesn't like him, and he doesn't like Obama. I voted for Trump because he doesn't play that game. How do you balance it?

KUCINICH: They're entitled to that opinion. But he -- Donald Trump said on election night, he is -- he's the president for everyone. And that shows that he's willing to do that. He's shaking hands with the president, saying he's a good man. These things are -- that actually is normal. That looked like a normal transition of power, and I think that's what settles nerves. That's what -- what makes people who didn't vote for Donald Trump, who might be protesting in the streets and are scared. They need to see that Trump be a little bit more consistent to know it's going to be OK.

And so, when he tweets later on that the media is inciting professional protesters or something, that -- that is very dissident to that. It looks like maybe was he acting? And that doesn't help the situation right now. Because the country is very divided, and it's his job to bring people together.

CAMEROTA: How do you make sense of it, Errol? I mean, journalists have a hard time with hypocrisy and have a hard time with discrepancies like that. We point that out. That's how what we do for our professional living.

So, after all the things, the hateful things that about President Obama and President Obama returning some of the tone, what was that moment yesterday?

LOUIS: Well, I think, look, we normally see hard-fought, bitter campaigns. And let's think back to, you know, 1988 and think back to 1992. This was a lot of rough words get said and then you sort of bring it together and you get the signs and the symbols of unity of the kind that we just saw yesterday. This went a little further outside the bounds. Quite a bit further outside the bounds than we're used to seeing. But the fact that they're in the Oval Office in the heart of American power doing the things, even with sort of a grimace on their face, shows that the republic is going to endure. And so that's a reassuring sign; that's a good first step.

[06:10:11] Obviously, where -- when it comes to the policies, the personnel, the relationship with Congress, there are a lot of open questions that I think the press should focus on rather than getting hung up by a tweet that I think most people know is ridiculous. The notion that, you know, the media in Seattle and Denver and Atlanta and New York all conspire to put thousands of people...

CAMEROTA: You're not worried, so that part. I hear you. The substance is ridiculous. But you're not worried that that's a harbinger of something very bad about to happen between the White House and the press?

LOUIS: Well, something interesting is going to happen. I mean, look, keep in mind: we've all sort of reported around the edges about this Trump TV, this notion of a media empire. A lot of times it was reported as, if he loses he'll start a media empire. But actually, if you look at what was really being put out there is that he's going to form his own sort of channel in the event that he wins.

So, he's trying to figure out his communications strategy. We know it's going to involve social media in a way that never really was possible before. We know it's going to involve, possibly, this Trump TV thing. And it's going to -- it's going to also involve the politics of him being in an antagonistic relationship with the mainstream press, because that is part of his politics.

His supporters love it. He, we all know, has a different kind of relationship. He sort of has some understanding of the inner workings of what it is we do and has sort of played that to his advantage. So yes, it's going to be a sorting out period.

CAMEROTA: Are you worried, or as sanguine as Errol?

BUMP: No, less so. I mean, I think that what's being described there, part of the challenge we've seen over the course of this election cycle is that there is misinformation out there. There are things that are false, things that are outright lies, things that are misleading... CUOMO: The tweet is proof.

BUMP: ... that have been -- that have been embraced by alternative media sites by just literally kids in Macedonia making stuff up because it gets them ad clicks. There's all this nonsense out there.

The media exists to provide accuracy and facts to the people; and Donald Trump recognizes. There has been, we saw starting in 2012 social media provided the venue for politicians to step around the media. If Donald Trump does that as president, I think that's hugely problematic.

CAMEROTA: OK. Panel, thank you very much. Stick around.

CUOMO: Stick around. Remarkable display of unity. It hasn't all been bad.

You had President Obama making nice with the man once bent on dismantling his presidency, the birther movement. Also dead set on getting rid of President Obama's signature achievement, the ACA. What does President Trump mean for President Obama's legacy? Next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:16:32] CUOMO: There has been progress. We've seen President- elect Donald Trump and House Speaker Paul Ryan meeting, talking about priorities and putting the people first, putting the politics behind them for the first 100 days in office. So, what are those ideas? What might we see?

Let's discuss with a good group of reporters: Errol Louis, Philip Bump, Jackie Kucinich.

Mr. Bump, what are you hearing? do you think we see out of how about on the political side? Is this real? Do you think Ryan, McConnell and Trump are they're having that meeting of the mind to put others before their own politics?

BUMP: I mean, I think that we have not seen Donald Trump taking an active interest in the details of policy at any point over the course of this campaign.

My guess is that Ryan and McConnell are very, indeed excited to have a Republican president, particularly a Republican president who doesn't come in with a lot of predisposed notions about what it is he wants to get done.

Paul Ryan has a lot of plans for what'd like to see. My guess is that Donald Trump acquiesces to those. And you know, I mean, I think that we are for Democrats who are already freaked out about President Trump, you know, the Republicans have carte blanche to do what they want to do with -- on Capitol Hill and I don't know that Donald Trump is going to put a lot of barriers in their way.

CAMEROTA: We have a new tweet from Donald Trump that has just come out. It is, we're told is more positive about the media. Let's put it up. We're just reading it now. "Love the fact that the small groups of protesters last night have passion for our great country. We will all come together and be proud." OK, positive about the protesters. There you go. That's the message that you were hoping in the last segment.

CUOMO: He's watching you, again, Errol.

LOUIS: Truly, I wasn't hoping for anything. I mean, in all seriousness, I think we'll all be in a lot of trouble if the media worries constantly about what the president-elect is going to do and less about what we are going to do.

We have a huge amount of work in front of us with the 75 lawsuits against the president-elect. What's going to happen to those? With the implementation of that first 100 days and day No. 1, as a matter of fact, on the issues, which are fairly complex with Capitol hill. Where Paul Ryan and McConnell, they have to sort of figure out how they're going to work with this president-elect and get some of this legislation moved.

CAMEROTA: So you mean our jobs as journalists are we're going to have to go deeper, we're going to have to be more investigative, we're going to have to be more thorough, not just follow every tweet?

LOUIS: Well, sure, exactly. Because that is -- you know, it's bait. Right? I mean, it's bait. And it worked all throughout the campaign, that right when we were supposed to finally get to the bottom of something really important, you could have a candidate or even a president-elect who'd throw something out there, and then we all go scrambling after it. And all of these big, important questions, these big structural questions, being the stuff that we're supposed to be focused on, gets swept aside.

CUOMO: All right, but Jackie both things can be true. Both things can be true, because all here right now. Anybody can say whatever they want. The truth is, the country is divided. And it's provable. And it's not just about the protests. It goes way beyond it. This helps.

When the president is conciliatory, when people are afraid that he is the one pushing the division, it helps. Perception is reality in politics. So we're both true. You've got to check what President- elect Trump says, and you have to dig on what he does.

KUCINICH: I mean, word characters matter. That doesn't erase the last one.

But, again, yes. We have a very big job ahead of us. And -- but I think that you can do both. You can cover who is putting in government. You can cover his relationship with Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell and you can cover how Democrats, frankly, are trying to put themselves back together at this point. Figure out who is leading their party, for goodness sake. I think we can do all these things at the same time, and we're just not going to get a lot of sleep.

CAMEROTA: OK. [06:20:14] CUOMO: In the interest of giving him a clean slate, he didn't double down.

CAMEROTA: No, he didn't.

CUOMO: Ordinarily when we talk on the show about something that he did that is outrageous, usually he -- we double down. He didn't. He went in the opposite direction. Good for him.

CAMEROTA: OK. Let's prove we can do it all. Let's talk about his cabinet and some of the names that have been floated and what they would mean. We've heard Rudy Giuliani. Chris talked to him yesterday about possibly attorney general.

CUOMO: He was certainly talking that way.

CAMEROTA: Yes, so, here are some of the names. Chris Christie, Newt Gingrich, Reince Priebus, Steve Bannon. Now the latter two there, Reince Priebus and Steve Bannon...

CUOMO: Political appointments probably.

CAMEROTA: Chief of staff. What is the difference between these two? What would this look like if Steve Bannon, let's start with him, were the chief of staff in the White House?

BUMP: I don't think anyone knows what that would look like if Steve Bannon were chief of staff. I mean, Steve Bannon is a very, very, very controversial character for a lot of reasons. He leads Breitbart News. The last segment we were talking about news outlets that have sort of murky reputations. Breitbart is one of those.

You know, I mean, I think that he has embraced the alt-right, and he has provided a platform for it at Breitbart, which I think is, to the point of why people are a little concerned about the concept of a President Trump, it is that sort of embrace. Putting that into the White House is something that's very disconcerting to people, and it is starkly contrasted with Reince Priebus as potential chief of staff, who is an establishment figure, who is someone who would do a lot to calm people's concerns.

CUOMO: Errol, let's dig on this. What does Donald Trump do? Does he please Ryan and McConnell and give them the ACA repeal and replace, even though it can't be done right away. It has to take at least a year by the contracts that are filled out under law. Or does he go for a quick score that is achievable, like Rudy Giuliani suggested here yesterday, saying taxes? Do taxes, do less regulations?

LOUIS: It was interesting. I heard Rudy Giuliani's statement as almost a replays of his days as mayor of New York, where he really got a lot of the business community on his side by doing tax reform, by talking about them and trying to implement tax cuts. That's -- you know, that's basic. That's Republican Politics 101.

Realistically, though, in what has been reported is that on day one, President-elect Trump, after he's sworn in, President Trump is going to spend hours issuing executive orders to undo a lot of what was done by President Obama. And this is an easy, very quick way to score some political points.

Symbolically, one or two executive orders that hinder or hamper Obamacare are as good as it gets for a president on day one. The legislative part, which folks on Capitol Hill tell me is going to take, realistically, about 18 months to really undo it if they're actually going to repeal Obamacare, that happens later. But on day one, lots and lots of orders to change immigration policy, to order the border closed or whatever version of that he's going to do, to scuttle or hamper the Iran nuclear deal, and to get Obamacare on its way to being repealed.

CAMEROTA: Panel, thanks so much for the great conversation. Have a nice weekend.

Coming up in our next hour, we will hear from billionaire Warren Buffett about the election results. He sat down with our own Poppy Harlow, and she will join us with all of the news out of that interview.

CUOMO: All right. You've seen the protests and you know why they're there. Donald Trump's election has created concern.

But some of these protests are actually crimes. Violence, riots in Portland, Oregon. Who is behind this? We'll tell you next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:27:22] CAMEROTA: Time now for the five things to know for your NEW DAY. President Obama and President-elect Trump striking a cordial tone after their first-ever meeting at the White House. The two promising to work together to ensure a smooth transition until Trump's swearing in 70 days from now.

CUOMO: Thousands of anti-Trump demonstrators and some vandals staging riots on the streets of Portland. Police said protesters turned into criminals, vandalizing buildings, even cars. Some knocked out power to the city.

CAMEROTA: Mr. Trump's attorneys seeking to delay the Trump University fraud trial until after he is sworn in as president. The judge, once criticized by Trump based on his Mexican heritage, you'll remember, is expected to decide by Monday by Trump's lawyers -- decide by Monday. Trump's lawyers are also not ruling out the possibility of an eventual settlement.

CUOMO: A senior ISIS commander has been killed by a coalition air Mosul. The Iraqi military says Sheikh Faris was once a top officer in Saddam Hussein's intelligence network.

CAMEROTA: Singer/songwriter Leonard Cohen has died. He was best known for the beautiful song "Hallelujah." Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(MUSIC: LEONARD COHEN, "HALLELUJAH")

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: But his career and influence in popular music spanned decades from the 1960s right up until today. Leonard Cohen was 82 years old.

CUOMO: He could make you feel. Boy, that is a precious commodity.

So there are your five things. You want to know more about them, go to NewDayCNN.com for the latest.

CAMEROTA: President-elect Donald Trump vows to repeal and replace Obamacare. What will happen to the people who are already covered by the president's signature healthcare law? We ask one of the people behind the Affordable Care Act, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)