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New Day

President Obama Meets with President-Elect Trump; Interview with Senator Jeff Merkley; Trump Tweets about Protesters, Praises Their Passion. Aired 8-8:30a ET

Aired November 11, 2016 - 08:00   ET

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

[08:00:00] CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: Let's get to CNN's Jason Carroll live at Trump Tower. That's the place to be. What do you see?

JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Chris. Trump Tower, where we've seen a number of protests outside here on 57th and Fifth Avenue, but not, as you said, in Washington, D.C. where things were calm, where the president and the president-elect had their first meeting. Trump saying the two men had good chemistry, going as far as to say that the president is a good man.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CARROLL: This morning, President-elect Donald Trump tweeting, "Love the fact that the small group of protesters last night have passion for our great country. We will all come together and be proud." After calling their 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 contrast to the pageantry at the White House, Trump speaking with President Obama for an hour and half inside the oval office.

BARACK OBAMA, (D) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We talked about foreign policy. We talked about domestic policy. And as I said last night, my number one 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.

DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: 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 to being with you many, many more times. Thank you, sir.

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.

REP. PAUL RYAN, (R) SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES: We had a fantastic, productive meeting about getting to work, rolling up our sleeves, 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 absolutely spectacular things for the American people. We look forward to starting. We can't get started fast enough. We're going to lower taxes, as you know, and we're going to fix health care and make it more affordable and better. We are going to do a real job for the public, and that's why we're excited.

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

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CARROLL: And while Trump had favorable meetings in Washington, D.C., the real test is going to come, Alisyn, when he tries to put forth some of those more controversial promises that he made out on the campaign trail, like the extreme vetting of Muslims entering the United States, building the wall or the deportation of undocumented immigrants living in the United States. That will be the real test not just for Washington, D.C., but for the country.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: It sure will, Jason. So let's talk about all of that right now. We want to bring in Senator Jeff Merkley. He's a Democrat from Oregon. Good morning, senator.

SEN. JEFF MERKLEY, (D) OREGON: Good morning.

CAMEROTA: Before we get to the president-elect's agenda and what Democrats plan to do about it, just tell me what's happening in Portland in your home state there with the protests and the riots. Who are these people?

MERKLEY: Well, certainly there have been multiple nights now of thousands of people turning out to send a message to the president that they're very concerned about the type of ideas that he put forward during his campaign, his attack on Hispanics, his attack on African-Americans, his attack on the handicapped. The list goes on and on. Even attack on veterans during his campaign, of course today being Veterans Day. And so it's unfortunate last night that there were a few folks in what is otherwise been a very peaceful protest who did disrupt it. CAMEROTA: So these are not, to your mind, professional protesters,

possibly sent by the DNC and Reince Priebus or Donald Trump has suggested?

MERKLEY: No. Only inside Trump's own mind.

CAMEROTA: Senator, let's talk about where Democrats go from here. In January, Republicans will be in control of the White House, the Senate, the House of Representatives. What can Democrats do for their own agenda or even to block things that you don't like coming out of the Republican agenda?

MERKLEY: Well, certainly to the degree that incoming President Trump decides he does want to fight for working America, we'll be there to work with him. For example on an infrastructure bill would be a tremendous place to start. It's something that President Obama and the Democrats have been trying to get done for years, and if we have a president to work with us on that, that would be -- that would be terrific.

On many of his ideas, for example ignoring religious freedom in America and setting up religious tests for people entering the country, we will oppose him. We celebrate the diversity of America. We celebrate our constitutional vision of religious freedom. And so some of the ideas that Trump has put forward we'll vigorously oppose within the chamber of the Senate and chamber of the house.

CAMEROTA: But what will that do? Again, since you're not the party in control, you can oppose him, you can speak out against it, but how will you actually stop what he wants to do?

MERKLEY: Certainly for many of these ideas, it's going to be many of our colleagues across the aisle who also do not share the precise vision that or every element of the vision that Trump put forward during his campaign.

I will tell you one of the things I'm very concerned about is the debate over the Supreme Court seat. The appointment of this seat rightly belongs in the hands of President Obama. What the majority in the Senate has done is to basically steal that from one presidency and try to deliver it to another, which is going to greatly and profoundly affect the legitimacy of the Supreme Court. And that's doing major damage to an essential institution in our constitutional vision. And I'm very concerned about that.

CAMEROTA: But senator, that should have sailed. They effectively did it. They effectively blocked Merrick Garland and kept President Obama from nominating him, and now president-elect Trump will have the first bite at the next apple.

MERKLEY: Well, the theft is under way. It's not quite complete until the transition of power takes place. I hope my colleagues who never really anticipated that they would succeed, and I know many of them are privately deeply ashamed of what they've been pushed into doing by their leadership, by the Koch brothers and their associates, who really went in and said we want you to do something unprecedented in U.S. history, take a Supreme Court seat under our constitution assigned to one president and move it to another. And so I'm hoping that people will recognize what damage is being done. There's still time to -- to hold a vote on Merrick Garland and save the institution.

CAMEROTA: Senator, one of your colleagues, Senator Elizabeth Warren, of course, no fan of Donald Trump during the campaign, she has said publicly that Democrats are going to need to be strategic. You're not going to be able to fight every single proposal that Donald Trump and the Republicans put forward.

So let me pull up for everyone what the stated agenda is from president-elect Trump -- repeal and replace Obamacare, build a wall along U.S./Mexico border, deport undocumented immigrants, unravel NAFTA and other trade deals, temporarily ban Muslims from entering the U.S., he's also talked about cutting taxes. So strategically, where do you go first?

MERKLEY: Well, on that list, improving trade deals to assist manufacturing in the United States of America is certainly one of the pieces that we should talk about. But also you didn't mention he has advocated for a major infrastructure package, and I think that is something that would be very positive for us to --

CAMEROTA: Right, I mean -- and I heard you say that you want to work with Republicans on that. But which one are you going to fight first, the ones that you don't like?

MERKLEY: Well, it probably depends on which one he puts forward first or that the majority in the Senate decides to advocate for first. When a bad idea comes up, we'll certainly, as is tradition in a legislative chamber, you support the ideas that make sense, you oppose the ones that don't, and you try to build a bipartisan coalition.

And we're going to hear a lot from American citizens about what they think of these various ideas, and it's a very dynamic point in American history. It's really a turning point because we have someone who's campaigned saying that they're for working America at the same time putting forward a tax package that is all about government by and for billionaires. So it's going to be an intense discussion, and I certainly feel honored to represent Oregon in that chamber and fight for things that will make this nation work well for working families, a foundation for all families to thrive, not more for the best off.

CAMEROTA: But quickly, senator, working class Americans, voters, voted for Donald Trump. So, where do the Democrats go from here? How do you define the Democratic Party now?

[08:10:07] MERKLEY: Well, there is one point of resonance here is that many folks who voted as this vote of protest against the status quo, I share their view about that. In the last four decades virtually all of the new income has gone to the very richest Americans. This is, therefore, an economy that has not worked at all for nine out of 10 Americans. And that's a very huge change from World War II through 1975. Those three golden decades we all participated in the wealth that was being generated, but not so the last four decades. And there's been a consolidation of power-making by the most powerful and the most privileged to the detriment of working families. And that certainly fits.

But there's so much we can do to address that in terms of living wage jobs and certainly in terms of access to education, affordable, debt- free community college, higher education. So, again, if the president is actually interested in helping working families, that would be something quite different from the way he's lived his life. But if he's interested, we will be there to partner on that.

CAMEROTA: Senator Jeff Merkley, thanks so much for being on NEW DAY.

MERKLEY: You're very welcome. Thank you.

CAMEROTA: Chris?

CUOMO: All right, protests and celebrations following the election of Donald Trump. But will he be able to bring the country together? Van Jones and Jeffrey Lord weigh in on the future of relations, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:15:13] CUOMO: The country was divided by this campaign. And to a large extent remains that way. You've seen huge celebrations. You've also seen huge protests, or at least waves of energy in that direction.

So, what goes forward?

We then saw president-elect with the president. And they seemed to be in the spirit of comity and moving forward together. This is a historic moment any way you look at it. What will it mean going forward?

We have two men with great perspective to share. We have CNN political commentators Van Jones and Jeffrey Lord.

Gentlemen, thank you for having the conversation throughout the campaign and now beyond.

Van Jones, white-lash got a lot of pickup. I felt that it was unfortunate that the rest of the context of the statement did not get as much pickup as that phrase. But how do you feel now, versus the way you felt on the eve of the election?

VAN JONES, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I feel the same. I -- I -- what I said then I'll say now. I said explicitly the Trump phenomenon had good stuff in it. It was a rebellion against the elites, which I support. It was a revolution in overthrow all these pollsters and consultants who I despise. And it's been marbled through toxic crap. And that toxic crap, frankly, is showing up in movements across the west.

And it's not just working-class people, somebody said earlier working- class people. No, working class people of color rejected Trump in large numbers, by huge majorities. There is a part of the white working class that has either bought into or is willing to ignore some of this toxic crap. And that's why I call it a white-lash. It's happening all throughout

the west. We can't only talk about the good parts of the Trump phenomenon. We can't only talk about the bad parts. We have to talk about both.

And that's where the messy truth is right there in the middle where it's tough talk about and I'm going to keep talking about.

CUOMO: Well, and yes, we do have this opportunity now to have a fresh start and to appreciate the opportunity of the mandate and see what he does, as president. Donald Trump.

You've asked for that, Jeffrey Lord. I want your reckoning of what we saw in our second breath. The first one was him winning, coming out, being very gracious, meeting with President Obama, could have gone sideways, seemed to be perfect.

Then the tweets. Your take on one, the fact that he tweeted at all. And then two these decidedly different messages. One of them damning the media once again, damning the protesters, calling them professional, no real basis in fact for this feeling.

And then, instead of doubling down, at least, he tweets something opposite. I love these protesters, it's great that they did this, passion for their country, we'll all come together and be proud.

Which man do we get as president, Jeffrey?

JEFFREY LORD, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, first of all, he's correct about the protesters. I mean I hate to say it but this gray hair that I now have means that I've bee around for awhile. And I am old enough to remember when I was a kid, the protests in -- over Vietnam, the protests over civil rights, the protests and on and on and on.

By the time the Reagan administration around, there were protests, there were a million people that protested in Central Park in New York in 1982 over the nuclear freeze. They wanted to abolish all nuclear weapons.

These are people who go out there and protest at the drop of a hat. Donald Trump's only the latest excuse. Forty years ago, they were protesting for Hubert Humphrey for heaven sakes --

JONES: They weren't even born 40 years.

LORD: What, I'm sorry?

JONES: They weren't even born 40 years ago -

LORD: I understand --

(CROSSTALK)

JONES: These are young people that you don even know yet, and you're already saying -- you're lumping them in with people with their grandparent' generation. It's not fair. You've got to listen to each generation, each group. This is the problem we have in America.

LORD: Van, this is what they do. This is what the American left is about.

CUOMO: But who is -- Jeffrey, who --

(CROSSTALK)

CUOMO: Who is they? I went to the protests here in New York. I didn't see any proof nor have I been able to read any proof of intense organizing around this and some manufacturing false protest, so I don't know what the factual basis is for that and I certainly don't know what the factual basis is for blaming the media for inciting these, do you?

LORD: I would turn to my friend Van who sat there right next to me on CNN the other night and rattled off a list of groups that were responsible for the protests. We were on live CNN and Van was telling us who it was.

JONES: Well, I -- can tell you -- I can tell you the groups that called for it.

[08:20:03] But to the point --

LORD: There you go.

CUOMO: But that doesn't mean they're professional protesters because that sounds like they're not genuine.

Van, here's the question. The suggestion is these are fake protesters.

JONES: Right.

CUOMO: That this is fake. This is manufactured. Jeffrey is that what you're saying?

LORD: No, I don't think they're fake.

JONES: Jeffrey, you don't know what you're talking about.

(CROSSTALK)

JONES: But here's the problem. You have people who talk about people that they don't talk to. The difference between me and Jeffrey, I went into the homes of Trump voters and sat down face-to-face and broke bread during the campaign to try to have an understanding. And you know, my big problem right now is with the right wing is they are just guessing. They see something on TV, it reminds them of something from 40 years ago and they start talking.

You have to talk to these young people. They are surprising in their complexity. They are not the traditional left because they have views that are, frankly to me are somewhat bizarre sometimes, sometimes very enlightening. We've got to actually stop talking about each other and start talking

to each other.

And for Trump to come out, and put out two diametrically opposed tweets within hours is a very disturbing sign. You can't do that when you're president of the United States. You can't -- you can't attack protesters you don't know anything about and then change it and you start doing that with foreign leaders, we're going to be in deep trouble.

CUOMO: Jeffrey, do you believe that Donald Trump has the ability to be the biggest man in the room? And by that I mean, that when you see things that you don't like you don't respond to every suggestion because you don't need to. You're the biggest man in the room. And when there's trouble around you, you rise above it, because you don't need to go down to anybody else's level. You're president of the United States.

I don't mean that as arrogance, I mean it as the heightened view of tolerance. Do you believe Donald Trump can be that person?

LORD: Well, of course. But, Chris, you're assuming things. I mean, President Obama did this. He didn't do it with tweets. But President Obama responded to things he didn't like. And when it was out there --

CUOMO: Right, but it's how you do it. It's how you do it. That's my question.

Of course you're going to respond to what you don't like. President Obama met with a man yesterday who tried to convince this country that he was illegitimate and he did it without cause, and for bad reason, and yet Barack Obama puts patriotism --

LORD: What was the bad reason?

CUOMO: -- before politics, shakes his hand and says I want to help you. That being the biggest man in the room, isn't it?

LORD: Yes. Yes. Yes. But I mean one of the reasons I think Hillary Clinton is not president-elect is because she was talking about the America's -- sizable segment of the American people as a basket of deplorables, that we're all racist and xenophobic and on and on and on she went with this list.

Well I think not. I think not. And that -- but that is unfortunately, this has been true for a very long time, the view of the elites in the Democratic Party of the American people. And the American people finally had their say.

JONES: Let me agree with Jeffrey on a couple points.

First of all, I think that Donald Trump -- you were praising President Obama. I think Donald Trump also deserves a bunch of praise for 36 hours after the election, he was beyond picture perfect. I mean you could not have scripted a better response, not just as a president- elect, just as a human being. He was gracious. He did a lot of good stuff. And then these tweets come out.

And so I think the problem that we're going to have with the Trump presidency is that this inconsistency, and I hope that gets worked out. Because you know, markets and foreign leaders, and also people in the country need to have consistency.

One thing I'll say about Jeffrey Lord, as much as I disagree with him, he is consistent. He's consistently apologizing for Trump's behavior, I don't like that part, but he's consistent.

(LAUGHTER)

JONES: And so, you know, we've got to get to a point --

LORD: Thank you.

JONES: I agree. Thank you, sir.

We've got to get to a point where we realize the truth is messy. The truth is somewhere in the mid. The left is hypercritical and elitist and won't admit it. The right wing is hypercritical because they do have some strains of bigotry that they won't confess to.

So, you've got both parties with these blind spots, hypocrisies, and we've got to be able to talk about them honestly because the stakes just got very high.

CUOMO: Right. But you know what also, there's context here that matters Jeffrey and I want your take on it. Van is an advocate, you're an advocate, I'm a journalist. We are little fishers.

Donald Trump is the president-elect of the United States. What he does matters a hell of a lot more than anything any of us will ever do. That's why I'm asking you, whether or not these types of tweets, this might have meant one thing when he was campaigning, when he was just businessman. He's not now. He's the voice of the United States of America.

And when you hear him say, on the one hand, these protesters are fugazi, they're either illegitimate and the media is behind it because they're terrible, and then a moment later, he takes the high road, that's not presidential, Jeffrey.

LORD: Well --

CUOMO: And what do you see should people judge it for what it is or do you believe just give him more time?

LORD: Well, Chris, I mean, I just reject the premise.

[08:25:01] I mean, I think some of these protesters are phonies. I mean, I've seen this my entire life.

CUOMO: But then why did he say, I love these small groups of protesters who are doing what this country is great about? Why would he say that if he thinks they're illegitimate? LORD: Because, Chris, he is president of the United States. He does

believe in the Constitution. And these protesters have a constitutional right to protest. I'm for it. I --

CUOMO: But that's not what he said in the first tweet.

LORD: But I'm --

CUOMO: You see what I'm saying?

LORD: Yeah, yeah. But, but there's nothing wrong with having an opinion about what they're protesting about. There are, in fact, profession protesters in this country.

JONES: Can talk a little bit?

LORD: They make this their thing.

CUOMO: No, we got to wrap it. Make a quick last word and we'll go.

JONES: Well, listen, the left is going to have to make a decision about constructive opposition, versus obstruction. And I think that there's a big debate now on the left about how that gets worked out.

Again, people who talk to people on the left and not about people on the left should actually be the ones who are explaining what these protests are about. That's all.

LORD: I'm talking to you.

(LAUGHTER)

CUOMO: And you know what? You should both keep doing it and I will keep talking to you both. I love your ideas. I'm happy to have them on the show. And as we all know the media will not yield.

Alisyn?

CAMEROTA: OK, Chris. As you know, a lot of Americans are feeling very anxious after Tuesday's outcome. So how should people cope with post-election anxiety and depression? We have a psychologist tip for you next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)