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New Day

Priebus, Bannon Picked for Top White House Jobs; Racist Incidents Being Reported Across the U.S. Aired 6-6:30a ET

Aired November 14, 2016 - 06:00   ET

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

PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: One, assuaging a lot of the concerns about how he'll deal with mainstream Republicans, the other only serving to raise alarm bells.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

[07:00:12] MATTINGLY (voice-over): President-elect Donald Trump's administration starting to take shape, Trump naming RNC chairman Reince Priebus as his chief of staff and campaign CEO Steve Bannon as his chief strategist and senior counselor, creating two dueling power centers and a potential rivalry between his two top aides.

Priebus, the ultimate Washington insider with deep connections to GOP leaders. Bannon, the polar opposite, a man who has operated on the Republican fringe as executive chairman of Breitbart.com, one with a known talent for riling up the grassroots while maintaining close ties to the alt-right movement, within which anti-Semitism and racist tropes are pervasive.

Bannon's appointment drawing sharp condemnation. The spokesman for Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid saying in a statement, quote, "It is easy to see why the KKK views Trump as their champion when Trump appoints one of the foremost peddlers of white supremacist themes and rhetoric as his top aide."

The CEO of the Anti-Defamation League calling it a, quote, "sad day," and the executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations says the appointment of Bannon sends the "disturbing message that the anti-Muslim conspiracy theories and white nationalist ideology will be welcome in the White House."

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Donald Trump has got to go!

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Donald Trump has got to go!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Donald Trump has got to go!

MATTINGLY: As thousands across the country protest against Trump for the fifth straight day...

(CROWD CHANTING)

MATTINGLY: ... Trump addressing his supporters who have harassed minorities in his first TV interview post-election. DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENT-ELECT OF THE UNITED STATES: I say stop

it, if it -- if it helps. I will say this, and I'll say it right to the cameras. Stop it.

MATTINGLY: Trump also appearing to tweak a central tenet of his immigration proposal.

LESLIE STAHL, "60 MINUTES": They're talking about a fence in the Republican Congress. Would you accept a fence?

TRUMP: For certain areas I would, but in certain areas, the wall is more appropriate. I'm very good at this. This is called construction.

STAHL: So part wall, part fence?

TRUMP: A fence would be -- it could be some fencing.

MATTINGLY: And discussing his Supreme Court appointees, calling same- sex marriage a settled issue but taking a hard stance against national abortion rights.

TRUMP: Having to do with abortion what -- if it ever were overturned, it would go back to the states. So it would go back to the states.

STAHL: Some women won't be able to get an abortion.

TRUMP: No, it will go back to the states.

STAHL: By state?

TRUMP: Well, they'll perhaps have to go to another -- have to go to another state.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MATTINGLY: And, Chris, one of Donald Trump's kind of prominent campaign promises was this. He was going to call for his attorney general to appoint a special prosecutor to look into to investigate Hillary Clinton.

Now, his campaign staff, his now transition staff behind-the-scenes, I'm told, has basically been telling him to walk away from that, move away from anything that might hurt his efforts to, as he says, bring the country together. He was asked about that last night on "60 Minutes," Chris. He didn't dismiss it outright. He said he was thinking about it and would have an answer soon -- Chris.

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: The man who monitors the media 24/7. Phil Mattingly said he was unaware of these reports that there have been attacks and assaults and insulting of people in the minority. Interesting.

All right. Let's bring in president and CEO of Endeavor Strategies, Curt Bardella. Now, Curt worked as a media consultant for Breitbart News before cutting ties earlier this year. And CNN political commentator Jeffrey Lord.

Jeffrey, later on I'll call you, and we can discuss how Roe v. Wade isn't settled law for the president-elect but gay marriage is. I want to talk to you about that, but that's a -- that's a discussion for guys like us.

Curt Bardella, there are words being used to describe Bannon, that he represents the Republican fringe. I would say that that's untrue. There are many Republicans -- in fact, there are a few who want to own Steve Bannon and his politics. And that what comes out of Breitbart often plays on what's called tropes by the media. I would argue they are not tropes. These are often, at least deceptive and often hateful headlines to drive separation in our society. You worked for them. Why and what did you learn when you were there?

CURT BARDELLA, FORMER MEDIA CONSULTANT FOR BREITBART NEWS: Well, you know, I think that they represent a world view that is incredibly dangerous and divisive and to have this kind of proximity to the White House.

I mean, Breitbart has gone from being the propaganda arm of the Trump campaign to now being the propaganda arm of the federal government, essentially, in a Trump White House. And I think that should be very concerning to all Americans right now, because any day you look at their site, one, it's about one perspective, one agenda, and it's completely devoid of reality and facts.

And it's all about speaking to the worst divisions amongst the American people and their worst fears to try to advance a very narrow- minded agenda that's designed to just create conflict and, in this case, to prop up their strong man, Donald Trump.

[07:05:07] CUOMO: Well, a big part of that is just politics, right? You win, you get to advance your view of reality. That's OK. And the left has done it, and the right has done it. But I would -- I'm trying to find out if this guy is as different as I believe he is.

You have that his wife in 2007 said he didn't want his girls to go to a certainly school because too many Jews there. He didn't want his kids the way the Jews raised their kids. Now, that's what she said. He said it's not true. But he has a reputation for trying to go after people as an attack person more than an ideological person. Can you square any of that with your own experience?

BARDELLA: Also, that Steve is a very aggressive attack-oriented, move forward, never back down, never apologize, never show any sign of weakness. That's his entire, you know, modus operandi, if you will. And, you know, never before we had someone who is basically the co- White House chief of staff, the co-virtual president in a position like this to wield tremendous influence and have the ability to advance any type of offensive that he wants to run against anybody he believes is a threat or a problem for the administration.

CUOMO: Jeffrey, James Baker? You likened Steve Bannon to James Baker? Poor James Baker.

JEFFREY LORD, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: No, Chris, Chris, I likened Reince Priebus to James Baker.

CUOMO: Oh, OK, that's good. I'm fine with that. then let's leave it alone. How do you feel about Bannon?

LORD: I think he's been smeared, to be perfectly candid. I read Breitbart every day. They're death on diversity politics, with diversity politics from my point of view, as you know, is absolute racism. The culture of racism at the core of the Democratic Party for 200 years and the American left has been normalized. You use the word you were using a few minutes ago, that it's OK to divide people by race. It isn't. That's what the American left does. Bannon is opposed. Good for him.

CUOMO: Except, in what you just said -- and by the way, look, the way you just said it is fine. People will agree; they'll disagree.

But what Breitbart does, whether they're targeting me or they're targeting other people in the media, is they deceive, they distort context, and they do it to advance an agenda that the media is against you. And that everything is the left. And that the system is the left. And that this is about a race war and about white America being put down. And now you have that guy in the White House speaking for all Americans. Is that good?

LORD: Chris, I mean, I just disagree totally with your picture of Steve Bannon. I mean, I read Breitbart every day. I mean, it's conservative. I mean, you're not going to hear much difference out of Breitbart than you are from Rush Limbaugh.

CUOMO: So you think -- you think that Rush Limbaugh would be a good guy to have as a president's top strategist, with him spending all of his time trying to divide this country?

LORD: Well, Chris, Chris, here's the trick that the left always plays and you just, my friend, played it is that you guys divide -- divide Americans all the time. The Obama administration and the American left divide people by race. And then they pretend that it's all normal. It's not normal.

BARDELLA: But then you've people like you, Jeffrey...

CUOMO: Jeffrey, I got your point.

Curt, make your point, because I didn't understand it. What would you say?

BARDELLA: Talk about divisiveness. The divisiveness comes from people like Jeffrey who go on TV every single day and flat-out lie to the American people and are completely devoid of what's actually happening. We have to tell you what's really happening.

The first thing Donald Trump does, basically, is go on Twitter and advance a lie about the "New York Times" and the subscription rates with no fact. It turns out to be untrue. We're never going to hear him back back down and say, "You know what? I got that wrong. I shouldn't have done it." What about the fact that the president, one of the first things he

wants to do is attack the media, attack the free press? That is one of the most dangerous things happening right now, is that for the next four years, the free press is going to be under assault, under attack, and that's all that they're going to do. And should be just incredibly worrisome to anybody who worries about the fabric of this country that one of the fundamental tenets that our nation was built upon, the ability to have a free press that can ask the questions on behalf of the American people and report the truth, that that is going to come under assault every minute of every day directly by the president.

CUOMO: Go ahead, Jeffrey.

LORD: Curt, I am a First Amendment freak. I totally believe in the First Amendment. But where were you when the Obama administration was trying to shut down FOX News? Where were you?

BARDELLA: I was working for the House Oversight Committee, doing investigations into the Obama administration.

LORD: Yes, about that. In other words, Curt, my point is...

BARDELLA: Are you telling me that the oversight committee, under Chairman Darryl Issa, we weren't aggressive at oversight of the Obama administration.

CUOMO: I think you're picking the wrong target for your criticism. He was working for Darryl Issa, Jeffrey. He's your home team there when it comes to going after Obama.

LORD: All I'm -- all I'm saying is I don't remember any of this when the Obama administration was trying to shut down FOX News, which they were trying to do.

[07:10:03] CUOMO: All right. Jeffrey, thank you very much.

Curt, appreciate the perspective...

LORD: Thank you.

CUOMO: ... from inside the Breitbart -- I know you're not there any more, but you were there. And that's why we're talking to you. Thank you very much -- Poppy.

POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: All right, Chris, thank you.

Donald Trump offering two words to supporters accused -- that have been accused of harassing Hispanics and other minorities. Saying on "60 Minutes" last night, "Stop it." Is that enough? We're going to debate it, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STAHL: Do you want to say anything to those people?

TRUMP: I would say, "Don't do it, that's terrible," because I'm going to bring these people together.

STAHL: They're harassing Latinos, Muslims...

TRUMP: I am so saddened to hear that, and I say stop it. If it -- if it helps. I will say this, and I'll say it right to the cameras. Stop it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: That is Donald Trump's message following racist incidents, as well as some hate crimes across the country since the election. You've seen thousands of Americans taking to the streets in protests following the election. And the question now is what can the president-elect do to help, do to turn down the temperature?

[07:15:12] HARLOW: Let's talk about it with CNN political commentator Ana Navarro and also Richard Cohen, president of the Southern Poverty Law Center is with us, a legal advocacy group specializing in civil rights.

Thank you, guys, very much for being here.

So -- so Leslie Stahl asked Donald Trump about these incidents on "60 Minutes." Let's tick through some of them, because there have been hundreds across the country. Let's name some of them so our viewers know what we're talking about.

A Muslim student threatened with a lighter in Michigan. Trump with an exclamation mark written on NYU's Muslim prayer room door. "Build the wall" chanted at Michigan middle school.

In North Carolina graffiti that read "Black Lives/Votes Don't Matter." There are many, many more of them. Nazi-themed graffiti in Philadelphia. I could go on and on.

Let me begin with you, the Southern Poverty Law Center obviously putting out a very strong statement last night, condemning Donald Trump naming Steve Bannon to be his right-hand man in the White House. Breitbart actually -- a headline on Breitbart yesterday, the news site that he ran, said these were sort of media-created fake hate crimes. Your thoughts?

RICHARD COHEN, PRESIDENT, SOUTHERN POVERTY LAW CENTER: Trump wasn't much better last night on "60 Minutes." He said he had heard about one or two of these incidents, and the reality is there have been far more than 300 of them. And they've been everywhere in schools and places of business like Wal-Mart and on the street. He needs to take a little bit more responsibility for what's happening out there.

HARLOW: And as Chris made the point, this is someone who monitors the media 24/7, and it has been widely reported over the last six days since the election. Ana, let's put up your tweet for our viewers. OK, here's what you

tweeted when this news broke. "Oh, hell, white supremacist, anti-gay, anti-Semite, vindictive, scary-ass dude named senior strategist. After vomiting, be afraid, America."

The question becomes the normalization of this, right? I had someone on my show last night, comparing Steve Bannon on the right and to, say, David Axelrod on the left. You're a conservative, so you're not on the left going after him. Your thoughts?

ANA NAVARRO, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Look, I think that the appointments he makes early on are the first signal he's sending about what kind of president he's going to be. I think many of us are torn by the utter disdain that we have for candidate Donald Trump and the utmost respect we have for the office of the presidency of the United States.

And we want to give this guy the chance. We want to extend an olive branch. We want him to extend one to us.

But if what he is doing is naming somebody like Steve Bannon, who has got such a track record, such a reputation for being controversial, for leading the hunting season against Republicans. Forget about everybody else, who has filled his publication with anti-Semitic, anti-Hispanic, anti-everything type of headlines, you have got to be very concerned.

He did very well appointing Reince Priebus. Reince Priebus is a normal guy. He's not anti-Semitic. He's not -- he doesn't assault women. He's not anti-Hispanic. He's not anti-immigrant. At this point I'll take him, and I'll love him. But it was like you saw Donald Trump appoint Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde last night. And it is very concerning for people, because those hate crimes that are going on in America are real. We are not making them up.

HARLOW: Some of them are happening at...

NAVARRO: Donald Trump knows they are real.

HARLOW: I mean, some of them are happening at elementary schools, Richard as you well know, documenting over 300 of them. You know, some elementary school and middle school kids were given, you know, notices of deportation from their fellow classmates last week, and people chalked it up to a joke. That's not a joke. Those are shoes that you -- you and I don't know what it's like to live in. Right?

So let's get to some -- let's listen to Dave Chappelle. If you missed "Saturday Night Live," this is one line that I think we will always remember. Ana brings up an olive branch. Here's his to Donald Trump.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAVE CHAPPELLE, COMEDIAN: I'm wishing Donald Trump luck, and I'm going to give him a chance and we, the historically disenfranchised, demand that he give us one, too.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: Donald Trump said when he became the president-elect, Richard, "I will be the president for all Americans," and he said, "I will bind the wounds of division."

He has not come out and directly addressed these hate crimes, except for in that interview, or the protesters, frankly. He tweeted about them, at one point calling them professional protesters; a few hours later, saying he loved the passion. What would you like to see from the president-elect?

COHEN: Two things. First, he needs to publicly denounce bigotry and all its forms. And, secondly, he has to walk the walk. He just can't talk the talk. He has to assure the American public that no members of his administration will be members of extremist groups who will have any extremist ties and, unfortunately -- he's already broken his pledge to the American public, I'm afraid.

[07:20:04] HARLOW: Ana, what do you want to see? I mean, you want this president to succeed. Many Americans have come out behind him and said, you know, wasn't my choice, but I want what's best for the country. What can he do right now?

NAVARRO: I absolutely want him to succeed. This is my country, too. And if he succeeds, the country succeeds. What do I want him to do? I want him to stop playing games and pretending that he doesn't know these hate crimes are going on out there.

And I want him to really, genuinely address his supporters. He did so last night, but he needs to do more. Donald Trump needs to understand that whether he's a racist or not, he pedaled in this for the last 18 months. And he unearthed an ugly underbelly in America. He unleashed feelings of racism, of hostility, of sexism, of division that are now out there.

Some of these folks feel legitimized and empowered by his election. It is up to Donald Trump, who did not invent racism. Let's be very clear about this. This was out there already. But he unleashed it in a way we haven't seen it in decades.

And if he wants to be able to govern this country and unite Americans for his benefit, for all of our benefit. It is up to him to denounce it strongly. He should use the bully pulpit he now has as a president-elect and give a speech on unity, give a speech on racial unity, give a speech on the unity of American values.

HARLOW: For example, there is -- the KKK is planning a rally this week in North Carolina to celebrate his election. He could come out, as you're saying, Ana, and give a speech around that, condemning that. Quickly, Ana, your message to Americans who are afraid right now.

NAVARRO: Don't be afraid. Denounce it. Don't lose hope. Get motivated. Get engaged. Go out there. He's our president. We have to deal with him for the next four years. But that does not mean you lose your right to speak. That does not mean you lose your right to be an American. That does not mean you lose your right to protest. And you are not alone. There are a lot of people in America who will

be watching your back, who will be standing in solidarity with you. So to the people who are legitimately afraid of a Trump presidency, you are not alone.

HARLOW: Ana Navarro, Richard Cohen, thank you very much.

COHEN: Thank you.

HARLOW: Appreciate it.

What is your take? Obviously, a lot of opinions on this. Tweet us at new day. Post your comment on Facebook.com/NewDay -- Chris.

CUOMO: Fear is a choice. Danger can be very real. Donald Trump is opening up about some of his policies, not quite the same as the ones he hiked on the campaign trail. We're going to have a look at the differences and see, are some of them are being better now or are some of them even worse? President-elect Trump, what will he do? Next. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:26:43] HARLOW: Donald Trump revealing two key members of his administration, the president-elect naming RNC chair Reince Priebus as his chief of staff and former Breitbart CEO Steve Bannon as his chief strategist, calling the two men equals. Bannon's appointment into Trump's inner circle raising serious concerns, given his prior work and Breitbart's connection to white nationalism.

Sunlen Serfaty reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SUNLEN SERFATY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Donald Trump elevating Steve Bannon to chief strategist and senior counselor in the White House. Already multiple hate watch groups are now rebuking the appointment, voicing their concerns about Bannon's ties to the alt- right.

Bannon was brought on as CEO of the Trump campaign in august. He came in as the head of the right wing website Breitbart news with a nationalist, populist reputation. Known for controversial headlines like "Bill Kristol: Republican spoiler, renegade Jew" and "Birth control makes women unattractive and crazy."

STEVE BANNON, NEWLY-APPOINTED CHIEF STRATEGIST FOR DONALD TRUMP: What we need to do is bitch-slap the Republican Party and get those guys, you know heeding to -- and if we have to, we'll take it over.

SERFATY: Bannon's longtime mission: to take down the establishment wing of the Republican Party.

BANNON: If you're fighting to take this country back, it's -- you know, it's not going to be sunshine patriots. It's going to be people who want to fight. I mean, Andrew Breitbart was all about the fight. In fact, we call ourselves internally the fight club. BASH: And Bannon's target No. 1 Donald Trump appoints Reince Priebus

as White House chief of staff and Steve Bannon as his chief advisor, setting up a possible power struggle. house speaker Paul Ryan. E- mails obtained by "The Hill" newspaper giving orders to his staff to try to take him down, saying the long game is to have Ryan gone by spring.

Bannon, a former Navy officer and Goldman Sachs banker, also surrounded by controversy in his private life. In 2007, the exec's wife accused him of domestic violence and making anti-Semitic remarks, saying in court, "He doesn't like Jews and that he doesn't like they raise their kids to be whiny brats and that he didn't want the girls going to school with Jews."

But Bannon's camp says he never said it.

TRUMP: I pledge to every citizen of our land that I will be president for all Americans.

SERFATY: Now with Bannon in the White House, critics questioning Trump's inclusive vision.

Sunlen Serfaty, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CUOMO: All right. So for more on what Bannon's appointment means to the Trump administration and to you and how it reflects policies that may be coming, let's bring in Michael Smerconish, CNN political commentator and host of CNN's "SMERCONISH."

Michael, people are dividing this story as "Oh, it's Priebus and Bannon." Reince Priebus. I don't really think Priebus is the story. I mean, he is the NR head. He turned and helped Trump after the primaries. He's a legit guy that you would or would not put in an administration. The story should be Bannon. The story should be a guy like Kovak that he just put in touch with his immigration transition team. How do you see those appointments?

MICHAEL SMERCONISH, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, I see it as a story about both because of the contrary nature of where I think they come from. I can understand how Bannon and Priebus would be able to unite and work toward a common purpose when you had a singular goal of electing Donald Trump.

But now that they're there, I don't know how they can co-exist. As you well know, Chris, it was Reince Priebus who in 2013, came out with the autopsy that he oversaw, which said we need to build the tent.