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Trump Picks Priebus As Chief Of Staff, Bannon As Top Adviser; Trump Softening Positions On Campaign Pledges; What Kind Of President Will Trump Be?; Assessing Trump's Inner Circle. Aired 7:30-8a ET

Aired November 14, 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] MICHAEL SMERCONISH, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: -- came out with the autopsy that --

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: Right.

SMERCONISH: -- that he oversaw, which said we need to build the tent. So, here's a guy who believes in tent-building and expanding. In particular, among the Hispanic population, believes in comprehensive immigration reform, if you want to talk substance. And now comes Steve Bannon who says we've got to burn the house down.

One other observation. It brings full circle the media control of the Republican Party that I've been talking about for years, where traditional party leadership has been supplanted largely by men with microphones.

POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: So do you read then, Michael, the Reince Priebus announcement as all right, I'm going to appease my closest advisers, of the minute, and my family, by the way, and Jared Kushner, my son-in-law, by bringing in Reince Priebus. But I'm really going to bring in the guy that I want to have my ear, that I trust the most to really make the decisions because he called them equals in his press release last night.

SMERCONISH: Poppy, I interpret this in the context of that "60 MINUTES" interview, which you've been playing this morning, which is Donald Trump wanting to show a conciliatory sign. You know, all of a sudden now he's the guy who says well, I want to reform or replace the Affordable Care Act but those with preexisting conditions, those who are part of their parent's plan, somehow we need to protect them.

It's the Donald Trump who says that it's settled law with regard to gay marriage although, as Chris points out, there's a hell of a contradiction there in him not also saying that Roe v. Wade is settled. I mean, I think he's now -- he's now a different individual trying to appease these competing constituencies and how he's going to be able to keep them all on the same team, I don't know.

CUOMO: Well, some of it's different. When you look at the policies, some of it is the same. And I mean that as a pejorative because to hear in that "60 MINUTES" interview -- you know, Stahl wasn't exactly chasing after him on things and we get that. It's his first interview. He just got elected. But for him to say oh, really, there are reports that minorities are being targeted after the election, I'm not aware of that. But, you know, to them I would say stop it. That is not how Donald Trump usually responds to things that he doesn't like.

This idea of him getting a chance, Michael, isn't that a conditional proposition? He won, he deserves a chance depending on what he does about what he's said in the past and what he does going forward, and has he met those conditions?

SMERCONISH: So, I published on this, this weekend and I did a commentary on it on my own program on CNN on Saturday. And what I said is I didn't vote for him but he's my president. You know, he's my president and I'm willing not to forget, but at least to move forward and to hope that he governs in a style that's different from the manner in which he campaigned.

Frankly, I was tracking that which the president said, that which Oprah said, that which Hillary said. I don't have to tell the two of you the blowback was enormous from individuals who said no, the die has already been cast and he's not my president, regardless of what's to follow.

I don't want to see a repeat of what transpired eight years ago when Mitch McConnell famously told Republicans that our single largest focus now was to make Barack Obama a one-term president. I mean, there's a difference between obstructionism and traditional partisanship and I'm trying to differentiate between the two.

HARLOW: But, let's listen to what he said when Lesley Stahl asked him. She said all right, I'm going to dig -- let's dig into the issues. She ticked through a lot of them. She started with the wall.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENT-ELECT: We're rounding them up in a very humane way. We're going to keep (audio gap).

TRUMP RALLYGOERS: Build that wall, build that wall, build that wall.

D. TRUMP: Folks, folks, don't even think about it. It will be built. Don't even think about it. Don't waste your breath. It will be built, believe me. Believe me, it will be built and it will go up fast, and it will be big and it will be high and strong.

LESLEY STAHL, CBS CORRESPONDENT, "60 MINUTES": Are you really going to build a wall?

D. TRUMP: Yes.

STAHL: They're talking about a fence in the Republican Congress.

D. TRUMP: Sure.

STAHL: Would you accept a fence?

D. TRUMP: For certain areas, I would, but for certain areas the wall is more appropriate. I'm very good at this. It's called construction. The fence will be --

STAHL: So, part wall, part fence?

D. TRUMP: Yes, it could be -- you know, there could be some fencing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: So who is the Donald Trump you see now, if we are to take at face value what he said in this "60 MINUTES" interview? He seemed to give on a lot of things. On the wall, on Obamacare, on a deportation force. Is this the Trump -- the president-elect we get for the next four years or does it continue to change?

SMERCONISH: Poppy, they've made me surrender my pundit card. I give up trying to predict what we're going to get from this guy. Here's my hunch. My hunch is that the real Donald Trump is the 2 Corinthians Donald Trump. And by that, I don't mean some bible thumper. I don't mean someone who quotes scripture.

[07:35:00] I mean, to the contrary, it's the individual who at Liberty University made a very awkward reference to the New Testament. I don't think in his heart of hearts he is a true believer ideologue. I think he's a pragmatist, I think he's a compromiser, I think he's a dealmaker. I'd like to think that that's the president we're going to get, one who -- you know, today we're saying how can Priebus coexist with Bannon? Maybe Trump is trying to show us that he's trying to work things out with everybody. I don't know. We're going to find out.

CUOMO: It's not exactly the best recipe for leadership, though, right, Michael? Not everything is equal, you know. It's one thing if you want to work with Democrats and Republicans, but you don't want to work with bigots and non-bigots. You know what I mean? As a leader, you want to come out and say --

SMERCONISH: Well, let me tell you --

CUOMO: -- what's right and what's wrong on those kinds of scores, and that's what people are having a hard time reconciling with this idea of a chance.

SMERCONISH: Let me give you my glass half full response to that, Chris. It could have been different. It could have been Bannon Chief of Staff, no room at the table for Priebus. So, I want to look at it more optimistically until proven otherwise.

HARLOW: All right. Thank you, Michael.

CUOMO: All right. Trump supporters say that the country spoke loud and clear about wanting a businessman in the White House, so how will the billionaire real estate developer manage the Oval Office? We're going to ask two Trump insiders, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARLOW: President-elect Donald Trump's choices for the White House leadership team are providing a lot of insight into what his priorities will be while he's in office, so what does his management style look like and will he expand the small circle of trust that he has around him? Will it be diverse? Will there be women, will there be minorities? A lot of questions.

[07:40:00] Let's bring in Barbara Res who worked for President-elect Trump for 18 years. Also, she's the author of "All Alone On The 68th Floor". And, Trump biographer Michael D'Antonio, author of "The Truth About Trump". Thank you both for being here.

Barbara, you wrote an open letter this week to President-elect Donald Trump, and I should note your relationship with him has been rocky. You've called him a great boss, at times. You've called him the least sexist boss and then very sexist, so you have a wide range of experiences with Donald Trump as a businessman.

Let's read part of your letter. "You have a bunch of losers following you around you. Now you will be selecting a cabinet and you must choose the right people. Show the world that you will only settle for the absolute best. You should have Republicans and Democrats on your staff, and women and people of color. Don't do what the pundits arepredicting."You know the man. You've seen him change over almost two decades. Will he do what you're asking?

BARBARA RES, WORKED FOR TRUMP FOR 18 YEARS: I don't know. I mean, I'm hoping that he will. I'm hoping he'll rise to the occasion. I think he wants to be a good president. I think that he wants the world to see him as a good president. And, unfortunately, he's been surrounded by singletons (ph) for so long that it's different for him to come out and say OK, now I want people that will challenge me and tell me what's right and tell me what's wrong and not agree with everything I say. I'm hoping that he can do that.

HARLOW: I think he saw some of that with Kellyanne Conway, certainly, when she came in and helped sort of right the ship. But, you're right. What will -- what will the rest of his picks look like?

Michael, to you. Really interesting part of the interview last night with "60 MINUTES" was when his daughter, Ivanka Trump, spoke about the Trump brand. Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STAHL: Let me ask whether any of you think that the campaign has hurt the Trump brand.

IVANKA TRUMP, DONALD TRUMP'S DAUGHTER: I don't think it matters. This is so much more important and more serious, and so that -- I -- you know, that's the focus.

D. TRUMP: I think what Ivanka is trying to say is who cares? Who cares? This is big league stuff. This is -- this is our country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: Michael, he then said who cares about hotel occupancy rates. What do you know about and what do you believe has happened to the Trump brand?

MICHAEL D'ANTONIO, DONALD TRUMP BIOGRAPHER: Well, I've seen some pretty good data and it started to fall off the cliff in July. And I'm talking about the responses of people with the money to stay at a Trump hotel or play at a golf course that has green fees of $250 or more. So, it is a problem for them.

HARLOW: But that's when no one thought he was going to be president. Now, he's president.

D'ANTONIO: Well, right, so there's a mixed picture here. It could be that some people are drawn to the name. I think Ivanka's statement was pretty telling. You know, they're so positive in their spin on everything. For her to say it doesn't matter suggests to me that they know that the brand has some problems. It will depend on his performance. They started a new brand called "Scion" hotels, so that's an indicator that they know they can't put Trump on everything.

HARLOW: Really, without the Trump name anywhere. Interesting.

D'ANTONIO: Right, right.

HARLOW: That's very interesting. Barbara, you write in this letter, near the end, you have never voted for a Republican -- you supported Clinton this time around, I should note --

RES: Yes.

HARLOW: -- but you write, I would like to vote for you, Donald Trump, in four years. What would he have to do to make -- to get your vote in four years?

RES: Well, he'd have to do some of the things I suggested in the letter which is, for one thing, surround himself with the best people and lose a lot of these hangers-on that he has. Then I think he's got to come out and adopt a somewhat progressive agenda which is antithetical to what he's been doing but is consistent with the way he was when I knew him. He was pro-choice. He had lots of gay friends and supported them. He certainly hired a lot of women and put them into serious positions with great respect.

HARLOW: Right.

RES: Now, if he does this, I think that he's got a chance of making the country -- improving the country.

HARLOW: I mean, you know, years ago you were a very high-ranking woman in the construction business. There weren't a lot of women in those top spots like you were, so he gave you that shot. Let's get into conflict of interest. I find this absolutely fascinating because there's never been a situation like this before, frankly.

So, he says his kids will run the business but it can't exactly be a blind trust considering they've been named to his transition team. And even if they can't take official roles in the White House they still have their father's ear. At the same time, the way that the law was written, Michael, the president and the vice president are exempt from the law that banned these conflicts of interest. All they have to do is disclose it. So he actually could have a ton of conflicts of interest and not be breaking the law.

D'ANTONIO: Well, and this plays into the way Donald loves to do business. He likes to be the one guy who the rules don't apply to.

HARLOW: Well, they are applying here and that's actually not his fault because that's the way the law was written.

[07:45:00] D'ANTONIO: No, no, and I think what's funny is he's often very lucky that way. He'll stumble into something, see the advantage. Obviously, he didn't plan this. When he ran for president he may not have even been aware of these regulations. And this is where I think we have to worry a bit. These are very much amateurs and this is a man who lived at the top of a tower for most of his adult life. He's isolated from a lot of reality and whether they understand how it looks. It may be legal but it could look awful.

HARLOW: Yes, perception matters a lot, especially when you want to get reelected. And he was elected by sort of the working class -- the blue collar worker who is not going to want to see his hands in both places. He has more than 500 businesses that he's tied to. I mean, you know the man in the tower. Can he separate from his businesses? He says he doesn't care about them anymore, as president. Do you believe that?

RES: No. I think that it's going to be very, very difficult for him to separate out from his businesses because his businesses still bear his name and he doesn't want them to be unsuccessful.

HARLOW: There's a pride there.

RES: Absolutely, there's a tremendous pride. I mean, I would like to see him disavow everything and just be president, and that's what I think he should do. But I think it's going to be very difficult for him.

HARLOW: All right, guys, thank you. Interesting perspective from both of you. Appreciate it -- Chris.

CUOMO: Donald Trump picking one political insider and one political outsider to be his right-hand men at the White House. He says these two men will be equals, so how will that work -- Reince Priebus and Steve Bannon? We're going to run it by a former White House chief of staff and a Bannon supporter, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:50:25] CUOMO: Donald Trump raising concerns with his first major decision since winning the presidency. The President-elect appointing RNC chairman Reince Priebus as chief of staff. That's not the controversial part. It's naming "Breitbart" executive Steve Bannon as his chief strategist.

Let's discuss these decisions with former White House chief of staff under President Obama and Commerce secretary under Bill Clinton, Bill Daley. And, former chief of staff of the RNC under Reince Priebus, Mike Shields. Great guests for this segment. Gentlemen, thanks to you both.

First, Mr. Daley, just give us an idea. What does the chief of staff do in the White House and how much influence could a chief strategist have over that position and over the administration, in general?

BILL DALEY, FORMER WHITE HOUSE CHIEF OF STAFF: Well, I think, first of all, the chief of staff in theory -- and each president is different and approaches it differently based upon their style -- is supposed to be the main coordinator of all of the different pieces, not only in the White House as you interact with the rest of the agencies and, then, Congress.

But presidents have had different styles. If you look at Reagan, he had three, basically, senior -- it was Baker, Meese and Deaver at the beginning, and they kind of shared that senior role. It changed over time. Meese went on to be attorney general, Deaver took a different role. Baker became a very strong chief of staff.

So I think -- right now, I think it very much reflects President-elect Trump's policies and his position. That is, he has two conflicting pieces. I assume Mr. Priebus will be the coordinator of sort of all the engagement with the government. Somebody has to help run those different agencies and deal with the secretaries and the departments, and then as the principal contact to Congress.

Then you have Mr. Bannon who, obviously, helped drive the strategy and the political positioning of Mr. Trump during the election. Very controversial, as you said, but somebody who, obviously, the president-elect has great faith in.

So, there's a conflict for the outside world. I don't think the inside world or the Trump world views this as much of a conflict. I think it's exactly where President-elect Trump is and that is he's got two competing forces that he wants to compete, and that may be a good thing for his presidency. It remains to be seen.

CUOMO: Mike Shields, how do you see it? You know Reince Priebus very well. You know what he's about politically and personally. How does he size up with a Steve Bannon?

MIKE SHIELDS, CNN DELEGATE ANALYST: Well, you know, they worked together as a team on the campaign. I think that's really important to talk about with what Mr. Daley just said in terms of a team aspect of being inside the White House.

I mean, look, the thing to keep in mind -- when Steven Bannon took over the campaign, look where the polls were at that time and then look where they were about four weeks later with his team with Dave Bossie and Kellyanne Conway. They came in and things started getting better. By the end of September Trump was leading in the polls and he -- of course, he ultimately won. And as Paul Ryan said, President- elect Donald Trump turned politics on its head. Well, this is the team that did that. CUOMO: Well --

SHIELDS: And so -- and one of the ways they did it was they worked with the RNC and they recognized that the RNC had built a masterful ground game and data operation, and that was Reince Priebus' part. And they came together as a team and worked together. And so, if you think about it, from President-elect Trump's first decision what he's saying is I had a great team. I don't want to pick and choose, I want to keep everybody. And so, here's a role for the top two people on my team in my administration. I think that's a really good sign for his administration going forward.

CUOMO: Well, help me understand this, Mike. So, Reince Priebus is part of the autopsy report in 2012. A report comes out in 2013 and says we need to build a bigger tent. We have to show that our values translate to you no matter your race, your religion, your economic standing.

Steve Bannon, through "Breitbart", has a very different agenda. They see diversity as a tool of the left and there's a lot of division. And the politics are almost, by definition, antithetical to a big tent. How do you reconcile those two things?

SHIELDS: Well, the way you reconcile them is that both them now work for President-elect Trump and it's going to be his agenda, it's not going to be their previous employer's agendas. It's going to be the agenda of the President of the United States and they're going to come together and work for him and enact his agenda.

And I think they're both on the same team for President-elect Trump so I think we've got to wait and see how that plays out, rather than sort of saying well, "Breitbart" might have posted this or the RNC said that. They don't work for those organizations anymore and they work for President-elect Trump.

CUOMO: Go ahead, Bill, because the difference is "Breitbart" isn't like -- "Breitbart" is not "The New York Times", Mike. It's an agenda machine --

DALEY: No, I know it.

[07:55:00] CUOMO: -- and if it's putting it out, Bannon is behind it. He runs it like it's his own vehicle. Everybody knows that. But make your point, Bill.

DALEY: But much of the campaign, after Mr. Bannon came into the campaign, was very reflective. The aggressiveness on so many issues, the allowing of social media to get a little out of hand. I mean, let's don't forget the fact that --

I concede to having chaired Al Gore's campaign in 2000. I understand the Electoral College rather well. Al got 500,000 more votes than his opponent. And I think Hillary Clinton's somewhere around two million more Americans voted against Donald Trump. He is our president, I get that. But the fact of the matter is you cannot ignore that. But, Mr. Bannon took this campaign and took a certain tact and it worked. I get it, it worked. So, therefore, you can celebrate that.

But the fact is that may be -- that may make -- if that's translated then on a constant basis in Washington fighting not only his opponents but his own expected allies in a very aggressive and sometimes controversial -- very controversial way. And also offending much of America, who may have voted for him and many who didn't for him, and that's the struggle that I think President-elect Trump's going to have to manage. Not an easy task.

CUOMO: Mike?

SHIELDS: You know, but Reince -- I mean, I was just talking to Reince about this. He doesn't see it that way. They worked together on the campaign and, as he would say, Steve was a force for good on the campaign. He made good decisions and he put together the strategy for the campaign, along with his -- with his team.

DALEY: But --

SHIELDS: And Reince worked together with him and --

DALEY: But, Mike, the company is a little different than a campaign.

SHIELDS: Well, that's right.

DALEY: The company is a little different.

SHIELDS: That's right.

DALEY: You're right, it worked -- it worked for the campaign.

SHIELDS: It worked for the President of the United States.

DALEY: Yes, it worked for the campaign, and that sort of style worked for the campaign. But working and governing, and bringing the country together, and accomplishing the things that the President-elect says he wants to, whether he could accomplish them all is another challenge. And then you --

CUOMO: Well, that's the question.

DALEY: -- have a very different challenge.

SHIELDS: Well --

CUOMO: That's the question for you, Mike, is I get style, campaigning, I get it. Both sides do it. You have to figure out how to get there and then once you get there you have to figure out how to do the job. What I'm asking is Reince seemed to have this political philosophy coming out of 2012-13 that you need to be a big tent. You need to unify.

We're seeing what's going on in the streets right now, some of it right, some of it wrong, right? Riots are not protests, they're crimes, but this is a reaction. And the President-elect had said I'm going to unify. It's not what he was saying during the campaign. Bannon may have been effective in teaching him how to divide the country to win the election --

SHIELDS: Well, that's right. The president --

CUOMO: But he's saying he wants to unify now. Can he do that if he has somebody who ideologically believes in division?

SHIELDS: First of all, I recall President-elect Trump saying we should unify during the election -- during the campaign -- and that we are going to bring people together. I think some people didn't believe him but that doesn't mean he wasn't saying it. He was saying that on the campaign trail.

And look, he just hired Reince Priebus as his chief of staff. Reince understands all facets of the party. He's a -- personally, he's a very conservative Republican, himself, but he not only -- the people say he's an insider in Washington. He certainly has relationships on Capitol Hill, which is going to serve President-elect Trump very well.

But he also is very in touch with the grassroots and the conservative elements of the party up and down.He came up through the grassroots. He was a state party chairman before he got elected RNC chairman, so Reince kind of branches across all aspects of the conservative moment. And I think that's why he gets along well with Bannon and the other people in the administration that are going to come along because he's that person that can bring all of them together and hear all those voices and serve the president well.

And I think that that's why -- you know, politics is a team sport. The administration is going to be a team sport and you have to have a lot of voices. And Reince is the perfect person to sit in the middle of that and listen to all those voices.

DALEY: It -- it --

SHIELDS: -- and make sure the agenda is accurate.

DALEY: If I may --

CUOMO: Quick button.

DALEY: I don't believe governing is a sport. I think governing is rather serious. We all enjoy sports, but that's entertainment. This is not entertainment. This is governing 300 million people and being the leader of the free world and having a government that reflects that.

CUOMO: Yes, point taken. Bill Daley, Mike Shields, thank you very much. We'll -- and again, a lot of this is we will see, but Bannon being put in there is something to see and be skeptical of. Gentlemen, thank you very much.

There is a lot of news. Let's get right to it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. PAUL RYAN (R-WI), HOUSE SPEAKER: I trust Donald's judgment. CUOMO: Fears pushback against one of Donald Trump's first White House hires.

SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (I), VERMONT: We will not accept racism, sexism, or xenophobia.

TRUMP: Don't be afraid. We are going to bring our country back.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Obamacare is failing.

TRUMP: It will be repealed and replaced.

RUDY GIULIANI, FORMER MAYOR OF NEW YORK CITY: We don't want to disrupt the nation with what might look like a vindictive prosecution.

TRUMP: She did some bad things. I don't want to hurt them. They're good people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

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

CUOMO: Good people. You didn't hear a lot of that during the campaign, that's for sure.

HARLOW: You did not.

CUOMO: All right. Good morning, welcome to your NEW DAY. It's Monday, November 14th, 8:00 in the East. Alisyn is off, Poppy is in. It's good to have you with us.

HARLOW: It's good to be here.

CUOMO: President-elect Trump making his first official hires. His two top advisers in place, at least nominally.