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Source: Trump Transition A "Knife Fight;" President Obama Begins Final Foreign Trip In Greece; Trump Appoints Steve Bannon As Chief Strategist; Aleppo Residents Warned By Text Message To Leave; Trump Considering Woman, Openly Gay Man For Leadership Roles. Aired 7- 7:30aET

Aired November 15, 2016 - 07:00   ET

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

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[07:00:08] SUNLEN SERFATY, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The battle for appointments to President-elect Donald Trump's cabinet being called a "knife fight" and "buffoonery," according to sources within his transition team. With potential picks for West Wing and key national security posts drawing sharp internal disagreements.

KELLYANNE CONWAY, TRUMP CAMPAIGN MANAGER: I think you'll hear some of the additional appointments.

SERFATY: But today, inside Trump Tower, Trump and Vice President- elect Mike Pence are hunkering down reviewing a list of contenders. The positions to possibly be nailed down as early today include secretaries of state, education, commerce, and treasury.

GLENN BECK, CONSERVATIVE RADIO SHOW HOST: He's a nightmare. And he's the chief adviser to the president of the United States now.

SERFATY: This as the appointment of Steve Bannon as Trump's chief strategist continues to draw sharp rebuke, critics citing his close ties to the alt-right movement, known for white nationalism and anti- semitism.

CONWAY: And I worked very closely with Steve Bannon. He's been the general of this campaign. And frankly, people should look at the full resume. I'm personally offended that you think I would manage a campaign where that would be one of the going philosophies. It was not.

SERFATY: And new concerns over conflict of interest are emerging with Trump considering seeking top security clearance for his adult children and son-in-law according to a transition team source.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We'll be in New York and we'll take care of the business.

SERFATY: No paperwork has been filed but the children could have access to secure communications technology, travel schedules, and secret service procedures.

Meanwhile, Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin speaking by phone, the two men discussing the need for joint efforts in the fight against common enemy number one, international terrorism and extremism. All these as deep domestic divisions remain, anti-Trump demonstrators protesting across the country for the sixth straight day.

UNIDENTIFED SPEAKERS: We reject the president-elect.

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SERFATY: And a Trump transition adviser says it is possible that there could be some cabinet level appointments coming out today once these final picks have been made. But clear today, Chris, as Trump huddles with Mike Pence that no final, final decisions yet to be.

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: All right, Sunlen, thank you very much. Appreciate it.

So, we have what's going in Trump world, and then we have what's going on in Obama world. President Obama taking to the world, maybe on a trip to kind of calm concerns about what just happened in the American election. He's going to Germany. He's going to Peru. And he's going to be looking to reassure American allies, we're told, they're maybe a little rattled by what a Trump administration could mean.

We have CNN's Michelle Kosinski traveling with the President, live in Athens, Greece, the first stop. How's it going?

MICHELLE KOSINSKI, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: It's going well so far. The President just arrived. But yeah, use the word rattled, that's how President Obama described many times over the last year world leaders at the prospect of a Trump presidency. So, a big chunk of his dealings with them has been to reassure them that U.S. policies and relationships would be well.

Well now, a much different horizon as President Obama's sun sets and we're hearing from him for the first time post-election.

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KOSINSKI: President Obama touches down on his final foreign trip in Athens. But first at home while the incoming Trump team feverishly prepares to run America, the outgoing president addressed the press and world after what he didn't think could happen did.

BARACK OBAMA, U.S. PRESIDENT: And that's why ensuring a smooth transition is so important. It's not something that the constitution explicitly requires, but it is one of those norms that are vital to a functioning democracy.

KOSINSKI: That sounded like both reassurance as well as a dig, almost a warning, as he's asked point-blank, are you concerned about a Trump presidency.

OBAMA: He is coming to this office with fewer set hard and fast policy prescriptions than a lot of other presidents might be arriving with. I don't think he is ideological. I think ultimately is he's pragmatic in that way. And that can serve him well.

Do I have concerns? Absolutely. Of course I've got concerns. You know, one of the things I advised him to do was to make sure that before he commits to certain courses of action, he's really dug in and thought through how various issues play themselves out.

KOSINSKI: He said in his meeting with the president-elect last week, Donald Trump did express a commitment to NATO despite his rhetoric on the trail, and is now rethinking what parts of Obamacare he might preserve.

OBAMA: I think it's important for us to let him make his decisions, and I think the American people will judge.

KOSINSKI: Wanting to put some optimism there even as a still shell- shocked party picks up the pieces. The President saying reflection will be healthy for Democrats and for Donald Trump.

[07:05:10] OBAMA: There are going to be certain elements of his temperament that will not serve him well unless he recognizes them and corrects them. And if things get worse, then the American people will figure that out pretty quick. And if things get better, then more power to him. And I'll be the first to congratulate him.

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KOSINSKI: And President Obama clearly wanted to get his point across here. I mean he said that campaigning is not governing, that sound bites are not policies. He did say he believes that Donald Trump is sincere in wanting to make America better, but he needs to reach out to certain groups like minorities and women. Chris?

CUOMO: All right, Michelle Kosinski, enjoy the trip. Thank you very much.

Let's discuss the latest on Trump's transition at the White House with CNN Political Analyst and "New York Times" Correspondent Patrick Healy and CNN Political Analyst David Gregory.

Brother Healy, what are you hearing from your sources about what this dynamic is and is not within Trump-dom?

PATRICK HEALY, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Right, Trump sources tell me they want to end the "knife fight" story very quickly, that there are tensions inside, you know, the emerging power centers, not only within the campaign, but tensions around secretary of state, attorney general, who else is coming into the White House? And now they have this extra level of questions about the kids and sort of the security clearances.

What they have made very clear to me is that Donald Trump spent almost a year bashing Hillary Clinton about her handling of classified material and who saw that classified material, whether it was her daughter Chelsea, whether it was Huma Abedin, Jake Sullivan, how they handled it. He does not want to face any kind of a situation where he is talking to Ivanka Trump, who is one of his closest advisers, and questions come up from Congress, should you have been sharing that information with Ivanka Trump? So they're trying to tighten things up. They don't like where things have gotten in terms of story lines about, you know, about these pressures.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: So David, why would the kids need security clearance? I mean, what Patrick is saying is he'll be talking to them a lot about policies. Is that going to be their role in the White House?

DAVID GREGORY, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Look, it could be. I mean, these are two, in Kushner and Ivanka, they have been very closed advisers. I think they've been to the president-elect a kind of voice of reason, a reality check on him, people that he trusts very much. So they played an increasingly important role. There's nothing usual or orthodox about how Trump has gone about his organization and his team of advisers.

So, I think at this juncture, as much as there's talk about separating what they do and having them focus on the business, I think he wants them to be close and advise him as he -- because I think what Pat is getting at too, what's very important for this team right now is that they don't come off as disorganized. And there's every reason that can happen, both because of the cultural fights within this inner circle and then applying that to a new role, which is to organize the government, something he doesn't have experience doing.

CUOMO: Well, the relevant question about this infighting is that there's always infighting in these kinds of things.

HEALY: Right,

CUOMO: Are you picking up anything that is unique to this dynamic that should be of concern?

HEALY: What they keep pushing back is that this isn't that unusual. You have a guy who's never been in politics. It's the first president really since Eisenhower who hasn't had any kind of direct government experience, held public office before. And you're in uncharted territory. This is a guy who doesn't necessarily have a kitchen cabinet of executives or fellow politicians who've been through security clearances before.

He has his children. He relies on his children. He wants the children to take over the companies. He wants them advising on who smart hires are. He wants to be able to spit ball ideas like he has for years with them.

So, I think the tensions, also though the personalities. I mean, you too know Rudy Giuliani sort of, you know, extremely well. I mean, he's someone who was solid behind Donald Trump, who President-elect Trump came to really rely on, you know. And during the years, even when Giuliani was mayor of New York, I think Trump had a lot of respect for how he didn't put up with, you know, much guff and, you know, he liked that. So, I think you're seeing people around Giuliani who are, you know, who are sort of pushing for an announcement of some kind. CAMEROTA: Right, so now there's talk -- hold on David, I want to play this for you because there's talk that Rudy Giuliani wants secretary of state or that he will become secretary of state, but the other name in contention is former Ambassador John Bolton. So Rudy Giuliani was at an event last night and he was asked about this. Let me play this for you.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: John would be a very good choice.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is there anybody better?

RUDY GIULIANI, (R) FORMER NYC MAYOR: Maybe me, I don't know.

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CAMEROTA: OK, he's being coy, sort of, there. What do you think is going to happen?

[07:10:00] GREGORY: Well, look, I think that Trump values loyalty above all else. Rudy Giuliani has been a scrapper for him, a street fighter for him. If he then wants to turn out to be the chief diplomat it might make you scratch your head a little bit. But if you go back over Giuliani's career post 9/11, it makes more sense. This was someone who really developed a voice in national security and foreign policy as a result of 9/11 and I think he wants to bring that to bear. He's talked about the top priority being fighting ISIS.

So, I would look for Giuliani to play that role. If he doesn't want attorney general, I would have thought that would be something he wanted more.

And I think too, this other point about divisions, I think it's important to look at some recent history. You know, the Bush team didn't have any ideological divisions in their team, huge divisions with regard to national security as that progressed post 9/11. You think about the Obama White House, there was a pragmatic streak. And then you had David Axelrod, who was more the keeper of the plane, the flame, rather, in terms of progressive ideology.

Here you have a much bigger schism within the Republican ranks, an establishment vision in a Reince Priebus and then a guy like Steve Bannon who is very much the strident, populist, controversial for things at Breitbart that he said and published. That creates a lot of anxiety here.

CUOMA: How much are you hearing, Patrick, about negative reaction to Bannon within the ranks there as they tried to expand the tent of getting in talent to work the government?

HEALY: Right, 9/11 negative reaction, at least within that camp. I mean, they've known Steve Bannon for months. They knew that the Breitbart attacks, you know, were going to come. The feeling is that they think that they've done an effective job separating Bannon from Breitbart, as hard as that seems to, sort of saying, OK, you know, Breitbart has published a lot of columns, a lot of stories, provocative headlines so does "The New York Post," so does Fox News, you know, again, making sort of explanations. But they feel like they're OK in the place they are, where there isn't a lot of tape coming out of Steve Bannon's mouth, you know, comments that can be sort of hung around his neck. They think they're going to get through this.

CAMEROTA: OK, guys, thanks very much for all of the insight. We're going to talk about it more up next because these transition tensions, there are internal disagreements over who will be in Trump's cabinet. What exactly is going on in the war room? We have a member of the Trump transition team who will take us inside. Next.

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[07:16:24] CUOMO: So, as President-elect Donald Trump looks to finalize his cabinet, sources inside his transition team describe a "knife fight" unfolding between traditional mainstream conservatives and the non establishment outsiders who supported his campaign.

Joining us now is someone who is on the inside, congresswoman from Tennessee, member of President-elect Donald Trump's transition team executive committee, Marsha Blackburn, known to be very good with a knife.

No. You want to dispel this notion, I am sure. Tell us why you don't believe there's any knife fight going on within the transition?

MARSHA BLACKBURN, (R) TENNESSEE REPRESENTATIVE: Well, because there is not. And Chris, I think it's so important to realize this new transition team and new prospective administration has been in place now for not even a week we are one week past the election. They're in the process of everything standing up, and there are going to be wonderful, robust conversations about the type of people and the type of skill sets that are needed at different departments in order to get these departments functioning and working and right sizing again. And those are going to be priorities.

And what you want to do is match the skill set to the needs of the department. That means you need to have individuals that are good at analysis and defining problems. You need to have individuals that are good at execution and they're change agents. And then you're going to need those that can maintain the existing. But I think it is a little over the top, and just like some the prognosticating was a little over at the top, to say there's any type of knife fight going on.

CUOMO: All errors are not equal. If we held you guys to that standard, you'd never be right about anything in Washington, D.C. now would you, Congresswoman?

BLACKBURN: I would take issue with that one. I would take issue with that one.

CUOMO: I'm sure you would as I take issue with ...

BLACKBURN: Yeah, I have always told my constituents, you may not always agree with me, but you're going to know where I stand.

CUOMO: Well, that's true. But you try to get things right and when you don't, you don't and you move on and try and do better the next time. That's what the transitions are.

BLACKBURN: And you admit it and you make it right.

CUOMO: How do you make it right?

BLACKBURN: And so the transition ...

CUOMO: How do you make a false prediction in a poll right afterwards? Do you adjust your polls? What would you do afterwards?

BLACKBURN: I think that you all, with the predictions that you got wrong, you need to say we were wrong on that and now we're going to do our part to inform the American people. Instead of spending air time talking about disagreement, what if we talk about how many people are in a president's cabinet, the number of federal agencies that are out there, what those agencies do.

And, you know, Chris, one of the most fruitful things that we participated in this fall was on constitution day, doing Goggle hangouts with our high schools and doing the education on the constitution and the responsibility of the American voter to the constitution and to the union of these 50 states. And I would love to see that type of activity coming from you all.

Donald Trump is going to have a very successful administration. Donald Trump and his team are going about putting this administration together the right way. They're assessing the situation, defining the problems, getting the right person in the right queue. And that's what you want to do as you build an organization. Successful organizations are built and they are handled by having the right person doing the right job so that they can be successful, thereby the country.

[07:20:17]CUOMO: All right, so let me ask you about who's the right people? Rudy Giuliani, there was some talk about maybe he'd be attorney general. Now, says he's not going to be the attorney general. Can you think of a better choice than Rudy Giuliani for secretary of state?

BLACKBURN: That is going to be Mr. Trump's decision. There are some very well-qualified people who have stepped up to lend their name for consideration for various positions. I think it is fabulous that we're hearing from former members of the House and the Senate and former administrations who think that and want to be considered and see if their skill set is right for solving these problems. And that is a credit to Mr. Trump and the way he carried forth this campaign and the way he and his team are entering into this transition.

CUOMO: Right, it's certainly the president's choice. No question about it. You said you always tell your constituents, you may not like my decisions, but you always know where I stand. I'm asking you, can you think of somebody who's better than Rudy Giuliani? BLACKBURN: I think that there are several people who are equally qualified and would do a great job. Rudy Giuliani would send a powerful message and would do a wonderful job either as secretary of state or whatever position he chose to take or whatever advice he gives. He's very thorough. He is very measured. He is very collected as he makes a decision. He does a good job of going through those steps I just articulated, defining those problems and deciding what is going to be the best way to address them.

Rudy Giuliani also understands that you lead people, you manage assets. And there is a different as you go about building relationships around the globe and within the country in order to help lead this nation. And that is a very important understanding for individuals to have.

CUOMO: Representative Marsha Blackburn, thank you very much for giving us perspective from inside the transition. Appreciate it.

BLACKBURN: Always good to be with you. Thank you so much, Chris. Have a great day.

CUOMO: You too. Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: Well, more Trump cabinet choices could be revealed today. Will there be any diversity? We're going to take a closer look at that. Next.

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[07:26:26] CUOMO: A truly ominous warning for the people of Aleppo. They just got a mass text message telling them to prepare for their city to be bombed and to evacuate. The text also includes a threat against rebel forces telling them, "Put your weapons down or be killed." The message likely sent by the Syrian government, since it is the only entity in the country capable of sending that kind of text.

CAMEROTA: A jury convicting Justin Ross Harris of murder, this is in the death of his 22-month-old son Cooper. If you remember the child was locked inside a hot car for seven hours. Prosecutors say Harris had sent explicit text messages to several women that same day and wanted to free himself of family commitments.

Georgia jury convicted Harris on all counts following this five-week trial. He faces a sentence of life without parole. Harris' attorneys say they will appeal.

CUOMO: Violence erupting at an anti-Trump protest at Ohio State University. Here take a look, this guy in a striped red shirt comes down, calls the protester an idiot, and then pushes him in the back, knocks him down a flight of stairs. Ohio State Police quickly intervened, taking the supporter of Trump into custody. This is another example of what can't stop soon enough, ugly incidents from pro and anti-Trump supporters.

CAMEROTA: You know, people are still so angry, and you just keep seeing these outbursts.

CUOMO: You can be angry. You can't be violent. There's big difference.

CAMEROTA: Great point. President-elect Donald Trump facing a great deal of criticism over his appointment of Steve Bannon as chief strategist. That was an appointment praised by white supremacist.

So what will his other appointments look like? Let's bring in CNN political commentator and former national press secretary for Bernie Sanders, Symone Sanders, and senior editor for "The Federalist," Mollie Hemingway.

Ladies, thanks so much for being here. So, Mollie let me start with you. From the names that have been floated so far for secretary of state, attorney general, for secretary of defense, for deputy chiefs of staff, are you OK -- are you comfortable with the number of women names that have been floated?

MOLLIE HEMINGWAY, SENIOR EDITOR, THE FEDERALIST: I imagine that Donald Trump is looking to fill his cabinet with people who will advance his agenda. So for if we're speculating about the sex or sexual orientation or race of the make up of that cabinet, to me that's much less interesting than the actual views of the people that he's considering. So if you take someone like Richard Grenell, who is being considered for a U.N. post and, you know, it would be more interesting to talk about his foreign policy views ...

CAMEROTA: Sure.

HEMINGWAY: ... what he thinks about America's posture globally ...

CAMEROTA: Yeah.

HEMINGWAY: ... and the fact he worked for President Bush and also worked for Mitt Romney, suggesting some kind of continuation. To me, those are much more interesting questions than who he sleeps with.

CAMEROTA: Got you. So you want to get to the substance of it. And what I hear you saying is that you would be comfortable if he had an all white, all male cabinet.

HEMINGWAY: I think what people need to realize is this kind of focus -- I mean, we don't know who his cabinet will be. We don't know the names of the people. We don't know the ...

CAMEROTA: Well, hold on a second. Hold on, Mollie. We do know the names that are floated. I mean, and this is coming out. These are from insiders. So let me throw up, for instance, the deputy chiefs of staff, Kellyanne Conway, one woman, David Bossie, Reince Priebus, we don't know where he is gone for, Jared Kushner. Oh, he'll pick there, you see. But, so far in terms of attorney general, secretary of state, secretary of defense, no women's names and all I'm asking is are you comfortable with that?

HEMINGWAY: We're, again, speculating on the make up of the cabinet. We don't actually know who those names are. But I think most Americans actually care about particularly with a person like Donald Trump. They care far more about his agenda than this type of distraction.

CAMEROTA: OK. So you are comfortable with it. I mean, can I just conclude that. You're comfortable, if he had an all-male cabinet, you would be comfortable, hypothetical.

HEMINGWAY: All I care about is who he puts in and who will be advancing his agenda and what we can learn from that. That is, I think, that it's almost silly to think that -- I mean, and he -- and also it's silly because we know form the make up of the names that have been floated that are already there are people being ...