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Hate Crimes on the Rise after Election; Trump Picks Pompeo for CIA Director; 55-Year-Old Makes College Football History. Aired 8:30- 9a ET

Aired November 21, 2016 - 08:30   ET

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

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[08:31:27] (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The next thing I know, I have hands around my neck, I'm being choked. Then another gentleman comes over, he shoves me up against the wall.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: All right, that was Corey Cataldo (ph). He's a Trump supporter who says he was attacked on the New York City subway for expressing his support for the president-elect. This is just one of many violent and hateful incidents on both sides that have been reported since the election.

This car right here belongs to a transgender woman in Denver. Amber Timmons (ph) says she was on her way to work when she noticed the swastika symbol and the words "Trump" and "die" spray painted on her vehicle.

The Southern Poverty Law Center has counted more than 700 cases of hate crimes and harassment since Election Day.

Joining us now to discuss this is our all-star panel. We have CNN political commentators Ana Navarro and Marc Lamont Hill. Also with us is Haroon Moghul. He's the director of development at the Center of Global Policy.

Great to see all of you this morning.

MARC LAMONT HILL, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Good to be here.

CAMEROTA: So, as we've said, there have been these hateful incidents on both sides of the aisle, but many more against minorities, Muslims, people of color, than there have been against Trump supporters. But there have been - been violence against Trump supporters. What are we to make of all of this, Marc?

HILL: That the Trump presidency is ushering a new tone for the United States. Not to say the United States was perfect before and that there weren't anti-gay, anti-Muslim sentiments before, but people seem emboldened by the ascendance of Donald Trump and people seem to be much more explicit about it. You know, I - I would suspect that the anger against Trump supporters will pass, all right. People won't see you voted for Trump anger, you know, three weeks from now, but the anger against Muslims and the anger against other people seems to be ratcheted up. And his appointments seem to be making that even more normalized.

CAMEROTA: I mean how do you know that people won't be angry at Trump supporters three weeks from now? People are so - the people who don't support Donald Trump are just still - you know, they can't understand what happened. They are angry at people who voted for Trump. Donald Trump, on "60 Minutes," as you know, Haroon said, stop it. What would you like to hear the president say about these things?

HAROON MOGHUL, SR. FELLOW & DIR. OF DEVELOPMENT, CENTER ON GLOBAL POLICY: It's not just what I'd like to hear, it's what I'd like to see him do. Everyone he's picked so far for his, you know, for his incoming administration, almost all of them are anti-Muslim bigots. In some way, shape or form, they've used language that's extremely severe and extremely dangerous, right? Mike Flynn says pure Islam is rational. You've got him calling Islam a cancer. You've got folks who believe that Islam is not a religion, it's a political ideology, so we don't get constitutional protection, right, if we're not a belief system. So it's not just what I'd like to hear from him, although I don't have much hope of anything positive coming from there, but also seeing an administration that actually reflects the diversity of America.

HILL: Right.

CAMEROTA: Reince Priebus, Ana, was on one of the Sunday shows yesterday, and he was asked about the possibility of a Muslim registry, which is what Donald Trump had talked about at some times during the campaign. Let me play for you his response.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE, NBC: Can you equivocally rule out a registry for Muslims?

REINCE PRIEBUS, RNC CHAIRMAN: Look, I'm not going to rule out anything. But - but I wouldn't - we're not going to have a registry based on a religion. But what I think we're - what we're trying to do is say that there are some people, certainly not all people, Chuck, there are some people that are radicalized and there are some people that have to be prevented from coming into this country. If you want to come from a place or an area around the world that harbors and trains terrorists, we have to temporarily suspend that operation until a better vetting system is put in place.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK.

PRIEBUS: There are some aspects of that faith that are problematic, and we know them, we've seen it. But it certainly isn't a blanket for all people of that faith.

(END VIDEO CLIP) CAMEROTA: All right, so, Ana, do you understand where he stands given that he says we can't rule out anything, but we're not going to have a registry based on religion.

[08:35:08] ANA NAVARRO, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I think don't think Reince pretty much knows where he stands. I think I know where Reince would like to stand. Reince Priebus is a very good guy. He's a decent guy. He's inclusive. I am glad he's there next to Trump because I'm glad there's a cooler head, there's a voice of inclusion, there's somebody that works across the aisle, that somebody that - a bridge builder that's going to be next to Trump given that he's also chosen to surround himself by some folks that are just plain flame throwers and really inflame and provoke fear among so many Americans. I think Reince is trying to figure it out. But what I do hope is that when he is next to the president-elect, when he is next to the president, he uses his voice and his platform and his access to forcefully argue against this. And I hope he prevails, not the other voice.

CAMEROTA: Marc, what's the answer here to stop this sort of tone, as you describe it?

HILL: Resistance. We need to resist at every level. We need to take to the streets, as people have been doing. We need to challenge our members of Congress to be bold and strong. When Donald - when Barack Obama entered the presidency in 2008, there were blue dog Democrats that were resisting some of his policies because they were worried about what would happen with their bases. We have to empress - we have to put that same amount of pressure on our members of Congress. We have to take to the streets and we need a very public narrative for Democrats and Republicans who oppose his policy.

CAMEROTA: Take to the streets peacefully march is what you're suggesting?

HILL: I'm saying they should resist.

CAMEROTA: And what does that look like?

HILL: It looks like a lot of things. Sometimes it's peacefully marching. Sometimes it's other forms of disobedience. I don't want to - I don't want to prescribe one thing, but we have to do whatever we have to do that is ethical and humane in order to win.

CAMEROTA: And violence free, obviously?

HILL: Yes.

CAMEROTA: Haroono, what do you think? I mean is that the answer because right now Republicans will control in January the House, the Senate, the White House, and everyone believes that Donald Trump will be able to install people that he wants on the Supreme Court. So that leaves people who are feeling disenfranchised pretty disenfranchised.

MOGHUL: Yes, people do feel disenfranchised. But one thing I would note is that Clinton won the popular vote. She was not the most popular candidate and she still won the popular vote. I think there's a lot of anger. There's a mood, I think as Marc is saying correctly, a resistance, and that's exactly accurate because wherever he moves first, he has to be stopped, blocked, checked, right, because otherwise it keeps going. And how do you ask someone in your coalition to make a compromise on these core values, right, marriage equality, reproductive rights, on immigration, on a Muslim registry, right, on civil rights, on human rights. There's no place where you can compromise with this man's agenda because it's fundamentally dangerous to the idea of democracy. That's not a Republican position, that's not a Democratic position, this is about the idea of a liberal society where all people's rights are respected.

CAMEROTA: Ana, what do you think the answer is?

NAVARRO: Look, I do think that people have the right to protest. I also think the media has a duty to scrutinize the records of these people that are getting appointed. But I also call on Republicans in Congress, Republicans in the Senate, in particular, to be very vigilant, and to be very strong in their scrutiny and their questions that they ask. Republicans are going to control the confirmation hearings. People like Steve Bannon, like Michael Flynn, there are no confirmation hearings. They are White House staff. But certainly Jeff Sessions, despite the - you know, the fact that he's been a Senate colleague, there is so much concern in the country about Jeff Sessions and his attitude towards African-Americans, his attitude and actions towards Hispanic Latinos. I know that. I'm going to be picking up the phone and I'm going to be calling my Republican senator and friend, Marco Rubio, and telling him how concerned I am about Jeff Sessions having said in 2006 that Dominicans didn't have any skills to be bringing to this country. There's way to many Dominicans buried in every military hospital (ph) of the United States for him to get away with saying that.

MOGHUL: Absolutely.

NAVARRO: If Ana Navarro calling you on the phone doesn't get your attention, I don't know what will.

Panel, thank you very much. Great to talk to you guys.

What's your take on all of this? You can tweet us @newday or post your comment on facebook.com/newday.

Chris.

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: All right, so Kansas congressman - say that five times - Mike Pompeo is the president-elect's pick for CIA director. Pluses, minuses, we're going to scrutinize this choice with one of his colleagues, Congressman Peter King, next.

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[08:43:10] CUOMO: The parade of possible will continue. More high level meetings for President-elect Donald Trump today, this effort of making an interesting pageant of the formation of his cabinet and senior White House staff. He has already announced a couple of picks in key positions. You've got Republican Congressman Mike Pompeo for CIA director. You've got Jeff Sessions as attorney general.

Joining us now is Republican congressman from New York and member of the Homeland Security Committee, Representative Peter King.

Congressman, good to see you. Happy Thanksgiving in advance.

REP. PETER KING (R), NEW YORK: You, too, Chris, you and your family. Thank you.

CUOMO: So let us scrutinize a couple of these picks. Mike Pompeo, you can talk about his pluses all day long. The concerns are basically that he could be a return to a more invasive past. That wiretapping is good. Different torture techniques and waterboarding are good and effective. Do you believe he embraces these types of behaviors?

KING: I believe that Mike Pompeo represents more realistic approaches. I think this president has been too politically correct. And I think what Mike Pompeo is saying, we were up against an existential enemy and we have to use certain resources we may not have used in the past. Like you say, wiretapping. There's nothing illegal about any type of surveillance that Mike Pompeo is talking about. The NSA is essential. FISA (ph) is essential. All those essential weapons to use against ISIS, against al Qaeda, against Islamic terrorism. And as far as we're going back to Guantanamo, that's really an old story right now, but waterboarding was used against three people and it was very effective. I supported waterboarding. I support it today. It's not torture. I don't consider it torture at all. It was used in three cases and it was very effective.

[08:45:00] CUOMO: But the finding was that it is torture and a lot of the intel people said it wasn't effective. It was only effective as a recruiting tool for your enemies because they were telling people you were doing it. Why make this part of his (INAUDIBLE)?

KING: Well, I would disagree with that. I would disagree with that. I mean people like Michael Hayden, who was a very respected director of the CIA who supported it.

No, listen, Mike - people bringing this up from statements that Mike Pompeo made.

CUOMO: Right.

KING: You asked me about it. I wouldn't have brought up waterboarding. But, you know, Mike Pompeo, in the past, has made statements, which I agree with by the way, but I also, having worked with him, he's one of the smartest, most intelligence people I've met, first in his class at West Point, graduate of Harvard Law School, an absolutely dedicated guy. He will be an outstanding CIA director.

CUOMO: And one more beat on the surveillance. The American people seemed fairly unified for us in our understanding collectively that we wanted less of that. We wanted the authorities to have to have a reason not just to surveil American opportunities looking for something there, that they should have something they're looking for specifically before they do it. Pompeo seems more (INAUDIBLE). KING: But they didn't do that, Chris. They never did that. No, they never did that. They never had open surveillance. What they did was, they would intercept - or they would track -- like the NSA didn't intercept anything. They would track phone calls made from terrorists overseas to Americans in this country. Then they would go to court. They'd have the Justice Department go to court to get a court order to carry out surveillance. The same which is done against organized crime, against drug pushers, against child pornographers, then that's all that was done. So much of this was exaggerated, overblown. There's not one instance yet of the NSA violating anyone's civil rights.

CUOMO: Can he work with both sides?

KING: Yes, Mike - I've seen that on the Intelligence Committee. And, again, I'm not trying to make this confrontational because I've seen Mike Pompeo and if you talk to Democrats on the Intelligence Committee who obviously would have some disagreements with some of his policy positions. That's what election is about. I don't think anyone would question his integrity or his intelligence. He's really a good guy. This is not a confrontational guy. He has strong views, but he's - he's going to do an excellent job as CIA director.

CUOMO: Jeff Sessions, you know him less well, but there are concerns about him because of what got him denied for a federal judgeship back in the '80s, comments about the NAACP, comments about the KKK, active disagreement with aspects of the Voting Rights Act up until present day. Do you believe that these are legitimate concerns for his confirmation?

KING: Well, I know Jeff Sessions to talk to him. I find him to be a very decent guy, a very honorable guy. I talked to senators on both sides who have a lot of respect for him. You know, you can always take a comment that somebody made 35 or 40 years ago.

You know, I grew up in Queens and I think of all ethnic remarks that were made in that time 40, 50 years ago and if they were used against someone today, it's different context, different times.

You know, look at his record. It's been, as far as I can tell, there's been no racism or bias whatsoever. And as far as let's say disagreeing with parts of the Voting Rights Act, those, to me, you can have legitimate debates over that as to how long certain aspects of that action stay in place, how long it should apply to certain states. That doesn't mean you're against voting rights. That, to me, is part of an honest debate. You may disagree with it, but I don't see any element of Jeff Sessions - of any racism at all in his record the entire time he's been in public life. And if a person comes from part of the country, which has had, obviously, racial issues in the past, and all they could come up with is one or two comments he may have made or may not have made 40, 45 years ago, to me let's look at the entire package. I mean I can find people in public life on all sides if you held them to every remark that was ever made and especially even, you know, the remark about the KKK. That, to me, was obviously a putdown of the KKK. It was - it was a joke and in no way was that endorsing it. And to take that seriously, I mean that's the type of thing that could probably said on "Saturday Night Live" every week and people would think it was great humor.

CUOMO: Well, it's one thing when it's a comic saying it. It's another one when it's a member of Congress, but point noted.

Congressman Peter King, again, the best to you and your family for Thanksgiving.

KING: Thank you, Chris.

CUOMO: Anybody from Queens is always welcome on this show.

KING: There you go. There you go, Chris. Thank you.

CUOMO: Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: How about Jersey people?

CUOMO: No.

CAMEROTA: Yes.

College football fans were treated to a first over the weekend, the oldest player ever to hit the gridiron. SO what pushed Joe Thomas Senior to hit the field? We're going to ask him, next.

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[08:53:02] CUOMO: Hey, did you see the South Carolina State football game?

CAMEROTA: No, I didn't.

CUOMO: Oh, we've got some video of it right here.

CAMEROTA: Let me see.

CUOMO: Look at this. This is a nice play. A little counter play. Step one way. Oh, nice.

CAMEROTA: What makes this special, Chris?

CUOMO: Don't you wish you could do that? No, right, they're too young, they're too strong. That guy who just ran the ball, the number on him is 42, should be 55. You know why? That's his age! That's Joe Thomas. He may be the oldest man to ever play Division I ball starting out and he is doing it great. His son, Joe Thomas Jr., is a linebacker on the Packers. But here is the real deal, the senior member of the family, with us right now.

Joe Thomas, how did it feel for you to get that ball on your belly once again, just like in high school, and take to the line at our age?

JOE THOMAS SR., 55-YEAR-OLD FOOTBALL PLAYER: Well, it felt good and I was very excited. A little nervous at first. But once I touched the ball, I (INAUDIBLE) fell back to the old high school days.

CAMEROTA: And, Joe, you always wanted to play -

THOMAS: It brought back memories.

CAMEROTA: College football right? So what took you so long?

THOMAS: Well, growing up young, obviously (INAUDIBLE) had a speech impediment and I was a little scared to go to college at the time. As I got older, I felt I needed to do it, at least try it. So I go my nerves up.

CUOMO: So you built up more than your nerve.

THOMAS: So I walked up -

CUOMO: I'm looking at your arms and your legs right now. How have you managed to stay in such amazing shape? Joe was telling us before we came to the segment that he could beat his son, who's a professional football player in a race when he was already 50 he was still beating him. What is it that you do that gives you this strength and vitality at 55 years of age?

THOMAS: I just always believe in taking care of myself and eat healthy and working out.

CUOMO: That's it?

THOMAS: Stretching a lot. It's all about staying flexible.

CUOMO: Flexible.

THOMAS: You always want to stay flexible. Yes, ma'am. Yes, sir.

[08:55:03] CAMEROTA: So, so, working out and eating right works?

CUOMO: Flexibility, I think, is part of it, too.

CAMEROTA: Joe, so, listen, your son, Joe Jr., is on the Green Bay Packers. What did he think about you getting this chance to play football?

THOMAS: Well, he thought it was a great idea. He's always talked positively and always told me to follow my dream. So, I stuck to that. I made a promise to him that I will do it. So thank God -

CAMEROTA: But wasn't he a little bit worried about what sort of play you would encounter?

THOMAS: Well, that's what I've been told, but I was OK. Got to have a lot of heart.

CUOMO: What did the guys think when you came out for the team? When did they realize, ooh, this guy's the real deal. He still has it. What was that moment?

THOMAS: It was a great feeling. They look at me and talk about the way I look, me at my age body wise. So it made me felt good. They gave me a lot of respect. Thank God for that. Good group of kids.

CAMEROTA: So this is your dream come true. What was that moment like for you?

THOMAS: Oh, very excited. Something I always wanted to do since I was a kid, go to college and play football. So thank God he made it happen.

CUOMO: And how is the college part going? What are you studying?

THOMAS: Industrial engineering.

CUOMO: How you finding it? You enjoying it? What's the next goal?

THOMAS: The next goal, oh, hoping I can get into the wrestling.

CAMEROTA: What?

CUOMO: Wrestling?

THOMAS: (INAUDIBLE). Yes.

CAMEROTA: He buried the lead. Now he wants to do college wrestling.

THOMAS: Yes.

CUOMO: Well, he's got his varsity jacket on.

CAMEROTA: I know.

CUOMO: He wants to be a two-sport athlete.

CAMEROTA: I can see that.

CUOMO: Mr. Thomas, you got a lot to be grateful for this Thanksgiving. God bless. I hope you stay strong and healthy. I can't wait to see you on the mats.

CAMEROTA: Thanks so much for being with us. Have a great Thanksgiving.

THOMAS: Thank you.

CAMEROTA: "NEWSROOM" with Carol Costello picks up after this very quick break.

CUOMO: He said flexible. I can barely tie my...

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