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Trump Biographer Talks About Meeting; Doubts Over Russian Hacking; Mariah Carrey's New Year's Eve Meltdown. Aired 8:30-9a ET

Aired January 02, 2017 - 08:30   ET

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

[08:30:00] HARRY HURT, AUTHOR, "LOST TYCOON: THE MANY LIVES OF DONALD J. TRUMP": Last time I've seen Trump was the Saturday before Easter in 2015 at that same golf course with my friend David Koch. We were chatting on the putting green. It was the first time I'd wore knickers. I made a joke about it and Donald laughed and he said, I hope you enjoy the golf course.

I went up to him and, you know, in the spirit of the United States of America and said, congratulations, sir, and then he launched into a diatribe that I had been rough on him. He used an expletive to describe the content of my book. I looked him in the eye and I said, it's all true, and he said, not in the way you said - you said it. I can't believe why you're here. Well, again, I had been there a little over a year and a half ago and I said, well, I came with David Koch. Well, he said, I think it's inappropriate for you to play here and I want you to leave. And so I said, fine, and we left.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: What were you - but - but - listen, Harry, what were you expecting? I mean in your biography of him, you wrote about an episode in which he allegedly raped his - at the time - wife, Ivana. She said that during the divorce proceedings. She's since recanted that and said that she went too far in making that statement, yet you put it in your book and it was published. I mean what kind of reception did you expect from him?

HURT: Well, the book was first published in '93. And, again, I saw Donald about a little over a year and a half ago at his golf course and -

CAMEROTA: But did he know who you were then, Harry? Did he - did you introduce yourself?

HURT: Oh, absolutely. Absolutely. Absolutely he knew who I was. And indeed it's sort of interesting, years ago - well, say '05 to about '09, I had a column in "The Times" called "Executive Pursuit" in "The New York Times" and at one point I wrote about a course in West Palm Beach called Emerald dunes, the one we ended up playing on Friday.

CAMEROTA: Yes.

HURT: And Donald mailed me - he pulled - had clipped out the article and said, Harry, long time no see. My course is much better. You should come play it.

CAMEROTA: Huh.

HURT: That would have been probably about '07 or '08.

CAMEROTA: OK.

HURT: So what am I expecting? I mean the book's been out for 23 years. We've crossed paths a couple of times, even that way when he wrote to me and then at the other golf course. You know, I expected him to act presidential and act like a gentleman. I mean he, you know, he was consulting with people like Mitt Romney, who called him a fraud about apparently the secretary of state position or whomever that was attending those meetings. But even -

CAMEROTA: Right, so you thought bygones? I mean you thought that whatever you had written would be - he would have moved past it?

HURT: I thought so, yes. I mean it's been 23 years.

CAMEROTA: So how do you explain what he said to you where he used an expletive and did he throw you off the course?

HURT: Yes, he said I think it's inappropriate for you to play. I want you to leave. So I went and told my playing companions. They thought I was joking. I said, I'm not joking, and I don't think he is either. A security man came up to me and asked me if I was Mr. Koch. I said, no, I'm Mr. Hurt, Mr. Koch's over there. We need to fetch our shoes from the men's locker rooms, our street shoes, and collect our clubs from the carts and that's what we did.

CAMEROTA: But they didn't throw David Koch -

HURT: I actually - I offered to take an Uber -

CAMEROTA: You're referring to - hold on, hold on a second, Harry.

HURT: I'm sorry?

CAMEROTA: Well, I just - hold on one second because I want to tell the viewers that you're talking about David Koch, who obviously is a mega donor to the Republican Party. But did they throw David Koch off the course, too?

HURT: Well, no, I was the one who was asked to leave. I offered to take an Uber because I'd - we'd all come in the same car. And David and our other companion said, no, no, we'll - we'll go with you. And I said, are you sure, because I'll - they said, OK. So it - you know, there are - there was security around all of us as we went to the parking lot, but it was - it was me that they were really escorting off the property, not the other players.

CAMEROTA: But, I mean, Harry, given that you - you did paint an unflattering portrait of him in your book and you did include, you know, odious episodes in your book. Why would you want to play golf at Mr. Trump's - at Mr. Trump's course if you believed that all those things were true about him? HURT: Well, I mean, why not. I've - I've played there several times

since I wrote the book. It wasn't my choice to go there. It was the other - the other people we were playing with wanted to play that particular course. And so I said fine.

You know, again, I think - Trump has made signs of mending fences, burying hatchets, whatever you want to call it. Again, I had seen him about a year and a half ago and we had an amicable conversation. We made a joke about my knickers and he said, I hope you enjoy the golf course. So -

[08:35:00] CAMEROTA: All right, Harry Hurt -

HURT: You know, I do know what to expect. I do expect, though, Donald will continue to exhibit the erratic behavior that he has exhibited for his entire life, and I think this is just another example of it.

CAMEROTA: Harry Hurt, the book again was "Lost Tycoon: The Many Lives of Donald J. Trump." Thank you for coming on to recount the episode with us. Have a nice game.

John.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: A tip of the cap to Alisyn Camerota there.

All right, incoming White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer, moments ago, had some heated words right here on NEW DAY. So what can we expect when it comes to the incoming president and his response to allegations of Russian hacking? We'll get "The Bottom Line," next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEAN SPICER, INCOMING WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: The idea that you're asking anybody what the - what their reaction should be to a non-final report is unbelievable. I just don't get it.

CAMEROTA: Well, hold on, Sean.

SPICER: No, no. No, not hold on.

CAMEROTA: Sean.

SPICER: The idea that we are asking people and making assumptions on a report that's not final is unbelievable.

CAMEROTA: OK. So in other words, Lindsey Graham and Senator John McCain are also unbelievable and irresponsible since they're always (ph) -

SPICER: They're not the ones that instituted the sanctions. It's the president of the United States who did it.

CAMEROTA: They're planning hearings about it. They believe these 17 intelligence - they've been briefed. SPICER: Exactly - hold on. Oh, wait, wait, wait, stop. Hold on, listen

to what you just said. They're planning hearings. They are actually trying to get it right.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: So that was incoming White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer just moments ago right here on NEW DAY with Alisyn Camerota.

So, what does this mean for President-elect Donald Trump? What does it mean for how he will treat Russia?

Joining us now with "The Bottom Line," Ron Brownstein, senior political analyst for CNN and senior editor for "The Atlantic."

[08:40:04] Ron, great to have you here with us.

RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Happy New Year, guys.

CAMEROTA: Happy New Year.

BERMAN: So, you know, you see Sean Spicer -

BROWNSTEIN: Yes.

BERMAN: Who will be press secretary -

BROWNSTEIN: Yes.

BERMAN: Talking like that. You hear President-elect Trump talking over the weekend. You know, he continues to refuse to say that he believes that Russia hacked into the U.S. election system. He said that he'd have a statement about it later this week. He says he knows things that we don't know. The question from a political standpoint if we're talking about the bottom line here, Ron, is, you know, what is the political risk and the political consequences for president-elect and ultimately President Trump here?

BROWNSTEIN: Well, first, let's start with kind of - large sections of that conversation seemed to exist in some other reality. Yes, we are waiting for a final report with final details and specifics, at least what they feel comfortable releasing publicly. But already on October 7, 2016, the Department of Homeland Security and director of National Intelligence issued a joint statement in which they said, quote, "the U.S. intelligence community is confident that the Russian government directed the recent compromise of e-mails from U.S. persons and institutions, including from U.S. political organizations. These thefts and disclosures are intended to interfere with the U.S. election process. We believe, based on the scope and sensitivity of these efforts, that only Russia's senior-most officials could have authorized these activities.

We are not talking simply about allegations or something that has been kind of, you know, roughly floated. The intelligence community has already released -

CAMEROTA: Yes.

BROWNSTEIN: A conclusion that they believe - that they are confident -

CAMEROTA: Yes.

BROWNSTEIN: Which is the term of art (ph), that the Russian government did this. So the fact that they are still refusing to acknowledge even that I think indicates to me how much they resist this conclusion. I think for two reasons, primarily one backward looking, one forward looking. The backward looking is, they view it as kind of casting doubt on the, you know, kind of the validity of their election. But forward-looking, they want to engineer a significant reset, a change in our relationship with Russia with Vladimir Putin, and they view this as basically an inconvenient kind of truth. As John McCain said, though, on, you know, quoting Ronald Reagan, facts are stubborn things.

CAMEROTA: Well, I mean, look, you know what Trump's team says, show us the evidence. We don't just take the intelligence agencies at their word. They got weapons of mass destruction wrong. We need to see the evidence. Is that a standard that is too high? Will the intelligence agencies ever sort of open the files and show even the president-elect their evidence?

BROWNSTEIN: I assume they will show the president-elect their evidence. And whether they show all of it to the public is something else. I mean the - you know, the question is always the issue in these kinds of espionage questions is, when you - releasing information provides the target guidance on your sources, where you're getting your information.

CAMEROTA: Right. Right.

BROWNSTEIN: And so there's always limits in what they can and will release.

CAMEROTA: Sure. But what they're saying -

BROWNSTEIN: But I assume that whatever President Obama has seen, eventually Donald Trump will see, and if he hasn't seen already.

CAMEROTA: OK. Well, you heard Sean Spicer right there say, we haven't seen the evidence. They have not revealed it to Mr. Trump. I don't know if he's telling the truth, but that's what he was saying.

BERMAN: He's saying the report's not complete yet, which, again, is sort of parsing it.

CAMEROTA: But he was also saying they haven't seen any evidence.

BROWNSTEIN: Right.

BERMAN: But, you know, he has heard evidence from the intelligence briefings. He hasn't heard from the heads.

BROWNSTEIN: Right. BERMAN: They haven't issued the final report, but he's seen reports up until now. So I think that's a parsing of language there.

BROWNSTEIN: Yes.

BERMAN: Ron, I want to tap into your historical perspective, if I can.

BROWNSTEIN: Yes.

BERMAN: Because another thing that Sean was saying to Alisyn there was, oh, you know, Republicans have sort of never obstructed before. He was being very critical of what Chuck Schumer has promised, which is to fight some of the nominations that President-elect Trump has made right now.

BROWNSTEIN: Right.

BERMAN: If you go back eight years, it is true that the confirmation for most of President Obama's nominees early on, relatively smooth. What's not true is that the idea the Republicans just rolled over and said, you know, hey, you know, President Obama, you have whatever you want. I mean there was a famous meeting the night of the inauguration where former Speaker Gingrich was there with Kevin McCarthy and Eric Cantor, who were very powerful members in the House right now where they talked -

CAMEROTA: Paul Ryan, I think.

BERMAN: And Paul Ryan was there, too. They talked about doing nothing but fighting against President Obama.

BROWNSTEIN: And, of course, Mitch McConnell said to our - my sister publication, "The National Journal," in 2010, our principle political goal is to make President Obama a one-term president.

Look, when -- after the - after the Dodd-Frank law created the Office of Consumer Financial Protection, the Republicans in Congress refused to confirm anyone for the job because they continued to oppose the law creating the institution to begin with. It only - the person in the job was only selected after the filibuster was ended for non-Supreme Court appointments.

And, you know, we do have the kind of example of Merrick Garland, the unprecedented decision not even to hold hearings on a Supreme Court nominee essentially for the last year of a president's term and a refusal - kind of a blockade of anyone again for the job.

This, you know, we're heading - we're hearing, you know, toward a heightened kind of - everything is a fight now in Washington and there are no Geneva Conventions. And I don't think that - I think that we're going to just see more of that going forward. The big question is, how much do Democrats fight and where do they feel like they have to make a deal with the new administration and the new Republican majority.

[08:45:08] CAMEROTA: That is what they are debating right now. We shall see beginning tomorrow. Ron, thank you very much.

BROWNSTEIN: Thank you, Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: All right, Mariah Carey's New Year's Eve -

BERMAN: Perfect segue.

CAMEROTA: You're right. You're going to - it's going viral for all of the wrong reasons, maybe, or maybe it's the right reasons. Let's see what happened during the - and what she was wearing.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CAMEROTA: Mariah Carey had an epic meltdown during her performance on New Year's Eve in Times Square, and now, much like what John does when something goes wrong with his earpiece, or the teleprompter, he's blaming the company in charge of production.

BERMAN: And it's my fault.

CAMEROTA: Right. And - let's watch this. Enjoy, everyone.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARIAH CAREY, MUSICIAN: (INAUDIBLE).

Just walk me down.

Well, happy New Year! We can't hear it, guys. (INAUDIBLE)

All right.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: All right, so there was a lot of "all right, here we go, let's get this started, but there was no actual singing that then happened.

[08:50:06] Joining us now is Brian Stelter, CNN's senior media correspondent, and Nischelle Turner, CNN contributor -

BERMAN: Exactly.

CAMEROTA: And host of "Entertainment Tonight."

Nischelle, there was a lot of Mariah's inner monologue that I've never heard before.

NICHELLE TURNER, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Yes.

CAMEROTA: OK, we're going to step down now. We're walking down. All right, everybody. We're going to get this started. What was happening there?

BERMAN: Yes, but that was more organized than what she did. TURNER: Yes, I was sweating for her, though, because it was almost

like she just - yes, she was like speaking in her head, well, I don't know, I'm going to turn to the right, I'm going to turn to the left. I'm going to look at the camera. She's - it's just like she froze and didn't know what to do. It's really painful watching that back and I've seen it like 20 times and it's still painful every single time. You know, those things -

CAMEROTA: But, I mean, what happened, Nischelle? I don't get it. This girl can sing. I don't get it.

TURNER: Those things - well, it's a good - oh, yes, she can sing. Believe she can sing.

I don't know what happened. I mean she's saying that there was a problem with her inner ear. We spoke to her manager at "Entertainment Tonight" last night and she told us ten minutes before Mariah mention to the stage managers that something was wrong with her inner ear and they said the frequency was off because she was in a different area and that it would work once she got on stage. Apparently when she got on stage, she says it still didn't work.

Now, Dick Clark Productions says something else. They say they - you know, that they were trying to make sure that everything worked, everything was in place. There's also sources that say, and maybe Mariah didn't do sound check right, but she says she showed up at sound check at 3:00. So I'm not sure what happened. I mean we know there was a technical difficulty. I'm not sure why there was a technical difficulty.

BRIAN STELTER, CNN SENIOR MEDIA CORRESPONDENT: And that's real, right?

TURNER: Yes.

STELTER: I mean this is Times Square, at 11:40 p.m.

TURNER: Yes. Oh.

STELTER: It's cold. It's frigid. There's millions of people watching you. You can - you can imagine how hard it would be if your - if your earpiece wasn't working. And yet, at the same time, like, come on, you're on live TV in front of 15 million people.

TURNER: Yes.

STELTER: You've got to roll with the punches.

CAMEROTA: You know, Mariah Carey -

STELTER: I think Don Lemon should give her some advice. He got, what, an ear pierced on live TV at the same time. You know, you've got to roll with it. You've got to push through the pain.

BERMAN: But Don - but Don can't hit those notes either anymore.

Let me just read you what the response was from the audio team here. They told "The New York Times," every monitor and in-ear device worked perfectly. I can't comment beyond that and don't know what her non- technical issue might have been."

TURNER: Ooh.

BERMAN: Ooh.

TURNER: OK. Shots fired.

STELTER: I think that speaks for itself.

BERMAN: There we go. Yes.

And then Mariah Carey, let me give you a dramatic reading of Mariah Carey's tweet here.

CAMEROTA: Oh, please.

BERMAN: No, I can't, because there's a - there's a dirty word right here. Oh, "blank happens, have a happy and healthy New Year, everybody. Here's to making more headlines in 2017."

STELTER: I mean that's the perfect reply, isn't it?

TURNER: Yes.

STELTER: I think Jon Pareles of "The New York Times" is right, this is all about getting attention. Pop stars, they thrive on attention. Their job is to get attention. And it's working. She gave us the first (INAUDIBLE) of the year.

TURNER: But does Mariah really need that? Does Mariah really need that? I mean Mariah walks down the street and she gets attention.

CAMEROTA: Right.

TURNER: I don't think she - that something like this she needs to do to get attention.

CAMEROTA: I was - yes, thank you, Nischelle. I think that your nude sequined body suit also can get attention.

TURNER: Absolutely.

CAMEROTA: And that's the funny thing is that -

BERMAN: That's what I need to do?

CAMEROTA: Again.

BERMAN: Sorry.

CAMEROTA: That's what - it's funny, it's almost like she didn't know the words to some of her songs.

TURNER: You know, sometimes - listen, sometimes artists do forget the words. I don't know if they forget every single word to their song. But, you know, Mariah's camp kind of went a step further and they threw out the word "sabotage." That maybe she was being sabotaged. Dick Clark Productions didn't like that one at all, so they are really kind of hitting back hard because they're like, listen, you don't go out and say we would sabotage an artist. So this, I think, could be a fight that we see going on for a little bit because both sides are dug in here.

BERMAN: All right, Golden Globes, I'm told reliably, are coming up this Sunday.

TURNER: Yes.

BERMAN: Brian Stelter, based on the films that I've seen this year -

STELTER: Oh, this will be good.

BERMAN: Which is "Rogue One," "Rogue One" will win every award. What are the favorites?

STELTER: Well, "La La Land," "Manchester by the Sea" are a couple of the favorites. "Moonlight" as well. That's the one I haven't seen that I need to see between now and Sunday. I've got to tell you, I wasn't impressed by "Manchester by the Sea" or "La La Land."

CAMEROTA: Yo weren't?

STELTER: I know everybody else was.

TURNER: Oh, Brian Stelter!

CAMEROTA: (INAUDIBLE). What didn't you like about it?

STELTER: Well, I - Nichelle, I thought "Manchester by the sea" was - it was just so depressing. There was nothing - well, I don't know, am I wrong?

TURNER: Well, I thought it was - I thought it was a really nice piece of cinema, actually. I thought Casey Affleck was really, really good. I can understand what you mean because it is -

STELTER: Soul crushing.

TURNER: Yes, it's a movie that weighs on you. It definitely is. But I thought it was brilliantly acted. So the film, I thought, was really good. And "La La Land," the same. I love a musical, honey, and I love a love story. So I loved both of those very much. But "Moonlight," of those three, was definitely my favorite and I think it's going to see a lot of attention on Sunday.

STELTER: I'm sure "Rogue One" will get some rewards for technical excellence, though, both the Golden Globes and the Oscars, because soon we'll have the Oscars nominees later this month.

BERMAN: By technical you mean general awesomeness? Is there a technical award for general awesomeness? STELTER: General awesomeness.

CAMEROTA: Did you love it?

BERMAN: It was the best movie I saw last year.

CAMEROTA: Well, you only saw one.

BERMAN: It was very good.

TURNER: John, you only saw that movie.

BERMAN: I was very good.

TURNER: That's all you saw.

BERMAN: Why do you have to see another?

STELTER: A quick plug for "Lion." I finally watched "Lion" this week. That was actually my favorite of the week. I spent a week binge watching movies.

TURNER: It's my favorite of the year.

STELTER: That was my favorite.

TURNER: It's my favorite movie of the year.

BERMAN: Just quickly, Nichelle -

[08:55:03] TURNER: It's a brilliant film. Go see it if you have not seen it. Nicole Kidman does her best work to date and Dev Patel grew up and got real fine on us and looks great in this movie.

BERMAN: Best actor, Nichelle?

TURNER: Best actor this year. Oh, I think Casey Affleck will win that - that award.

CAMEROTA: Yes, he is good. Casey -

BERMAN: Don't tell Brian Stelter. Don't tell Brian.

STELTER: We can talk about it next week. We'll see.

CAMEROTA: Ear muffs.

BERMAN: Don't tell Brian.

CAMEROTA: Thank you, guys. Great to talk to you.

TURNER: Absolutely.

CAMEROTA: We have "The Good Stuff," that's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) BERMAN: It's time now for "The Good Stuff." An Oregon man is turning up the heat against poverty. I want you to meet Fred Colgan. He started a non-profit group called InStove, where volunteers help bring clean burning cooking stoves to developing countries. His latest project, a $25,000 fundraiser for over a million women in Ghana who use open fires in order to make a living.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FRED COLGAN, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, INSTOVE: I bring these stoves to African women and they look at the little fire and they look at the pot boiling away and they say, that's not possible.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: Fred is hoping to change the world one stove, he says, one stove at a time.

CAMEROTA: Oh, my gosh. That is - what a great endeavor.

BERMAN: It's a great idea. I mean little things like that. It seems little, but it's huge. It can make all the difference in the world.

CAMEROTA: Absolutely. And if you eradicate poverty or at least help fight it, then that obviously also helps fight against wars and violence and lots of other things.

BERMAN: Happy New Year.

[09:00:00] CAMEROTA: And to you. You're right, this was a great show, John.

BERMAN: I told you it was going to be the best show ever.

CAMEROTA: You predicted it.

Thank you.

Time for "NEWSROOM" with Carol Costello. Happy New Year, Carol.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Happy - and it was a great show. You guys did a terrific job. Happy New Year.

BERMAN: I told you.