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New Day Saturday
Anti-Trump Protest Sweep Across U.S.; Trump Open To Compromise On ObamaCare; Team Trump Already Filled With Washington Insiders;; Pres. Trump, The GOP & The Black Vote; 4 Killed In Deadly Attack On U.S. Air Base; Battle Brewing For DNC Leadership; Trump Still Facing Dozens Of Lawsuits Despite Win. Aired 7-8a ET
Aired November 12, 2016 - 07:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
[07:00:21] DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENT-ELECT: We have to repeal Obamacare and it can be replaced for something much better for everybody.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Trump telling "The Wall Street Journal" he's open to preserving portions of Obamacare.
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKERS: Not our president. Not our president.
HILLARY CLINTON, (D) FMR. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: This is a tough time for our country. I think we've seen how people have been reacting to the events.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If there's any healing in this country, it's going to have to start with Donald Trump walking back a lot of what he said during the campaign.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think the tone is something we saw a change on election night. Now the president will rule the people.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHRISTI PAUL, CNN ANCHOR: You know we always appreciate your company. Thank you for being here. I'm Christi Paul.
VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Victor Blackwell. Good morning to you. We have new details on that breaking news from Afghanistan. Four people killed after a deadly attack on the U.S. Air Base there.
PAUL: U.S. officials say now an enemy device was indeed detonated at Bagram Air Base. CNN's Pentagon Correspondent Barbara Starr working her sources right now, she's going to joining us with more details just a little bit later.
But here in the U.S., anger boiling over in Portland. Police are now searching for a gunman after one person was shot during an anti-Trump protest.
BLACKWELL: Well, this is outrage over Donald Trump presidency intensifies in cities across the country. Let's start in Atlanta. This is last night, protesters lighting fire to the American flag outside of the state capitol.
PAUL: And then let's go to Miami here together, demonstrators had this message for the new president-elect.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKERS: Donald Trump has got to go, hey, hey, ho, ho. Donald Trump has got to go, hey, hey, ho, ho. Donald Trump has got to go.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLACKWELL: Trump supporters, though, have a different message, "Give the president-elect a chance." Well, CNN's Polo Sandoval is with us now with more on the protest flocked by Trump's election.
And, Polo, we understand there was also a shooting in Portland.
POLO SANDOVAL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: You're right, Victor. We have seen demonstrations and protesters pour into the streets of major American cities. We have seen their numbers grow, as you mentioned, Victor, some of them have even grown in intensity as well.
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SANDOVAL: A third night of nationwide protests as thousands marched down streets and interstates to vent their anger about the election of Donald Trump. Most were peaceful but there was some violence.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A flashbang was thrown at the police.
SANDOVAL: In Portland, police used flashbang grenades to disperse the crowd after they say burning objects were thrown at officers. And this morning, Portland police are investigating a shooting at a bridge where protesters had gathered. That shooting happened after an apparent confrontation. The unidentified man was taken to the hospital with non life-threatening injuries. The suspect fled the area. Los Angeles Police arrested protesters in downtown area but have not provided details on numbers or charges.
In Atlanta, an American flag was burned near the Georgia State capitol building. Police reported no arrest. And in Miami, protesters walked along Interstate 95, forcing four lanes of traffic to come to a stand still. And angry crowds gathered once again outside the 58-story Trump Tower, the president-elect's home in New York. There have been nightly protests since Trump's election. More demonstrations are expected through the weekend.
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKERS: Donald Trump go away.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANDOVAL: And of course, this morning, police across the country now getting ready, as you mentioned, for another day of protests. In fact, police in Los Angeles now getting ready to see a huge march in MacArthur Park. That is one of the largest Latino communities in Los Angeles,Victor.
BLACKWELL: All right. So Polo Sandoval, thanks so much.
PAUL: All of this of course is happening as Donald Trump supporters are waiting for the new president-elect to turn promises into policy here. President-elect Trump now appearing to be open to compromise on one of his signature rallying cries, to repealed Obamacare. CNN Chris Frates has been watching in New York outside Trump Tower right now.
So, Chris, talk to us about what we heard from Trump overnight?
CHRIS FRATES, CNN CORRESPODENT: Yeah, Christi. Well, Donald Trump making some policy news yesterday telling "The Wall Street Journal" that he favors keeping some key parts of Obamacare. He said after he met with President Obama earlier in the week, he came away wanting to allow people with preexisting conditions to continue to get coverage. And he also says he'd like to see children be able to continue getting coverage well into adulthood under their parents' plans. And in fact, he said that when he does repeal and replace most of Obamacare, which he says he still wants to do, people won't lose their coverage. Here's how he said he's going to do it.
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[07:05:04] TRUMP: We're going to do it simultaneously. We'll be just fine. That's what I do. I do a good job. You know, I mean, I know how to do this stuff. We're going to repeal it and replace it.
And we're not going to have like a two-day period and we're not going to have a two-year period where there's nothing. It will be repealed and replaced and we'll know. And it'll be great health care for much less money.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FRATES: So Donald Trump sounding a lot less strident than he did, taking a harder line throughout this campaign season. Maybe, you know, trying to seal the ground a little bit for some compromise down the road here, guys.
PAUL: All right, Chris Frates, we appreciate it so much. Thank you, sir.
BLACKWELL: Well, as President-elect Trump transitions to the White House. He not only faces a divided country but a Republican Party that also needs to heal. One way, he may try to bridge the divide, cabinet choices.
PAUL: Some of the names on Trump's shortlist, they're well-known and longtime party insiders. People like Newt Gingrich, Rudy Giuliani, Reince Priebus, Alabama Senator Jeff Sessions. Those candidates could create a new headache some say for Trump who promised supporters that he would, in is words, "drain the swamp." BLACKWELL: All right, here to talk about this, Ashley Bell, senior strategist and national director of African-American Engagement to the Republican National Committee. Ashley, good to have you back.
ASHLEY BELL, AFRICAN-AMERICAN ENGAGEMENT, REPUBLICAN NATIONAL COMMITTEE, NATIONAL DIRECTOR: Good to see you.
BLACKWELL: So, we're talking about draining the swamp here. Let me give you some space. I want to first to listen to what we heard from John Yoo who was ...
BELL: Right.
BLACKWELL: ... in the Justice Department and during the first term of George W. Bush. Now, Donald Trump has promised that he will drain the swamp and get rid of the people he says caused the problems that's he's now trying to fix. Here is what he say.
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JOHN YOO, DEPUTY ASSISTANT ATTORNEY GENERAL: I'm surprised there's so many people here because I thought everyone at Heritage was working over at the transition headquarters already. I asked the taxicab driver to take me to Trump transition headquarters and he dropped me off here instead.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLACKWELL: And he's making a joke here, though, but there are a lot of familiar faces from the Reagan Administration, the first Bush, second Bush Administration. How can he drain the swamp if he's hiring all the people who already in Washington?
BELL: Well, I think there's a different relationship with this Trump Administration, it will be. Only in D.C. does it make sense for people to walk into a job interview, talk to someone's who's going to hire them and they have already given them money before they showed up. It only makes sense in D.C. These people weren't Trump contributors, they weren't big donors, he didn't get a lot f pack money, he's walking in, looking at people's experience and hiring them on their merits. It's something new.
BLACKWELL: But that wasn't the promise. The promise was that I will look at everybody equally based on their merits. He says I'm draining the swamp and getting rid of the people who've been there who've caused the problems. And if you're reaching back 30 years to the Reagan Administration, that's not draining much of anything.
BELL: Yeah, I don't think that's the right analysis on this. I think you got to look at the people who created the problems like Obamacare. The problem with Obamacare wasn't the fact that people had good intentions and they wanted to do some of things that Donald Trump supports now, the problem was special interest got in the room, closed the door, set the table to create a bill that no one read before they passed, and it's unaffordable and unable to operate in a way that American people want it to operate. So there's the problem. Special interests, lobbyists, there's the swamp.
BLACKWELL: All right.
BELL: Not necessarily the prior administration, the people who did the job.
BLACKWELL: And we'll talk about Obamacare because although Donald Trump said he wants to fully repeal it, he's now saying that he'd like to keep some of those provisions.
Let's talk about one specific job and that's the chief of staff. We know that there was a statement sent to CNN by Jenny Beth Martin, the co-founder of the Tea Party Patriots Citizens Fund. And she says this about potentially the chairman of the Republican National Committee Reince Priebus taking that job. She writes this, "No Washington insider regardless of who it is should serve as President Trump's chief of staff. Appointing Reince Priebus, or any other D.C. establishment insider would make it more difficult, not less, for President Trump to achieve the change the people voted for. It's time to drain the swamp and not promote insiders beholding to the Washington establishment who created it."
You chuckled there, why?
BELL: Because that's just not true. President Trump is doing a good job of putting together a team of people from cross sections of the party. That's the right thing to do, to be tempered, to look out and say, look, I want to get different views from different people. Reince Priebus is the one who, personally in mind, I can tell you, he's someone who deeply cares about this country. And I think that's the number one responsibility of anyone in that job, to put country first.
And I think time and time again he was able to navigate a primary with multiple factions in a way that Democrats only wished they could have. Everyone on the other side who had the same job is out too. People had left the Democratic National Committee chairmanship in a term that's he's been there once.
BLACKWELL: What do you think about the idea that Steve Bannon will place some role in the Trump White House, if not chief of staff, because it looks like Reince Priebus has moved to the front of that line, that he should have some official role in this administration?
BELL: He's somebody that President-elect Trump looks to. And I think people who like Mr. Bannon who have an opinion, who have a view need to be included. I think this is the all hands on deck approach. He shouldn't lock anyone out. The best ideas come from debate. The best ideas come from competition. And I think Donald Trump is going to make sure he continues that and keeps the circle around him where he's going to get the best ideas and he'll make the decision ultimately about the direction of this country. And I think that's why supporters elected him to do and he'll do that.
[07:10:16] BLACKWELL: Yeah, we know that Steve Bannon headed up the breitbart.com, the conservative news website that once called itself the home of the alt-right and with the alt-right being, for some, a home for white nationalists. And what would you tell the protesters who are concerned about this type of voice, this type of advocate being part of the Trump team?
BELL: You know, I would tell the protesters to let's focus on solutions. Let's talk about not just being angry but have a plan. Hillary Clinton set it out and said, "Look, folks, anger is not a plan." The protesters are leaderless. I think that there's a curiously incoherent message there. You're just talking about hate but what are you talking about as far as policy is concerned? Are they focused on progress or unrest?
BLACKWELL: I think from speaking with and watching some of our correspondents discuss the election with those protesters, they're concerned about the policy prescriptions that Donald Trump has put forward as it relates to Muslim Americans, as it relates to the wall that's to be built along the southern U.S. border, so it's the policies that he's put forward that they have an issue with.
Where do you stand on that tweet that came out that he said it was very unfair what he saw from these protesters after there was, what he called an open election, of course, open ...
BELL: Right.
BLACKWELL: ... after he won but he called it rigged up into the point that ...
BELL: You know, I look to his opponent and I think she did a good job. I think Hillary Clinton did a good job by saying, "Look, this was tough, people are going to have a hard time getting over there in the left but he's the president now and we owe him an open mind." And if the protesters would take leave from some of the Democrats that we really respect and say, "Give him a chance. Let's give him our open mind." I think he'd been -- President Obama is setting that tone.
So to take our peace (ph) from the leadership, let's bring this country together and give him a chance. He hasn't done anything to cause any of this unrest. It's not even day one.
BLACKWELL: Is it appropriate for a president-elect and a man who, in 69 days, be the president of the United States to call people who are exercising their First Amendment rights unfair?
BELL: Is it fair to judge a man before he takes his first day on the job? I don't think that's fair. Give him a chance.
BLACKWELL: OK, all right. Ashley, stay with us, we've got a lot more to talk about, all right.
PAUL: In no doubt, one of which is Donald Trump claiming that his policies having to boost the black committee. Now that he's heading into the White House, what policies will he pursue? That conversation next.
Also, the Democratic Party looking to move forward after losing the White House, the first step is finding a new leader.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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[07:15:43] TRUMP: It is a disaster the way African-Americans are living in many cases and in many cases, the way Hispanics are living. And I say it with such a deep-felt feeling, what do you have to lose? I will straighten it out. I'll bring jobs back. We'll bring spirit back. We'll get rid of the crime. You'll be able to walk down the street without getting shot. Right now, you walk down the street, you get shot.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLACKWELL: That's part of the appeal that Donald Trump made to African-American voters during the primary. And you look at the numbers he did better than Mitt Romney did with African-American voters in 2012. Two points better than Romney with black men, a point better with black women. Let's go to the number with Latino men holding a 33 percent and with Latino women, three points better at 26 percent to Romney's 23 percent.
Back here with Senior Strategist, National Director of the African- American Engagement for the Republican National Committee Ashley Bell.
Ashley, congratulations on those numbers because ...
BELL: Thank you. Thank you.
BLACKWELL: ... because during the primary those were in the single digits. During the general, they were in the single digits. How did you do it?
BELL: You know, we started at zero.
BLACKWELL: Yeah, well, yes.
BELL: And plus some money, too.
BLACKWELL: Yes.
BELL: We're given negative two.
BLACKWELL: Yes.
BELL: So that's really a big jump we did there.
BLACKWELL: 13 points, how did you do it?
BELL: You know, look, we took advantage of what we knew was brewing in the community. Look at black men in particular, black men wound up 13 percent vote for Trump. And that was to his direct appeal to inter cities, to people who understand what the criminal justice reform that happened in the '90s that was disastrous that led to mass incarnation. Who did that affect most? Black men. They were listening. And so, when I looked at that in the RNC ground game we focused on black male barbershops. Everything we did, we went to barbershops. You know why? Because 2000 and 2012, we would go to barbershops, you see Obama everywhere. Pictures of him in his hair cut, Obama signs everywhere. There were no Clinton signs at any black barbershop. And we said, you know, what, if he's going to ignore it, we're going to double down. And we're going to go into these barbershops, RNC was paying for lunches, paying for breakfast there, having conversations with people. And those numbers were even higher in the battleground states where we were.
BLACKWELL: You know it's interesting you bring up criminal justice reform because the last time you were on this show, and it's been a while because you've been busy, obviously.
BELL: Just a little bit.
BLACKWELL: We've been talking -- you were talking about criminal justice reform.
BELL: That's right.
BLACKWELL: And I want to play for you what you said, this was back in July, right after the Democratic National Convention. And this is what you said then about criminal justice reform and Donald Trump.
BELL: OK.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BELL: I want 100 percent. This is the one thing I will be absolutely critical with my nominee. Until Donald Trump comes up a criminal justice platform, he's going to be in a strange territory right here. And there's many Republicans, conservatives like myself, we're ready for him. So that is an very earnest issue that we have to get towards because if we get to the debate, you can't just say you support police officers because I support them, he supports them. But do we also understand that there is a problem with the criminal justice system.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLACKWELL: All right, so that's obviously pre-debate. Where is the criminal justice reform platform, package, plan, proposal from Donald Trump? Didn't come out during the election? Are you writing it?
BELL: You know, right after that, I took a job to go work at the RNC and help with these issues.
BLACKWELL: Understood.
BELL: So I will say this. There's been a great discussion, there's a lot of information out there, our colleagues in the Congress have done a good job of setting the table. Donald Trump has come out and said look, he's going to put together Blue Ribbon Committee, first 100 days in office, Blue Ribbon Committee to focus on criminal justice reform because he knows he's going to take compromise. Good ideas in the house of Senate, lots of compromise.
So, I think the table is set to finally get something done and I'm confident the Republicans controlling the House, and Congress are going to see a leadership from this White House that is going to close the loop on some of the issues that we've been concerned about over the years.
BLACKWELL: So what are the indicators there that Donald Trump now, after this entire campaign, and his rhetoric, now wants to get to criminal justice reform? You say the table is set?
BELL: The table is set.
BLACKWELL: But it's been two and a half months since you called them out on CNN and ...
BELL: Because there's people like me, who believe in this president, who the only reason I went and worked with the RNC and helped him get elected because I know that he understands what it's going to take to change our criminal justice system. And putting together the right people in the right place and getting the table set to create real reform, the reason we're in this position is because Democrats and Republicans alike failed in the '90s and created mass incarceration.
[07:20:08] It's going to take a large table, with everyone at the table to be able to change the massive incarceration system we have now. And I think he's going to be the right president to set that tone. And I'm going to tell you, people like me are rooting for him. We're going to be at the table making sure that happens.
BLACKWELL: I hear you. And he's got a long list of campaign promises to fulfill before he gets to something he's not yet spoken about in detail.
But Ashley Bell, always good to have you on the show.
BELL: Good to see you.
BLACKWELL: Again, congratulations.
BELL: Always a pleasure. Thanks. All right.
BLACKWELL: And this Sunday, an exclusive interview with Jake Tapper. We're going to hear from House Speaker Paul Ryan after putting his differences with Trump behind the two of them. How will he help drive the president-elect's agenda? Again, that's State of the Union tomorrow morning at 9:00 a.m. eastern.
PAUL: Next, we have breaking news out of Afghanistan to talk to you about. Four people were killed, more than a dozen others injured after a deadly attack on a U.S. airbase in Afghanistan. We're going to get all of the details for you. Stay tuned.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLACKWELL: Breaking news out of Afghanistan. Four people killed and more than a dozen others injured. This happens after a deadly attack on a U.S. airbase there in Afghanistan.
PAUL: A U.S. official has confirmed an enemy device was detonated in Bagram Air Base and the Taliban have now claimed responsibility for the attack. They did so in a tweet. CNN Pentagon Correspondent Barbara Starr joining us via phone right now.
Barbara, what can you tell us about what they're learning this morning?
BARBARA STARR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, good morning. This remains obviously, under very urgent investigation. Officials are telling us they are still working to treat the wounded, as you said, about 14 people wounded in this attack, four having lost their lives in it.
[07:25:08] Security very much tightened up right now at Bagram Air Base. This is about an hour north of Kabul. This is the largest base where U.S. military and contractor personnel are located in Afghanistan. When we say enemy device, we are able to confirm it was an enemy attack. It was nothing like an accident or explosion or anything like that. This was an attack.
And so, the question now is how did someone get inside the Taliban taking credit for it. There is very strict security at these bases. I've been at Bagram many, many times. If you come in a vehicle, you are stopped well before the outside gate. Vehicles are searched, people are searched, people must have I.D. So, it's very difficult to understand right now how this might have happened.
There are about 14,000 people on Bagram Air Base. About 60 percent of them are contractors. Locals do move on and off the base in some of these contractor jobs. But how this happened is going to be a matter of intense investigation. Because over the years, there has been rare, thankfully, instances where bases have been breached.
Just a couple of years ago, down in southern Afghanistan, the Taliban got on to Helmand Base. And there was a running fire fight across the base for a few hours till they were brought, they were captured. So, it happens but it's so rare that this now will be a matter of very intense investigation.
PAUL: Barbara, we only have a couple of seconds but from what you're telling me, I just want to clarify, so what you're saying is because security is so tight and they can't determine who did this, is it possible that whoever planted this might still be on the base?
STARR: Well, we don't know, to be clear, if it was potentially a suicide bomber, if they were killed in the explosive but the base is on the equivalent of lockdown. So, they will be looking to see if there are any other people involved before they let anybody exit the base. Very intense investigation going on right now.
PAUL: All right, Barbara Starr, well, we so appreciate your insight into this, especially since you've been to the base. Thank you so much for taking the time ...
STARR: Sure. PAUL: ... with us today.
BLACKWELL: All right, Donald Trump said throughout the campaign that he would build a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border and deport millions of undocumented immigrants living in the U.S. starting with those who have committed additional crimes. Well, we'll have reaction from Mexico now that he is the president-elect.
PAUL: Plus, anger over Donald Trump's presidency spilling out into cities across the U.S. for a third night in a row.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[07:31:44] PAUL: Well, welcome to the weekend after quite a week.
BLACKWELL: It has been.
PAUL: It's so good to have your company. We appreciate it. I'm Christi Paul.
BLACKWELL: I'm Victor Blackwell.
PAUL: You know, it was one of the signature rallying cries on the campaign trail, Repeal Obamacare. Obviously this was for -- on the campaign trail for Donald Trump. In an interview with the "Wall Street Journal" though, Trump appears to be open to compromise now.
Telling the publication that he'd like to keep the provision forbidding discrimination based on preexisting conditions and also allowing young Americans to stay on their parents' health care. Here is what he told "60 Minutes".
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: We're going to repeal it and replace it. And we're not going to have, like, a two-day period and we're not going to have a two-year period where there's nothing. It will be repealed and replaced, and we'll know. And it will be great health care for much less money.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PAUL: Meanwhile, for a third night in a row, anti-Trump protesters hitting the streets across the country and cities such as Portland. That's where demonstrations turned violent after one person was shot. Police say the gunman is still at large, the victim being treated for non-life-threatening injuries right now.
Immigration has been a big focus of Donald Trump's campaign and he promised to build a wall along the US-Mexico border. As you know, well now that he's president-elect, is he going to keep his campaign promise?
CNN's Ed Lavandera with us now and I know you spoke to people in Mexico. What are they saying about Trump's plan to build that wall?
ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, clearly, nobody is really a big fan of that idea here. And top government officials for most part, all week long since the election have been very subdued in their response. Essentially top government officials here waiting to see exactly how Donald Trump is going to move forward, but many government officials also say that there's no way Mexico will pay for that wall.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: We're going to build a great wall. The wall just got 10 feet higher. Maybe some day they'll call it the Trump Wall.
LAVANDERA: The border between United States and Mexico stretches nearly 2,000 miles, nearly 700 miles of it is already covered with some form of border wall or steel fencing but Donald Trump wants more.
TRUMP: On day one, we will begin working on an impenetrable, physical, tall, powerful, beautiful southern border wall.
MICHAEL DEAR, EXPERT IN CITY AND REGIONAL PLANNING: Well, of course, it can be done.
LAVANDERA: Professor Michael Dear is an expert in city and regional planning and the author of the book, "Why Walls Don't Work".
DEAR: A large concrete structure which might be 25 feet high which should be very intense of in terms of resources and money.
LAVANDERA: In fact, CNN has surveyed a number of civil engineers, architects and academics about what maybe most feasible. The wall would most likely be made of precast cement wall panels 25 feet tall, 10 feet wide, 8 inches thick requiring 339 million cubic feet of concrete. The panels would be held together by 5 billion pounds of reinforced steel. With an estimated cost of at least 10 and a half billion and possibly much more. Trump supporters say they can't wait to see the beginning of the border wall construction.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That wall will get built and Mexico's going to pay for that wall.
[07:35:02] UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think he'll try to build a wall and secure our borders.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If people want to come into the country, they should do it legally.
LAVANDERA: But in Mexico, the idea of a wall is often shrugged off as a bump in the road north. Jose Torres Hernandez says, he's illegal crossed into the U.S. many times to find work, picking fruits and vegetables.
He says a wall might make crossing over a little harder but immigrants like him would always find a way to find work to feed their families. And Armando Flores Gutierrez says, he's crossed the border 25 times starting when he was just 16 to work farm fields all over the U.S. He says keeping people like him out of the country will only hurt the US.
(FOREIGN LANGUAGE) He said if he tries to remove all of the Mexicans in the United States, Donald Trump will realize what a huge mistake that is and how much the U.S. economy depends on Mexican immigrants.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
And Victor and Christi, also what you hear, a lot of people kind of referring to jokingly is if the U.S. would have build a 20-foot wall, we'd all of a sudden see a huge market for 21-foot ladders.
PAUL: Ed Lavandera. Live for us in Mexico City. Ed, thank you so much.
BLACKWELL: Well, after a long and tumultuous election season, the Democratic National Committee is now searches for a new leader. And at the top of the list, a few familiar faces, former DNC Chair Howard Dean says that he's once again hoping for the job as party chair. Former presidential candidate Martin O'Malley once the governor of Maryland says that he is considering it as well. Senator Bernie Sanders is supporting Minnesota Representative Keith Ellison for the job.
Now, the change in leadership is just one of the reforms that Senator Sanders is pushing for the Democratic Party remake after Clinton's Election Day defeat. In an OpEd in the New York Times, Sanders writes this, "I am saddened but not surprised by the outcome. It is know shock to me that millions of people who voted for Mr. Trump did so because they are sick and tired of the economic, political and media status quo".
PAUL: Now for her part, Hillary Clinton is urging supporters to get back out there and keep fighting for what they believed in. She spoke with volunteers in the conference call yesterday and admitted that it's been was a tough few days.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CLINTON: This is a tough time for our country. I think we've seen how people have been reacting to the events of this election. And I know that we've got to be reaching out to each other, to keep it clear in our own minds that what we did was so important.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PAUL: Both Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders say they're willing to work with Donald Trump once he takes office.
BLACKWELL: Donald Trump is headed to the White House, but the dozens of lawsuits he's facing, well, they will follow him there. We'll ask out legal expert what is this could mean for president-elect Trump.
PAUL: And from road his way victory into the White House promising to restore law and order that has a lot of people on edge regarding what exactly that mean? What is he going to do? Ahead, a top law enforcement official joins us to offer some advice to Donald Trump.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[07:41:41] PAUL: 21 minutes past the hour right now and the American Civil Liberties Union has a strong message for President-elect Donald Trump. In a full page ad of the New York Times, they're calling on Trump to dial back on his key policy positions.
Remember, Trump has promised a mass deportation to remove 11 million undocumented immigrants, ban the entry of Muslims and institute aggressive surveillance programs targeting them, and restrict a woman's right to abortion services, as well as reauthorizing, water boarding and changing our nation's libel laws and restrict freedom of expression.
Now, the ACLU says they're going to watch him closely, and if he does try to make these kinds of changes in the country, they will have everybody to fight back, to safeguard these rights.
BLACKWELL: Now let's bring in Page Pate: Criminal Defense Attorney, and Constitutional Attorney. Page, good to have you this morning.
PAGE PATE, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Good morning.
BLACKWELL: What do you make up that threat, I guess, we'll call it from the ACLU, that they'll bring a lawsuit.
PATE: And what they're drawing a line in the sand and I think it makes perfect sense. The ACLU certainly has the anility to legally challenge any directive that President Trump will make if those policies are inconsistent with the inconsistent with the constitution.
Now, it's different than suing him personally. They would sue him an as official capacity or someone else in the administration to try to get a court to review the constitutionality of a particular proposal.
BLACKWELL: Now, that's a lawsuit that could come after he takes the oath.
PATE: Right.
BLACKWELL: But there are several, about 75 lawsuits that Trump and his interests are facing as he heads into the White House. What's the future of those?
PATE: Well, we've never seen anything like this. I mean, Presidents have had lawsuits filed against them before. Kennedy had one, Nixon had one, Bill Clinton most recently had one recently in the Paula Jones situation. Presidents are not immune from being sued first stop they did before they took office.
Now, you can's sue them individually for things that they do while they're in office but stuff that Trump is facing, all that proceeds his election as president. So he would have to face those lawsuits. He could have to go through depositions as he's already done before he was a candidate and he could also theoretically have to testify trial.
BLACKWELL: So we know that sometimes that the legal system moves as his nail face, but we've got four years here of an administration. And I guess this cannot be put off until four or eight years until after his administration ends.
PATE: We don't know, I mean, that's a great question. I think some judges will want to push them back and say look, it's just going to be logistically difficult to call the president in from say, the G20 summit testify this trail. But is that fair to the people who were on the other side of these lawsuits?
I mean, we heard that a lot of people that did business with him were simply stiffed and had to, you know, had to sue him to try to get their money back. And for a judge to say, "Look, we're going to have to wait four years or eight years", I don't know if that's quite fair.
BLACKWELL: So what do you foresee settlements one after the other in cases?
PATE: That would be the easiest way to resolved them. And get them settled, get them dismissed, do what you need to do before you actually take office so that you don't have that distraction, or that potential distraction while you're president.
BLACKWELL: Yeah, an important date coming up in the Trump University suit in just a couple of weeks. There was one promise that was made that stood out to everyone who watched the third debate that Donald Trump made. Let's watch that.
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TRUMP: If I win, I am going to instruct my attorney general to get a get a special prosecutor to look into your situation because there has never been so many lies, so much deception, there has never been anything like it and we're going to have a special prosecutor.
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[07:45:05] BLACKWELL: Now, do you expect that he'll make good on that promise?
PATE: It seems like he's already walking back a little bit from that promise. He could do it. Legally, he can absolutely do it. He will control the Justice Department. He could have his attorney general do it. He could appoint a special prosecutor.
But we've never seen anything like this before and certainly the advisers that are talking to him, hopefully with law degrees, or saying this is not a good direction to go in but it's possible.
BLACKWELL: Yeah. And there could be some lawsuits filed by Trump, against the women who have accused that he sexually assaulted them. He said that at event in Gettysburg during that contract with American voters, the speech that he would sue each of these women.
Well, now that he's president elect and will be the president in about 69 days, I assume we haven't seen anything like that either. Do you expect he will file those lawsuits? PATE: I don't. I mean, based on his history, he threatens lawsuits all the time. I mean, the saying was his old motto was saying I'll sue you before I build the wall. So I really think that was a threat. It's unprecedented to have a sitting president filing lawsuits and for suing people. So no, I think that was just a campaign thing.
BLACKWELL: All right. Page Pate, always good to have you.
PATE: Great to be here.
BLACKWELL: Christi?
PAUL: We're ahead off the top of the hour, we have more for you on that deadly attack on the U.S. Air Base in Afghanistan. Why U.S. officials say it was indeed an enemy attack? Who could be behind of that? That's straight ahead.
Also candidate Trump promises to restore law and order. Now that he's the president-elect, there are some people who are afraid of what that will look like. A top law enforcement official joining us next to talk about what he's appealing Trump to do.
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[07:50:24] BLACKWELL: Protesters marched for a third-straight night in cities across the country, outraged by the Trump election. Most of these protests have been peaceful.
PAUL: But we have seen in Portland here, police say a man suffered non-life-threatening injuries after someone shot him last night. That suspect fired multiple shots before running off and he is still at large this morning.
BLACKWELL: Well, let's bring in CNN law enforcement analyst Cedric Alexander. He's also the former President of the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives and he served on President Obama's task force on 21st century policing.
PAUL: Yes, Cedric, you've seen the protesters, even including here in Atlanta marching against the president-elect over some of the things that he said and promised to do, including his emphasis on law and order.
I want to read something that you wrote in an OpEd for cnn.com about Trump's brand for law and order. It reads in part, "Law is legislation as enacted by the people's representatives in government. We are all obliged to obey the law. Order, as we understand the concept in the 21st century, is created by the people, the police, the legislature and the courts as they work together to administrate the law. Order is not simply forced on people by the police or handed down to them by Congress or the courts. Order is a collaboration among all, the product of the American community."
But, Cedric, there are many American communities that feel they are targeted by this. How does Donald Trump bridge that gap?
CEDRIC ALEXANDER, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Well, I think it's very important for us to accept the fact that all of us, as Americans that we do have a new American president-elect and going into this administration. I think it's important for the new president-elect to take a look at history as it relates to the words law and order and what it has meant in this country and certainly to people abroad as well.
Depending on where you come from, if you're in this country from a third world country and hear the term law and order, you could have some real negative connotation attached to it. If you grew up in this country, under Civil Rights of Jim Crow, certainly that term law and order has some very negative connotations to it in which people were treated. We must say unfairly and nowhere near the constitution that was written for all the people in this country.
If we're going to talk law and order today, particularly in the 21st century, it's important that we understand as I've written in the OpEd that the law was written and given to us by legislatures, our elected officials who we hold accountable, to help guide us and deliver us laws that's going to make us all of safe in this country, all of us.
And when we speak to order, I think it's important that we realize that order for all of us means that that's community as people who live in neighborhoods, that police officers, that's governments, that's our courts, that's our entire judicial system that must make sure we work in collaboratively together in order to create a neighborhood that is orderly in which we all feel very safe in. But we have to move away from that negative connotation that it's so often been attached to the term law and order.
PAUL: You say there's a blueprint to do this effectively. What is in that blueprint that would speak to the people in these communities who feel like they don't have a voice?
ALEXANDER: Well, you know, the 21st century task force report, which I hope that the president-elect and his team take a look at before they discard it. Because in there some really perfect recommendations that will continue advanced policing in this country and will encourage all of us who have already taken hold of that document and that's implementing that document to the betterment of law enforcement.
So you take, for an example, in the first pillar of that document, building trust and legitimacy. That is hugely important for us to be able to do as we continue to build relationships with police and community. The issues that we've seen in the past particularly over the last three years are going to continue to be challenging. There's still a lot of hurt, angry and pain people out there across this country and in every community across this country.
So I think it's important that we must never forget the fact even moving into this new administration that we have to pay close attention to our relationships with police and community. And I would hope that president-elect Trump in his administration will take to the heart all the great work that he's been done, not just by us, but by citizens all across, police departments all across this country who want to take an opportunity to make sure that we continue to advance the great work that has been done.
[07:55:04] PAUL: You know, one of the most controversial suggestions Donald Trump made is reestablishing stop and frisk. Let's listen here.
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TRUMP: Now, where or not in a place like Chicago, you do stop and frisk, which work very well in New York. It brought the crime rate way down. But you take the gun away from criminals that shouldn't be having it. We have gangs roaming the street. And in many cases, they're illegally here, illegal immigrants. And they have guns. And they shoot people. And we have to be very strong, and we have to be very vigilant.
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PAUL: Do you remember that tactic was ultimately deemed prejudice because it disproportionately affected minority groups. What do you say to them when Donald Trump is talking about something like this?
ALEXANDER: Well, here is what I would say to the president-elect as the country listens. It is very important that we understand stop and frisk and the challenges that were -- that came along with that. And also what has all buried then ruled to be unconstitutional.
I think it's important that any time if we're going to use aggressive policing, I think we have to be very smart about it. We have to include the community in helping us to reduce crime. We can go out with stop and Frisk, and we're going to violate the rights potentially, it certainly
has been seen in the past has been shown through our judicial system, that a number of people rights were clearly violated.
We can say, yes, it broke down crime, but here is what's has to happen. We have to bring -- we just can't just bring down crime. And while community discontent rises, we have to bring down crime and also have to maintain Community Corporation and us being able to do so. It's a partnership.
PAUL: Sure.
ALEXANDER: Police cannot solely do this by themselves. It takes the effort of both police and community in order to solve and reduce crime in a neighborhood. This can't be one and not enough of the other. They must be mutually agreed upon and goals that have to be achieved collectively.
PAUL: Cedric Alexander, we appreciate you being here. Thank you, sir. ALEXANDER: Thank you for having me.
PAUL: And you can find us out at -- sure. You can find us out that on 21st century law and order on cnn.com.
Already, lot of news to talk to you about this morning.
BLACKWELL: Next hour of your "New Day" starts after this short break.
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