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$25M Settlement Reaches In Trump University Case; Trump To Meet Mitt Romney Today; Trump's National Security Picks Under Scrutiny; ; "Hamilton" Cast Addresses Pence After Show; Minorities Fear Hate Crimes After Trump Win. Aired 6-7a ET
Aired November 19, 2016 - 06:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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[06:00:07] DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT-ELECT: At Trump University, we keep success.
MITT ROMNEY (R), FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: These promises is worthless as a degree from Trump University.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: President-elect agreeing to pay $25 million to settle three lawsuits.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It really is a great result.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Those students are going to get half their money back.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Retired Army Lt. General Michael Flynn offered the role of national security adviser.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I have confidence in General Flynn. He is considered to be a brilliant mind.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He has called Islamic cell, not radical versions of it a threat.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Having the world lens that he should have as a general, he should know better.
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ALISON KOSIK, CNN GUEST ANCHOR: Good morning. I'm Alison Kosik sitting in for Christi Paul, who is sleeping late today I would imagine.
VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, got the weekend off. I'm Victor Blackwell. Good to be with you.
We are beginning this morning with a surprise settlement by President- elect Donald Trump, he's agreeing to pay $25 million to settle those lawsuits against his now defunct for-profit business school, Trump University.
KOSIK: About 6,000 former students are part of the settlement and they say the courses promised to teach real estate investing techniques they could use to get rich. But instead, the students accused a program of misleading them with deceptive claims and high- pressure sales tactics.
BLACKWELL: This settlement means that the president-elect will not be testifying at a trial in a couple of weeks, instead, he will be working on his presidential transition.
KOSIK: Our Paul Vercammen has more details this morning.
PAUL VERCAMMEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Alison, Victor, Dan Petrocelli, Donald Trump's attorney both inside court and outside was emphatic about this. He said in no way does Donald Trump or Trump University acknowledge any fault or liability in this settlement.
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DANIEL M. PETROCELLI, LAWYER FOR PRESIDENT-ELECT DONALD TRUMP: We felt very confident in our position, but at the end, President-elect Trump was prepared to set aside his personal interests and focus on the monumental task that he faces in bringing this country to together and fighting for the important issues, and all the people that he represents. He wants to spend his time and his energy, his focus, his talent, his ability on fighting for Americans.
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VERCAMMEN: Paraphrasing, Petrocelli said that Trump wants to put this matter behind him and get on with the business of preparing to run the country and continue picking his cabinets.
As for the nuances of the settlement, these were three cases in all, most of them in California. According to Jason Ford, he is the former U.S. attorney for the plaintiffs, he says each plaintiff will get back least half of their investment in Trump University, and none of those investments were more than $35,000.
As for the mood outside of court, both sides in fact seemed jovial, some talking a settlement, you'd get a sense that somebody felt they were crow barred into a decision, that wasn't the case here. Back to you now, Victor and Alisyn.
KOSIK: OK. Paul Vercammen, thank you. Let's dig a little deeper on this surprise outcome of these cases with CNN political commentator, Errol Louis, and CNN politics reporter, Tom Lobianco. Thanks so much for joining us this morning. Good morning.
Errol, let me start with you because, you know, during the campaign this was a hot issue, but in essence, Trump won and I see a lot of trouble if he let these cases drag on. How significant is this settlement? ERROL LOUIS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I would take issue with the characterization of it as, quote, "Trump won." It's a very toughly worded press release from the New York state attorney general, who was also a party to this suit.
Pointing out that in his opinion, it was a fraudulent university that Trump will pay up to $1 million in penalties to the state of New York for calling it a university when in fact it was not authorized as a university in New York.
So I don't know if I would call this a win. I think politically, sure, it enables him to move on. It also tips everybody off to the fact that he's got lots of litigation involved with his business interest, and this won't be the last case that falls on the desk of the president-elect or in fact the sitting president.
KOSIK: OK, Tom, let me go to you because there is some major flip- flopping going on. Let's go ahead and play some of what Trump said earlier this year. Listen to this.
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TRUMP: I will win the Trump University case. I already am as far I'm concerned. I will win the case in the end. I just didn't want to be forced to settle.
This is a case I could have settled very easily, but I don't settle cases very easily when I'm right.
I could settle the case now if I wanted to settle the case. I don't settle cases.
We have a situation where we will win in court.
I'll win the Trump University case, I could settle that case.
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KOSIK: OK, so Donald Trump not only talked about it, he tweeted about it in February saying, "Trump University had a 98 percent approval rating. I could have settled but won't out of principle." Tom, what principle is here, what happened to never settling?
[06:05:12]TOM LOBIANCO, CNN POLITICS REPORTER: Well, when you become the president of the United States that tends to change things a lot, change a lot of perspective on things. You know, what's interesting about this, you know, let's put this in the context of the politics and campaign promises and how he talks.
You know, a lot of folks have come to this realization that we in the media would take a lot of his language literally, but maybe not him seriously. We've heard that phrase a lot while his supporters would take him seriously but perhaps not literally.
So maybe this is one of those cases where it's maybe not literally. But you do have to wonder, if he says he won't settle, I mean, my God that must have been at least a dozen times we've heard that.
What does that mean because here he is settling? So what does that mean for, you know, for dealings in international affairs? What does that mean for domestic policy? What does it mean for the $1 trillion infrastructure plan that he's been talking about?
So I think that's kind of the bigger questions, how does he operate. You know, he's still kind of an unknown quantity around, he and we're still trying to wrap our heads around it.
KOSIK: Errol, do you think that voters who obviously voted for him especially, do you think voters who put their vote for Donald Trump believed that they can't accept Donald Trump or his words after he flip flopped on this?
LOUIS: I think there were questions even well before this settlement, frankly. And I think Tom has it exactly right, which is that Donald Trump pretty much openly has said throughout the campaign, I'm a businessman, I'm a negotiator.
So, you try and hold me down to a statement or a claim or a promise, and I'll just kind of -- what he does, he turns it around. He says well that was just an opening bid. That was just an idea. That was just a suggestion. Let's negotiate some more.
That is in fact is how legal settlements work. That is in fact how the world of commerce works that Donald Trump comes out of. So in some ways, it's not necessarily nefarious, but we're not used to seeing this at the highest levels of government.
KOSIK: Errol, this one directed towards you because former senior adviser to President Obama, Dan Pfeifer, tweeted this saying in fairness, "What president hasn't had to pay $25 million to make a massive class action fraud lawsuit go away before assuming office? Very stark to hear, but is his point valid?
LOUIS: The point is that, again, we've got somebody who essentially walking it off the street and into the oval office in the sense that the prior 44 presidents of the United States all had some government experience, most of them were elected to some office.
A couple or one, in fact, Hoover served in the cabinet before he was elected and the others were military generals. And Trump doesn't fit any of those categories, but he's a businessman.
A particular businessman and he has one who has really sort of walk right up to edge when it comes his dealings and this is going to be something we're going to have to get used to.
KOSIK: Tom, your reaction to that tweet from Dan Pfeiffer.
LOBIANCO: Well, I think it points to the bigger dynamic, which is, you know, we are still trying to understand what this is going to be like. We haven't this before. I mean, this is a man with multiple, multiple business interests. Inherent conflict of interests because now he's coming into run the government who received many of his business interests. I mean, there are a lot of questions. We still have to see.
You know, this could be the tip of the iceberg. I suspect we might see a few more settlements. It's a new dynamic. It's incredibly fascinating.
Like Errol says, this is not a politician walking into office here. This is a real estate billionaire and so this is -- I think this could be the norm for the next few months.
KOSIK: Yes, the Trump lawsuits maybe over, but there are more to come. I predict we'll have more discussions like this. Errol Louis, Tom Lobianco, thanks so much.
BLACKWELL: Scores of additional civil suits that Donald Trump is facing and Tom raises an important point there, will there be some direct correlation between how this was handled and how he will handle negotiations as president? We'll talk about that throughout the morning.
Now in just a few hours, Donald Trump will be meeting with Mitt Romney, yes, the same Mitt Romney who called Trump a phony and a fraud. Here's a reminder.
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ROMNEY: Donald Trump is a phony, a fraud.
TRUMP: Mitt was a disaster as a candidate.
ROMNEY: He's playing the members of the American public for suckers.
TRUMP: Romney let us all down. He was a very poor campaigner.
ROMNEY: He gets a free ride to the White House and all we get is a lousy hat.
TRUMP: Romney choked like a dog. He choked.
ROMNEY: His promises as are worthless as a degree from Trump University.
TRUMP: He was begging for my endorsement. I could have said Mitt drop to your knees, he would have dropped to his knees.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KOSIK: It's incredible to watch that. Sources say Romney maybe considered for a cabinet post possibly secretary of state.
[06:10:01]And Republicans are hoping this and other meetings with Trump critics are a sign that Trump is maybe trying to address the deep divisions within the party. Trump is also expected to meet with Michele Rhee, Betsy Devos, General James Mattis, Tom Ricketts, Bob Woodson, Andy Puzder, and Lou Isenberg, all of that happening today.
BLACKWELL: And of course, we'll get you the latest on those meeting happening in Bedminster, New Jersey.
Meanwhile, Trump's picks for his national security team under scrutiny. Many are calling on the president-elect to reconsider his appointments calling into question of lack of diversity among his picks.
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TRUMP: When it comes to Washington, D.C., it is time to drain the damn swamp.
BLACKWELL (voice-over): It was a rally crowd favorite in the last days of the campaign. President-elect Donald Trump's promise to get rid of Washington insiders, but as he staffs his White House and top cabinet positions, many of the president-elect's picks are part of the so-called political establishment, and so far, they're also all white men, and some of the choices are receiving major resistance.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is someone who ran a campaign on hatred and bigotry, who has since he has been elected chosen some of the most dangerous people possible to staff his White House with.
BLACKWELL: The most recent pick, Alabama Senator Jeff Sessions. If confirmed, Sessions will serve as attorney general. In 1986, the then U.S. attorney's nomination to a federal judgeship was defeated over claims he made racially charged remarks about blacks and referred to a white lawyer as a race traitor.
SENATOR JEFF SESSIONS (R), ALABAMA: I'm not a racist. I'm not insensitive to blacks. I supported civil rights activities in my state. I have done my done my job with integrity, equality, and fairness for all.
BLACKWELL: The former prosecutor has opposed immigration reform as well as bipartisan proposals to cut mandatory minimum prison sentences. Sessions has been accused of calling civil rights groups un-American and communist-inspired criticizing the Voting Rights Act and its impact on southern states.
He once said he was fine with the KKK until he found out they smoked pot. Sessions later dismissed that remark as a joke. Kansas Representative Mike Pompeo has been tapped to be next CIA director. He will also need Senate confirmation.
Elected to Congress in 2010, Pompeo was a Tea Party favorite, and one of the lead Republicans investigating the 2012 Benghazi attack. He was a sharp critic of Hillary Clinton's leadership as secretary of state.
The third-term congressman has being accused of being anti-Muslim. During his run for Congress in 2010, he personally apologized after his campaign tweeted link to a blog that referred to his Indian- American rival as a "turban topper" and President Obama as an "evil Muslim communist usurper." Pompeo called the posting a mistake.
For his top adviser on national security, President-elect Trump has turned to Retired Army Lt. General Michael Flynn. He's an outspoken critic of President Obama and was forced out of the Pentagon's top intelligence job in 2014 for his combative style. Flynn was tweeted a series of statements calling fear of Muslims rational. In August, he compared Islam to cancer.
LT. GENERAL MIKE FLYNN (RETIRED), U.S. ARMY: Islam is a political ideology. It is a political ideology. It hides behind this notion of it being a religion. I don't see a lot of people screaming Jesus Christ with hatchets or machetes or rifles, or literally axing families on a train. It's like cancer and it's like a malignant cancer, though, in this case. It has metastasized.
BLACKWELL: Then there's Steve Bannon, Trump's chief strategist, he spent seven years in the U.S. navy, was an investment banker for Goldman Sachs, and was once a Hollywood investor. Most recently, he's made it his mission to take down the Republican Party establishment.
STEVE BANNON, TRUMP'S CHIEF STRATEGIST (via telephone): What we need to do is (inaudible) slap the Republican Party and get those guys heeding to, and if we have to, we'll take it over.
BLACKWELL: Bannon is the former chairman of the conservative website, Breitbart News. The site has a history of inflammatory headlines like "Meltdown continues, wave of fake hate crimes sweeps social media, anti-democracy crybabies march by thousands nationwide." Another reads, "Bill Kristol: Republican spoiler, renegade Jew." And then this, "Birth control makes women unattractive and crazy."
And finally, the chairman of the Republican National Committee, Prince Priebus, who will be the president-elect's chief of staff. While he's a mainstream pick that many congressional Republicans find encouraging, one prominent Tea Party leader fears Priebus will make it more difficult, not less, for President Trump to achieve the change that people voted for.
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BLACKWELL: Overall, some see Trump's appointment as reinforcements of his tough campaign rhetoric taking an uncompromising approach to national security.
[06:15:06]So what impact will that have on the country? We'll discuss that with our panel. That's coming up.
KOSIK: Plus Trump's election win has some minority communities worried, some even say they've been victims of hate crimes.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I felt fear. I did feel fear inside.
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BLACKWELL: It's 18 minutes after the hour now. President-elect Donald Trump is holding transition meeting with eight perspective appointees today. Here's a look at some of the people he'll be meeting with.
At the top of the list, one of his harshest critics, former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, now sources tell CNN he may be considered for secretary of state.
Now this comes as Trump is already facing blowback from his cabinet and staff choices so far including ex-Breitbart executive, Steve Bannon. But Bannon is pushing back in this new interview telling the "Hollywood Reporter" that darkness is good.
I want to bring in Errol Louis, CNN political commentator and political anchor for Time Warner News and also CNN politics reporter, Tom Lobianco.
I wanted just to start with you Tom. And what does this mean? You've got Steve Bannon saying darkness is good, saying, that Dick Cheney, Darth Vader, Satan, that's real power, he says.
We see the choices he's making. What does this say about where we could expect the Trump administration and especially national security to go after the Friday picks?
LOBIANCO: You look at Bannon, I mean, I don't think -- you look at Bannon and Reince Priebus as kind of coequals at the top of the Trump advisory chain there. They're kind of like the yin and yang. I don't think you'd ever hear a Reince Priebus make a statement like that.
But it speaks to this team that he's got to put together, this balance that Trump is putting together. You've got the establishment Republicans.
[06:20:07]You've got conservative Republicans, and then you've got these outsiders and these anti everything Republicans like that Bannon really represents.
And Trump as president really has to find a way to kind of merge them all together. You know, it's hard to tell how much of that darkness is good stuff, is hyperbole. Certainly doesn't sound great.
BLACKWELL: Especially when you throw that statement into the mix. It really doesn't sound like the way you want to start off an administration.
Errol, let me come to you, and let's put up the slate again of the staff picks and focus in on the nominee for Attorney General Jeff Sessions. Typically, senators who face nomination, have a pretty easy roll into that position.
Do you expect there will be a confirmation fight over Jeff Sessions considering some of the reporting on his past statements we talked about before the break? LOUIS: I suspect, Victor, that there's going to be a fight, but the outcome of that fight is not seriously in doubt. If you go and listen to the statements from people including some Democrats, Joe Manchin, from West Virginia, for example it looks as if they have the votes if all of the Republicans hang together.
And there's been indications that they will hang together. It's almost impossible to stop the approval vote from happening. On the other hand, the ranking Democrat on the Judiciary Committee that's going to sort of handle this nomination process, Diane Feinstein from California, says that she's going to ask a lot of tough questions.
I think Chuck Schumer has suggested the same, the Democratic conference leader. They are going to sort put him through the ringer because there are statements he's made in the past. There are actions he have taken in the past.
There is a record that's out there and they're -- what the Democrats are signaling is that, yes, you may have the votes, and you may get this nomination approved, but not without a thoroughly and wholly airing his record.
BLACKWELL: It will not be easy they're telegraphing here. Tom, back to you and this meeting later today between the president-elect and Mitt Romney, the 2012 Republican nominee.
Now, we all know and we just played a bit of the criticisms that were tossed back and forth. But as it relates to specifically the role of secretary of state, Mitt Romney was very clear of his feelings about not Donald Trump's business dealings or his statements about minorities.
But specifically, about his role as president on the world stage and his plans for national security. Let's watch this, it's just a reminder and then we'll talk more.
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ROMNEY: This is a very dangerous world and requires a person who is thoughtful, knowledgeable, curious intellectually, willing to listen to other people to change their mind based upon the advice of other people, and I haven't seen those qualities to the extent I'd want to see them in a president in Mr. Trump to this point.
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BLACKWELL: There's so much of this that we're going to be playing this throughout the morning, what we heard from Mitt Romney, but how does a Mitt Romney, if he's interested in the position, and reportedly, he is interested in that role, how can he credibly offer the full-throated endorsement of a president's policy when just a couple months ago, he was saying this man does not have the temperament, he doesn't know what he's talking about. He doesn't even seem curious about it and he's not willing to listen to people who do?
LOBIANCO: We have been talking about this dynamic so much behind the scenes here where you have people who are clear opponents of Donald Trump just ripping him to shreds, you know, even a few weeks ago, now sitting down in meetings with him looking at maybe joining the administration.
It reminds me of an old political saw, sometimes it's better to have your enemy inside the tent pissing out than outside the tent pissing in. And you know, that might be the thinking here, but the dynamic behind that and the strategy is that it's easier to control someone when they are inside your administration.
If you bring Mitt Romney in, which would be a bold move. I mean, there's -- we don't know whether or not that would happen, you know, hopefully, we'll have a better idea after today, but what that would do is then he could not criticize Trump anymore because he would be working for Trump.
BLACKWELL: Errol, let me come to you very quickly, what do you see coming out of this meeting today?
LOUIS: I think something similar is going to happen. I mean, it reminds me, Victor, of 2008, after Barack Obama wins, he takes one owe potential opponent, Hillary Clinton, makes her the secretary of state and sends her around the world to over 100 countries.
He takes another one, Jon Huntsman and essentially deports him, too. Sends him to Beijing as an emissary on behalf of the United States. It's a tested way of getting some of your domestic political opponents out working for the country and off the political agenda.
BLACKWELL: Yes. All right, Errol Louis, Tom Lobianco, thank you both.
KOSIK: Great conversation and it's a conversation that continued actually on Broadway last night. The hot Broadway musical "Hamilton" with a VIP in the audience, Mike Pence.
[06:25:08]And after the show, the cast stopped pretending and the cast gets real with a message for the vice president-elect.
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KOSIK: This may be one of the biggest perks to being the vice president-elect getting a precious ticket to the hot Broadway musical "Hamilton." Mike Pence was in the audience last night, front and center, seated in the central orchestra. His presence wasn't lost on the cast.
BLACKWELL: Yes, they actually addressed Pence directly during the curtain call. The actor who plays Aaron Burr delivered this short speech on behalf of the show's creators and cast. Here it is.
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BRANDON VICTOR DIXON, PLAYS AARON BURR IN "HAMILTON": You know, we have a guest in the audience this evening. Vice President-elect Pence, I see you walking up and I hope you were here (inaudible). We have a little message for you, sir, we hope that you will hear us out and I heard everybody (inaudible).
Vice President-elect Pence, we welcome you and we truly thank you for joining us here at "Hamilton." We really do. We, sir, we are a diverse America. We are alarmed and anxious that your new president will not protect us or defend us and uphold our inalienable rights, sir.
[06:30:16] We truly hope that this show has inspired you to uphold our American values and to work on behalf of all of us. All of us.
Again, we truly thank you for seeing this show, this wonderful American story told by a diverse group of men and women of different colors, creeds and orientations.
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BLACKWELL: The spokesman for the show said Pence was in the hallway. He heard the whole statement. Also, the lead producer of "Hamilton" says, President-elect Trump has not seen the show yet but would be welcome to come.
KOSIK: Post-election, minority communities say they're still feeling the after effect of the racially tinged rhetoric of the Trump campaign.
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NATASHA NIKHAMA, BAYLOR UNIVERSITY STUDENT: Racism is not something that Donald Trump caused but I feel like people kind of feel like they have an opened door to be that way now.
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KOSIK: Good morning and welcome back. I'm Alison Kosik, sitting in for Christi Paul this morning.
BLACKWELL: I'm Victor Blackwell. It is good to have you.
KOSIK: Happy to be here.
BLACKWELL: Good to be with you this morning. The president-elect says that he never settles, but I'll give you one guess what Donald Trump is doing.
KOSIK: He's settling.
BLACKWELL: He's settling. He's agreed to settle three lawsuits over Trump University, the cost $25 million.
KOSIK: Trump does not admit any wrongdoing as part of the settlement. The deal will keep Trump from having to testify in a trial that was set to begin in just a few weeks.
BLACKWELL: All right. So we now know that the testimony is not going to happen but here is what happening this weekend at this golf resort in Bedminster, New Jersey. Sources say the president-elect is slated to
[06:35:16] hold nonstop meetings to pour over candidates for his cabinet. This includes a sit-down with Mitt Romney today, possibly about serving as Trump's Secretary of State.
All right, let's talk about what we've seen across the country since this election. Swastikas on churches, racial slurs and cries of "build that wall" has minority communities really afraid. U.S. attorney general Loretta Lynch says there has been a 67 percent increase in hate crimes against Muslim Americans in 2015. And the Southern Poverty Law Center says it has counted 701 cases of harassment or intimidation since Donald Trump won the election. Here's more from CNN's Polo Sandoval.
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SOLONICA NICKI PANCHOLY, HATE CRIME VICTIM: I felt fear. I did feel fear inside.
POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Solonica Nicki Pancholy has experienced heightened prejudices after recent elections. Pancholy was hiking when someone thinking her head scarf was hijab. Smashed the windows of her car, they stole her purse and they left a nasty note on the windshield.
LORETTA LYNCH, ATTORNEY GENERAL OF THE UNITED STATES: I know that many Americans are concerned by a spate of recent news reports about alleged hate crimes and harassments. Some of these incidents have happened in schools. Others have targeted houses of worship. And some have singled out individuals for attacks and intimidation.
SANDOVAL (voice-over): Like attacks against this transgender woman in Denver.
AMBER TIMMONS, HATE CRIME VICTIM: The first part is shock. You just -- you can't believe it.
SANDOVAL (voice-over): Amber Timmons was on her way to work when she noticed a swastika symbol and the word Trump and die spray-painted on her car. And at Baylor University a student pushed student Natasha Nikhama using racially offensive language and telling her to get off the sidewalk. When other students defended Nikhama, the guy replied, I'm just trying to make America great again. And Nikhama says --
NIKHAMA: Racism is not something that Donald Trump caused but I feel like people kind of feel like they have an opened door to be that way now.
SANDOVAL (voice-over): Days later, hundreds of students walked out of class to support her and against racism.
COREY CATALDO, TRUMP SUPPORTER: Violence is never the answer no matter what side it's on. SANDOVAL (voice-over): Trump supporter Cory Cataldo, wearing a make America great again hat, says he was assaulted while riding the New York City subway.
CATALDO: Next thing I know, I have hands around my neck. I'm being choked. And another gentleman comes over. He shoves me up against the wall.
SANDOVAL (voice-over): The Southern Poverty Law Center has counted more than 700 cases of hateful harassment and intimidation since Election Day. When President-elect Donald Trump was asked about the harassment on CBS' "60 Minutes," Trump had one request.
DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENTIAL-ELECT: I am so saddened to hear that. And I say, stop it. If it - if it helps. I will say this, and I will say it right to the cameras, stop it.
SANDOVAL (voice-over): Polo Sandoval, CNN Atlanta.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KOSIK: All right. Let's bring in Reverend Kelsey Hutto from Saint David's Episcopal Church. Her church in Indiana was vandalized with graffiti markings of a swastika and anti-gay slur, a message reading "Hail Trump." Thanks for coming in today. Mother Kelsey, why do you think your church was targeted with what we're seeing here on the screen, it's just devastating?
REV. KELSEY HUTTO, SAINT DAVID'S EPISCOPAL CHURCH: Yes, it is. You know, it's very disheartening. We are taking a different look at it. And kind of looking at it as a prideful thing, because we do think that we were targeted for the right reasons and we think that's because we are inclusive. And we welcome all. No matter what color, where you come from, or who you love. You're welcome at St. David's.
KOSIK: Walk me through what went through your mind when you, you know, came to the church that day and saw these horrible things on the walls.
HUTTO: Yes. The first thing was obviously disheartenment and shock. You know, we are such a pillar in the community, how could anybody do this to us. And again, the second thing was, OK, we're targeted for the right reasons. So how do we turn this into a positive message? How do we change the hate into love?
KOSIK: So you're trying to make this a lesson. And you're not taking this off the wall anytime soon?
HUTTO: No, we're not taking it off until November 30th. We'll have a really big event for the community and anybody who wishes to come in. But we want to change these symbols from hate into symbols of hope. Anybody who can see them knows that they're welcome at Saint David's and across the nation. You're welcome at any Episcopal Church around the corner.
KOSIK: Are people in the community accepted you're leaving those things up on the wall?
HUTTO: Actually, no. They're very, very supportive and they're excited to start these conversations. Majority of community doesn't feel the way the perpetrator does.
KOSIK: Do you think this had anything to do with the election of Donald Trump to be president?
HUTTO: You know, this is just one of many images of hate that has come around the world or around the nation since Donald Trump has been elected. I don't necessarily think it is Donald Trump's fault. I do think the president-elect has opened up a sense of hate in the nation that was once hidden, is now public. But it's not Donald Trump that spray-painted St. David's walls. It is members in our own community.
[06:40:16] KOSIK: So you think these members should take responsibility for their own actions and not necessarily just didn't place blame on the outcome of the election.
HUTTO: Yes.
KOSIK: Do you put political themes in your sermons?
HUTTO: No, what I try to do is focus on social issues and justice issues. And those typically relate to what's happening in political realms, but they're not specifically political.
KOSIK: Do you find it difficult to not talk about the defacement of the walls of the church in your sermons? And are you trying to maybe incorporate that into lessons at least until you take these markings off the wall?
HUTTO: Right. You know, it's not necessarily a political thing. I will continue to talk about the things on the walls because that's what our message is. Our message is changing from hate to love. And to ignore it, would give power to the perpetrators. That's why we're leaving it up. If we were embarrassed and covered it, then we're giving power to them. I'd rather give power to love.
KOSIK: Before the campaign, and in your church, obviously very diverse, you're welcoming in every race, creed, color, religion -- into your church, have you had this kind of -- well, not just the defacement but any kind of threats of any kind to the church?
HUTTO: Saint David's has been there for 59 years, we've not had any issues, ever.
KOSIK: So this must be just so upsetting?
HUTTO: Yes and shocking. We're all kind of in awe.
KOSIK: But it's inspiring that you are turning it into a lesson. And that day when it's time to take those markings off the walls, you said, you have this big event planned, but will that last?
HUTTO: I hope so. And it's not the only event that we have planned. We have another event planned later, probably early December, in which we will host a community concert and start this relationship-building items and conversations.
KOSIK: All right. Mother Kelsey thanks so much for coming all the way from Indiana and really giving your inspirational message, despite what's going on.
HUTTO: Thank you for having me. I really appreciate it.
KOSIK: Thanks again.
BLACKWELL: So you've got to see this story, a young girl wins a fight to be cryogenically frozen. Well next, first, why she wants to be frozen. And then the three places in the world that can do it.
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[06:45:53] KOSIK: A British teenager who lost a battle with cancer has won her fight to have her body cryogenically frozen.
BLACKWELL: Yes, this is a really interesting story. And CNN's Samuel Burke explains first, why she wants to be frozen and how it happens.
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SAMUEL BURKE, CNN BUSINESS AND TECHNOLOGY CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A final wish from a young British girl just 14 years old who knows she won't survive the rare form of cancer she's battling.
"I have been asked to explain why I want this unusual thing done. I'm only 14 years old and I don't want to die, but I know I am going to. I think being cryo-preserved gives me a chance to be cured and woken up, even in hundreds of years' time. I think that in the future they might find a cure for my cancer and wake me up. I want to have this chance. This is my wish. "
The girl's divorced parents disagreed with each other about carrying this out. The father writing, "Even if the treatment is successful and she is brought back to life in let's say 200 years, she may not find any relative and she might not remember things and she may be left in a desperate situation given that she is only 14 years old and will be in the United States of America."
Friday, we learned the judge allowed the procedure to be carried out a few weeks ago. The girl's lawyer said it wasn't revealed to the public initially out of respect for the family.
ROB GEORGE, LAWYER HARCOURT CHAMBERS: Having a very experienced children solicitor involved and in addition to that, the medical professionals and a social worker who happens to be on the case already enabled the judge to be confident that this was an articulate and intelligent girl who had clearly thought very hard about what she wanted.
BURKE: To cryogenically freeze a body, the patient should be pronounced dead as soon as possible after the clinical death. So when this you girl died here in London on October 17th. The first step was to immediately cool the body using an ice bath. Then the blood is flushed out and replaced with special nontoxic antifreeze to prevent ice crystals forming which would damage the cells. After that, the body is packed in dry ice for transportation. And when it arrives at the final destination, the body is slowly cooled down to even lower temperatures over several days and then placed in a storage tank filled with liquid nitrogen.
BURKE (voice-over): Many experts say cryogenics has never been proven to work, remaining in the realm of science fiction.
ANDERS SANDBERG, COMPUTATIONAL NEUROSCIENTIST AT OXFORD UNIVERSITY: In a sense, cryonic patient are refugees from the present because they won't survive if they stay here and it's a very uncertain trip to the future. But that might still be better, to be in an uncertain alien future than being dead.
BURKE (voice-over): There are only three cryogenic centers in the world, Moscow, Arizona and Michigan, where this young girl's body is now, with her hopes that it won't be her final resting spot. Samuel Burke, CNN London.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KOSIK: All right. Thanks to Samuel for that. I actually visited that cryogenics place in Michigan and I found out that there are more pets than people inside that facility.
BLACKWELL: People love their pets.
KOSIK: They want to bring them back.
BLACKWELL: Yes.
KOSIK: All right. Here's something you don't see every day, a giant white blob overtaking the streets. How the heck did this happen? That story is coming up.
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[06:53:41] BLACKWELL: Seven minutes until the top of the hour now. President Barack Obama is in Lima, Peru right now, the last stop of his final tour as president.
KOSIK: He is set to meet with Pacific Rim leaders today and will likely face questions about the transition's new leadership in the U.S. The trip comes as congressional leaders have joined President- elect Donald Trump agreeing the Transpacific Trade Partnership is dead. That deal was supposed to represent the future of trade in the region, but critics said it could kill U.S. jobs. China is already moving to step into the void with their own plan.
BLACKWELL: Hundreds of workers plan to strike this week at Chicago's O'Hare Airport. You know, this is one of the busiest airports in the country. So of course, that could cause delays and it comes during one of the busiest travel seasons of the year. The group of janitors, baggage handlers, cabin cleaners, wheelchair attendants, they're not unionized but they're working with the Service Employees International Union and they're seeking a $15 an hour wage. Some are currently paid minimum wage, $8.25 in Illinois.
KOSIK: OK. This is really bizarre, near San Jose International Airport in California, look at this, a giant moving blob of foam. A system malfunction unleashed fire retardant in the area. Some streets, as you can see, were covered in the foam. There was no fire here but the blob provided hours and hours of entertainment. In fact, one guy decided to bike through it. I'm thinking that's not such a great idea. Fire officials told people to avoid touching the foam because it can irritate the skin.
[06:55:16] I wonder how his skin felt after playing in the foam.
BLACKWELL: Yes. This mysterious foam comes out and people start blowing and playing, like it is snow. Fat idea but hope they've got it cleaned up.
Coming up at the top of the hour, Donald Trump settles. The president- elect avoids having to testify in that Trump University case. We'll examine what this means for the other scores of pending lawsuits.
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