Return to Transcripts main page

Wolf

Nancy Pelosi Could Lose House Leadership Position; Trump's Transition Team to Fill 4,000 Positions; Obama, Angela Merkel Discuss Trump at News Conference; Clinton: Election Loss Not Easy for Me, Supporters. Aired 1:30-2p ET

Aired November 17, 2016 - 13:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:33:30] WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back. Vice President- elect Mike Pence is spending the day up on Capitol Hill here in Washington today meeting with top members of the U.S. Congress. Moments ago -- look at this -- he left a meeting with House Speaker Paul Ryan, walking through the halls there, giving a thumb's up. Pence also told House Republican members the transition is going, in his words, "very well."

And he also said buckle up and get ready for a busy January. The president-elect and the vice president-elect, they are sworn in to office on January 20th.

Pence has also been meeting today with the current House minority leader, Nancy Pelosi, and other Democrats. Pelosi, who may soon be in a battle, we're told, to save her leadership in the House of Representatives.

Let's bring in our senior political reporter, Manu Raju, who covers all of this for us up on Capitol Hill.

What's the latest? Is she really in any serious trouble right now?

MANU RAJU, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL REPORTER: There's a lot angst within the House Democratic caucus, Wolf, about the future of their party and whether or not Nancy Pelosi's the right person to bring them back into the House majority. Even some of Pelosi supporters are asking her to say more, to explain plans to bring the party back to the majority.

G.K. Butterfield, the head of the Congressional Black Caucus, says he needs to hear specifically how the party can get back into power and he has not heard that yet.

Nancy Pelosi in a press conference earlier today talked about her record as leader. And when I asked her is it time for the party to have a fresh face, she said experience counts.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. NANCY PELOSI, (D-CA), HOSUE MINORITY LEADER: In 2005 and 2006, I orchestrated the takeback of the House of Representatives. When President Clinton was president, the Republicans took the House. President Bush was president, the Democrats took the House. When President Obama was president, the Republicans took the House. So, we have an opportunity. That doesn't mean a guarantee. It means we will do very hard work. So, I hope to have -- I'm very proud to have the opportunity. I know how to do it, to get it done.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[13:35:33] RAJU: Now, Wolf, Pelosi wanted to have leadership elections today in which she would be re-elected as a Democratic leader. But the caucus pushed back, actually delaying those elections at their request. A number of members wanted to wait until after Thanksgiving, until November 30th, to decide whether or not she should be re-elected speaker or whether they should elect someone else.

So, a real sign there's still a lot of concern and division within the party about the way forward after last week's elections.

BLITZER: You also had a chance to speak with Congressman Tim Ryan just a few moments ago. What is he saying about a possible challenge to Pelosi?

RAJU: Well, he may doit, Wolf. He said he will make a decision today on whether or not to run. He said that he can present a new face for the party and, being from Ohio, could connect with Rustbelt voters. He also said that electing Pelosi time and again may not be the right strategy. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. TIM RYAN, (D), OHIO: I'm been in this caucus 14 years. And I think people have been talking about this since 2010. And, you know, I think we've had this conversation in '10, '12, '14, '16. You know, we're at the lowest number of state and federal officials since Reconstruction. We have the lowest number in our caucus since 1929. And we've lost over 60 seats since 2010.

The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again. And you keep, you know, keep getting the same results, so time to move on, I think.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: Ryan is also pushing back against Pelosi's contention that she has the job locked up. Pelosi says she has two-thirds of the support of her caucus. Ryan told me he does not think that is the case.

One wild card here is Congressman Joe Crowley, who's the number-five Democrat in the House Democratic leadership, is also considering a run. He's being urged by some of the members to do so. I asked him, are you going to run against Pelosi. He would not rule it out.

So, watch for either Crowley or Ryan to mount a challenge against Pelosi - Wolf?

BLITZER: I know there's an increasing number of members who are suggesting, you know what, they admire Nancy Pelosi, they respect her, the first woman to be the speaker of the House, but they're sort of hoping she gets the hints from some of these members who are publicly now going out, saying it's time for her to move on, and simply step back and give a chance to someone else.

In her news conference, today, is there anything at all you're hearing that she would be willing to do that, simply say, you know what, I'm ready to move on, let somebody else take over?

RAJU: There's no indication of that, Wolf. In fact, she is confident that any of these challenges she will flatly reject. I asked her, are you concerned at all about your hold on the leadership? She said no, flatly. She thinks she's in a good spot. She has deep support, she believes, within her caucus. And she's raised a ton of money for these members. So, they owe her a lot, too -- Wolf.

BLITZER: All right, Manu, thanks very much. We'll watch this closely on Capitol Hill together with you.

Coming up, repealing and replacing Obamacare, certainly, was a cornerstone of Donald Trump's winning campaign. Up next, Republican Senator John Barrasso, he's coming in. He's going to explain the very latest.

Senator, thanks very much for joining us.

SEN. JOHN BARROSSO, (R), WYOMING: Thank you, Wolf.

BLITZER: We'll discuss this and more.

BARROSSO: Looking forward to it.

BLITZER: Thank you.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:43:14] BLITZER: The Trump transition team is pouring through a list of names to fill various White House staff positions, top cabinet positions. Lots of political appointees need to come forward, 4,000 of them. That's the responsibility of the president-elect.

As we mentioned earlier, the president-elect is meeting today with South Carolina's Governor Nikki Haley. Her name has been floated for possibility as secretary of state. She is certainly a respected governor, but she has little to no real foreign policy experience.

Joining us now, Senator John Barrasso, of Wyoming, a key member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Senator, thanks very much for joining us.

BARROSSO: Thanks for having me.

BLITZER: Nikki Haley, secretary of state? I could understand, maybe other positions, but she really doesn't have much foreign policy experience. BARRASSO: I think it's a very good sign that President-elect Trump is

broadening his look to see who he wants to bring into the cabinet. He could be talking to her about anything. He could be talking to her about anything. But even - he's even involved Mitt Romney, I understand -

(CROSSTALK)

BLITZER: Yeah, and we broke the news -- Mark Preston, our CNN Politics executive editor. He reported that Mitt Romney and Donald Trump will meet this weekend and have a conversation, and maybe even the possibility of Mitt Romney joining the Trump administration. What do you think about that?

BARRASSO: I think it's very good news to see we're looking at Donald Trump going way beyond people that were just loyal to him in the beginning and all the way through the campaign. This says he wants to put America first, get the economy going again, make sure the jobs are back, deal with all the issues affecting our country to build a stronger America for all of us. And whether somebody was for him or not in the primary, the general election, it doesn't matter now. He wants the best government, best presidency he can have.

BLITZER: Mitt Romney was the Republican nominee four years ago. Lost. President Obama was re-elected. What cabinet position would you like to see potentially a Mitt Romney to have?

BARRASSO: This is for Trump to decide. There's been so many names and wonderful people but I'm just happy to see that Donald Trump is looking way beyond just the loyalists who might have been with him. Nothing wrong with any of them. But he has a broad area to draw from, people who can actually help the American economy and the people of this country.

[13:45:14] BLITZER: Yeah, but I think a Mitt Romney as maybe possibly secretary the Treasury because of his business experience. Certainly, secretary of state as well. He, potentially, could have that job.

BARRASSO: Yes, he'd be -- I think he'd be very good, incredible at a lot of jobs. I think he would have been an excellent president of the United States. I supported him. I'm delighted that Donald Trump is there right now.

BLITZER: Ted Cruz, he was there yesterday at Trump Tower. There was a lot of bad blood, as you know, during the course of the campaign. All of a sudden, he shows us, has a meeting, and there's some speculation -- I don't know if this is realistic or not -- U.S. Supreme Court.

BARRASSO: He was a clerk for the Supreme court for Justice Rehnquist. Serves in the Senate now but he is young, he's conservative, has really a brilliant legal mind. You know, you look to somebody who is a young Scalia, that's Ted Cruz. He's thoughtful, knows the law. He's not somebody to create new law. He's somebody who interprets the law as it is. And he could be there a long time. BLITZER: If he's in his mid-40s, he could be there 30 or maybe 40

years-plus. Plus, that would have a huge impact on the future of the Supreme Court, given his positions.

BARRASSO: And he argues very influentially. He's be a very effective in that position. Because we talked about this presidential election, about being a four-year term, but those Supreme Court appointments can last, as you say, 30 or 40 years.

BLITZER: Elections have consequences, as we all know.

So, what do you think about Rudy Giuliani as a possible secretary of state? Because clearly seems to be lobbying for it.

BARRASSO: Well, I think there are a number of people who were during the campaign putting forth their best foot to hopefully appeal to a President Obama. He's certainly one of those. He's very qualified. I think he did a great job as mayor of New York City.

President Donald Trump will make the decisions. There's still plenty of time to make decisions. It's still over two months until the president takes office. It's normally at least a month and a half before presidents put forth their cabinet. I think he's just acquiring lots of information, talking to a lot of people, and seeing what the best pieces to fit together to get that Rubik's Cube to be the best governing administration we can have.

BLITZER: President Obama, a little while ago, wrapped up a joint press conference in Germany with Angela Merkel, the chancellor. He had this to say. Let me play this little clip and then we'll discuss.

BARRASSO: OK.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF GTHE UNITED STATES: He ran an extraordinarily unconventional campaign and it resulted in the biggest political upset in perhaps modern political history, American history. And that means that he now has to transition to governance. Now what I've said to him was that what may work in generating enthusiasm or passion during elections may be different than what will work in terms of unifying the country and gaining the trust even of those who didn't support him.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: That's a common theme now, that -- a familiar theme that he is now making, President Obama, about Donald Trump. It's one thing to campaign. You say a lot of things. You do a lot of things. It's another thing to govern.

BARRASSO: That's why I'm so excited to see the number of people that Donald Trump is considering for positions in government. He's not just sticking with loyalists. He's going way beyond that to people, some whom he ran against, others who spoke out against his nomination, but I think it shows how broad-minded he is and willing to do these sorts of things.

The president also gave a talk and talked about Russia a little bit and foreign policy. Well, speeches that the president gave, to which he won the Nobel Prize early in his administration, I think the United States is weaker now than we were at the time he came into office. The reset with Russia failed. The red line in Syria turned into a green light to allow Assad to continue. So, the president's right in terms of how you campaign and how you govern, but speeches you give don't absolutely apply to what happens on the ground, and we saw that with Russia and we're paying a price right now.

BLITZER: Senator Barrasso, thanks very much for coming in.

BARRASSO: Thanks for having me.

[13:49:16] BLITZER: Coming up, an emotional speech. Hillary Clinton tells Americans to never give up. That's next.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(CHEERING)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Hillary Clinton, making an emotional appearance last night. She spoke at an event for the Children's Defense Fund, the organization she worked for at the start of her career 40 years ago. She admitted that her lose hasn't been easy for her or her supporters.

CNN's Kyung Lah reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LEONORA PITTS, CLINTON SUPPORTER: All right, you ready to get moving?

KYUNG LAH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Nothing in Leonora Pitts' routine in her liberal community in Los Angeles has changed in the week since the presidential election. Yet, everything has.

PITTS: As comforting our bubble is that we live and as hard as it is to have these conversations now. It's important to -- I'm sorry. It's important to sympathize. It's important to start listening.

LAH (on camera): Why is this so personal for you?

PITTS: Children matter to me and minorities matter to me because they're my friends and my community, and I want to make sure they're OK and they don't feel OK. And they don't feel OK. They feel really scared.

LAH: If 2016 was identify politics, women across social media feel theirs is under attack in Clinton's loss.

Video messages from Miley Cyrus -- LAH (voice-over): From Miley Cyrus --

MILEY CYRUS, SINGER: Please treat people with love, treat people with compassion and treat people with respect.

LAH: -- to ordinary voters.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This country is my home and I feel like it's not -- I feel like I'm not welcome here anymore

LAH: Emotion has spilled onto the streets of Los Angeles. Mothers carrying signs and children. Students walking out of classrooms at UCLA.

These UCLA students supported Hillary Clinton.

(on camera): When you say you have fear in you, what do you mean?

[13:55:01] HANNA ALMALSSI, UCLA STUDENT: Well, I'm a woman, I'm black, I'm Muslim, and those three factors -- basically, being a black America today is very scary. And Trump being elected just further builds onto my fears.

ABBEY CHAPMAN, UCLA STUDENT: I think it scares me about how people look at me as a woman, you know? How can I go forward knowing that people are OK with somebody coming out and bragging about sexual assault and then still voting for that person?

MELISSA MEISELS, UCLA STUDENT: I've had to wake up to the reality that a lot of America is like.

LAH (voice-over): More than a week on, west coast women are learning about their new national reality. It doesn't look like any reality they believed they were living.

PITTS: Underlying fear that's permeating everything and it's -- it's unsettling. It's an unsettling feeling for me.

LAH: Kyung Lah, CNN, Los Angeles.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: Thank you, Kyung.

The news continues right after a quick break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:00:12] BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: And here we go. Top of the hour. I'm Brooke Baldwin.