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Democrats Battle for House Minority Leader Position; 4 Police Officers Shot in 3 States, Manhunt in Texas; Concerns over Possible Trump Conflicts of Interest; Many Living in East Aleppo Want to Leave But Can't; Trump's Campaign Rhetoric on China Raises Concerns. Aired 1:30-2p ET

Aired November 21, 2016 - 13:59   ET

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

[13:30:00] BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: Is that something on a wider scale that needs to be looked at by the party?

REP. GREGORY MEEKS, (D), NEW YORK: I think that's what we're talking about within the Democratic structure. Structure -

(CROSSTALK)

KEILAR: But how do you do that? What do you want to see done so that? For instance, you know -- I mean, Nancy Pelosi being from northern California, that is not a bastion of, you know -- not a lot -- that's not blue dog Democrat or something like that. How do you create that conversation in a tangible way?

MEEKS: Well I think that's what happens, and I think there is too much stress on Nancy Pelosi, because the folks that I'm talking about it, they're talking about the leadership overall. Nancy Pelosi, it's Steny Hoyer. It's Jim Clyburn. It had been Xavier Becerra, chairman of the caucus. Anybody talking among ourselves and we have ways to create opportunities for individuals in different areas so they have the kind of support that they need to move forward, and in targeting their particular districts. I'm one who believes that no member, when you talk about a House seat, and they do. And so, therefore, it's working on the ground with the issues that are important on those local elections that becomes important. Especially in a 2018 when there's not necessarily a national message that has to go through. It's all about politics on a local basis. And Nancy Pelosi has been -- you know, it is difficult when you are the conductor, and she has been a conductor of what I believe is a good thing. of a diverse caucus, the most diverse caucus we've ever had in our life. When you have that, you have to try to make sure that you balance the sides. But you also have to make sure that individuals have an opportunity conversation. And the conductor listens to what that is, and I think that's what we're doing now. And as I've witnessed in the meetings we've had, Nancy has been listening.

KEILAR: All right. We will see what happens next week.

Congressman Meeks, thank you for being with us.

And next, four police officers were shot across three states in less than 24 hours. What we know about the shooters and the active manhunt under way in Texas, after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:36:37] KEILAR: It was a devastating weekend for law enforcement across the U.S. Four officers shot in three states, three different states in less hours. Two of the attacks happened in Missouri, first, in St. Louis and then another shooting in the town of Gladstone. A third officer shot in Sanibel, Florida. And in Texas, police are hunting for this man. They suspect -- they say, he is a suspect in what was an ambush-style shooting of a police officer in San Antonio. 50-year-old detective Benjamin Marconi, a 20-year veteran, sitting in his police car outside of headquarters when he was fatally shot in the head.

Polo Sandoval is in San Antonio.

And police released two videos, Polo. What do they show?

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Brianna, appears to be a brazen move by this alleged killer. investigators say he walked into a san Antonio headquarters the morning of the shooting just hours before he would allegedly shoot and kill Detective Ben Marconi. What's interesting here, Brianna, we're not quite sure what he was doing here to begin with. Investigators say that he was buzzed into the facility itself, approached the clerk, had a brief exchange with the clerk. The clerk then offered to help him with some sort of issue and, 20 seconds later, basically, turned around, left the station. A couple hours later, then he would allegedly pull up behind Detective Marconi's car, walk up to the driver's side, shoot not once but two times in the head.

Now the search is or for this individual. They haven't identified him yet so their hoping someone can recognize him by putting out this video. The one question, who could potentially have been involved. The other is about a possible motive.

I want you to hear from the police chief, why they believe their police officer was shot and killed.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WILLIAM MCMANUS, CHIEF, SAN ANTONIO POLICE DEPARTMENT: I think that the uniform was the target, and anyone who happened, the first person who happened along was the person that he targeted.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: The police chief now pleading with the public, asking for any help. They have high hopes of identifying this man and being able to track him down very soon. They say he's a risk not only to other police officers but also to the general public as well.

What seems to be fueling this manhunt, Brianna, is interesting, because for officers, this is painful and also personal. Think about it. These officers are walking in and out of this facility and they're seeing this. They're seeing this makeshift memorial and obviously hoping to bring closure to this, and especially for the family of Detective Marconi.

[13:39:09] KEILAR: So stunning that it happened right there outside of the H.Q.

Polo Sandoval, thank you so much, in San Antonio.

Back to politics after the break. As Donald Trump meets with potential cabinet picks, his team looks to solve potential conflicts of interest. Up next, we'll be talking about the president-elect's vast global business ties and how he separates that from his official business as president.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KEILAR: Donald Trump vows to separate his business empire and the presidency, but there's much concern over the hundreds of potential business conflicts that may make their way into the White House. This includes the recent meeting with three Indian business partners who are building a luxury apartment complex south of Mumbai. "The Washington Post" reporting that foreign diplomats are now flocking to Trump's hotel in D.C. to do business. And just last week, his daughter, Ivanka, who is expected to take over parts of his business empire, sat in on the president-elect's the meeting with Japan's prime minister.

Trump's incoming chief of staff, Reince Priebus, now responding.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REINCE PRIEBUS, INCOMING WHITE HOUSE CHIEF OF STAFF: Donald Trump has been very clear from the very beginning that his family is very important to him. And I think that while it's unique, it's certainly compliant with the law. And obviously, we will comply with all of those laws, and we will have our White House counsel review all of these things. And we will have every -- every "I" dotted and every "t" crossed. And I can assure the American people there wouldn't be any wrongdoing, or any sort of undue influence over any decision- making.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: "CNN Money" correspondent, Cristina Alesci; and CNN investigative reporter, Drew Griffin, both looking at this.

Drew, how far reaching -- this is really the issue - are Trump's business ties.

DREW GRIFFIN, CNN CHIEDF INVESTIGATIVE CORERSPONDENT: This is uncharted territory for a president-elect, for sure. He is connected to more than 100 companies with business dealings abroad, hotels, condos, golf courses. One of those is the Trump Tower they're building in India, the first Trump brand in India. Owners of the building were in New York last week and happened to meet with Donald Trump. We don't know what they talked about, but there was that photo on social media, including Eric Trump and Ivanka Trump. That's been taken down. Trump's vice president of marketing said no business of any sort was

conducted, but it's raised alarm bells, Brianna, about a businessman with worldwide business ties heading into the White House and what to do about it.

Many of these businesses ties, just like India, are licensing deals. Companies pay Donald Trump to license his name, put Trump logo on their building. They're also licensing his brand. They are getting the advice of Trump's children on everything from design, price and marketing. While they buy the brand name, they are also buying the Trump expertise, which allows many of these projects to get upwards of 30 percent more for the condos or hotels than their competitors. Of course, the Trumps want to make sure the quality of the brand is upheld. That's why you've seen Donald Trump talking about passing the business to his kids rather than ideas about liquidating the business because the business is Trump.

From a conversation I had with Trump's attorney way back in January, the organization then was already trying to plan for a post-Donald Trump, Trump Organization.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[13:46:15] ALAN GARTEN, ATTORNEY FOR DONALD TRUMP: As things get closer, and as he continues to lead, the issues have to be dealt with. I can't get into details but, yeah, there's real issues there that have to be addressed. Obviously, there's a lot of intelligent people working on these issues.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRIFFIN: How far they've gotten since then, Brianna, I tried to reach Alan Garten about this several times now that Trump is president- elect. I haven't heard back. But the Trump brand only exists with Trumps involved. You may have the president-elect separating from the business, but based on my recording, I don't think you can cut the Trump kids out of -- this brand is the Trumps. It's what they're selling.

KEILAR: Yes. And he clearly going to have so much counsel from his children so there you see the overlap.

Cristina, a constitutional clause that Trump could violate. Some bringing this up. What can you tell us?

CRISTINA ALESCI, CNN MONEY CORRESPONDENT: The ethics experts are calling it a, quote, unquote, "a constitutional crisis." Here's why. They are raising questions, serious concerns, about what's calmed the emolument clause in the Constitution. Before your eyes glaze over, let me just explain. The section bars government officials from accepting, without the consent of Congress, payments or gifts of any kind whatever from any king, prince or foreign state. And this, I should say, is regardless whether the U.S. official, like a president, returns the favor in exchange for the gift.

Look, in Trump's case, we're talking about business deals, not gifts. But the question is, can any of the terms of these specific deals Drew was talking about, can they constitute a gift? And the answer really depends on whether Trump's companies are getting a special term when they're negotiating the deals. For example, which he gets a loan, does it come with a lower interest rate or a special sweetener, like a bonus? This, as Drew said, is really uncharted territory. And the clause hasn't been tested in the president's office. Most sources say Trump isn't an immediate risk of an investigation because Republicans control Congress and they are unlikely to launch one, day one.

So, government officials are waiting to see how he handles this conflict, but you know, the plan to turn it over to his children, turn his business over to his children, but it doesn't seem to protect him in this case. He would essentially have to sell his holdings completely in order to shield himself from the kind of scrutiny that he's already getting, Brianna. We're all over this.

KEILAR: Hard to see him doing that.

All right, word of the day, "emolument."

(LAUGHTER)

Cristina Alesci, thank you very much.

Drew Griffin, thank you so much.

Coming up, six straight days of heavy air strikes has left much of Aleppo under ruble. As the death toll rises over 300, not a single hospital operating at full capacity. That's next.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(EXPLOSION)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:53:09] KEILAR: It is the scene of sheer horror and, tragically, it's the scene of everyday life for residents of Aleppo, Syria. They're short of food. Roads are full of rubble. Hospitals are destroyed after days of devastating attack. One resident described the city as, quote, "a holocaust."

CNN international correspondent, Will Ripley, is covering this story from Istanbul for us.

Will, in one week, more than 300 people have been killed by Syrian regime air strikes. So many have asked the question, why don't people leave? I know that's something you have posed to folks there.

WILL RIPLEY, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: People don't trust the humanitarian corridors because they say that snipers on both sides, the rebel side and government side, would open fire on people who try to leave through those humanitarian corridors. Today, Ambassador Samantha Power spoke to the U.N. Security Council briefing on Syria, and she said that during this three-week humanitarian pause before this latest onslaught, Russian and Syrian troops did not allow one single parcel of food or medicine into that city to help those people during those three weeks when those air strikes weren't happening. She's continuing to call on Syria and Syrian President Bashar al Assad and Russian President Vladimir Putin to stop these activities. it's not just eastern Aleppo being bombed and starved out. It's happening across Syria. Russian and Syrian planes dropping bombs and not allowing food and supplies into people. About a million people living under siege right now in Syria.

KEILAR: You've spoken to many of them. They are responding to the election in the U.S. How do they feel about the result?

RIPLEY: Well, they're afraid because of comments Syrian President Bashar al Assad gave to a Portuguese television station where he believes he and Donald Trump could be natural allies in the fight against terrorism. His definition of terrorist targets has included, in the last week, many of the city's hospitals, many of which are not fully functioning to service a quarter million of people and large number of trauma patients after the bombings. His targets of terrorist activities apparently include schools with children inside, and apparently include people's homes as well, because that's what's being bombed, that's what's being destroyed.

[13:55:28] KEILAR: Will Ripley, thank you for that report. We're going to continue with you to keep an eye on the situation there in Aleppo.

On the campaign trail, President-elect Trump frequently slammed China's economic policy, accusing them of currency manipulation, threatening to impose stiff tariffs.

As CNN's Matt Rivers shows us, if Trump's talk becomes policy, many are wondering where that leaves the relationship between U.S. and China.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MATT RIVERS, CNN ASIA-PACIFIC EDITOR (voice-over): Scenes of cooperation in southwest China as U.S. and Chinese soldiers work together to free a victim trapped in rubble or to treat an injured person or build a bridge to rescue people trapped on the other side of a river. It's a joint disaster relief exercise overseen by top U.S. and China commanders.

(on camera): This is the fourth such disaster relief drill since 2013. And it is a show of good will from both sides.

But this friendly atmosphere going on here is a strake contrast to what's going on not far away from here, where the U.S. and Chinese navies are locked in a tense standoff in the South China Sea.

(voice-over): Since 2012, the Chinese have seized territory and militarized artificial islands in the region. In response, the U.S. has sailed warships and flown planes nearby. The delicate stalemate is part of a complicated relationship between

the world's two largest militaries that the new U.S. commander-in- chief will have to manage.

But what will U.S. President-elect Trump's military policy towards China look like? In short, it's hard to tell. Trump largely avoided the issue on the campaign trail, driving home an anti-China economic message instead.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT-ELECT OF THE UNITED STATES: We can't continue to allow China to rape our can country. That's what they're doing.

RIVERS: Some analysts have speculated Trump could give China more of a free pass in the South China Sea. Instead, focusing on other issues like trade.

But others point to who might join Trump's administration and say a "tough on China" policy could be in the work.

TONG ZHAO, RESEARCHER, CARNEGIE TSINGHUA CENTER FOR GLOBAL POLICY; Very conservative people who really embrace very anti-China rhetoric.

RIVERS: Trump's pick for national security adviser, retired General Mike Flynn, said, quote, "China should certainly be viewed as an enemy of the United States."

Retired General James Mattis, a top contender for defense secretary, last year, called for a, quote, "police to build the counterbalance if China continues to expand its bullying role in South China Sea."

(SHOUTING)

RIVERS: Back at the disaster relief exercise, CNN asked another expert, four-star General Robert Brown, commander of the U.S. Army, Pacific, what advice he would give to the Trump administration on China if asked?

GEN. ROBERT BROWN, COMMANDER, U.S. ARMY, PACIFIC: The more you can build relationships, it leads to trust. When you have trust, you can have differences.

RIVERS: Those differences were put aside at this joint training.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you.

RIVERS: But it will be up to Donald Trump and his administration if any more group photos will be taken in years to come.

(APPLAUSE)

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KEILAR: Matt Rivers joining us now from Beijing.

Matt, you had the Chinese president saying that this relationship between the U.S. and China is now at a hinge moment. I wonder, as we've seen this -- you know, there was so much talk about the Trans- Pacific Partnership, and trade was such an issue in the election here, that pact is now gone. That was a pact that allowed the U.S. and many Asia-Pacific nations to join together as a counter to China. So, now how does China, in light of that, in light of Donald Trump being in the White House, see its role in the region?

RIVERS: Its role in the region is perhaps one where China's leaders see a bit of optimism now that Donald Trump will take office in January. China has long tried to bring Asian nations into its economic sphere. If the United States kind of moves out of the picture more, if that TTP deal is dead in the water, as it does appear to be, then China could maybe pick up the slack, and other countries looking for that big economic power to side with would go with China.

I'll add, it's not just the economics of all of this. It's also the military side of this. If Donald Trump focuses more on domestic issues, perhaps then the U.S. military won't have as big of a presence, a deterrent presence in the South China Sea, allowing China to try and go towards its own path a little more easier, and expand in the South China Sea like it wants to.

So, both on the economic side and the geopolitical side, perhaps an opportunity for China with the election of Donald Trump - Brianna?

KEILAR: Matt Rivers, thank you for that report from Beijing.

That's it for me.

NEWSROOM with Pamela Brown starts right now.

[14:00:07] PAMELA BROWN, CNN ANCHOR: Hello. I'm Pamela Brown, in for Brooke Baldwin on this Monday.

As President-elect Trump builds his team, while he shows he's --