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Fear of Trump; President Obama Holds News Conference. Aired 3- 3:30p ET

Aired November 14, 2016 - 15:00   ET

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


[15:00:00]

JAKE TAPPER, CNN ANCHOR: The transition of power is well under way.

But if you thought the breakneck speed of the presidential campaign might recede a bit, you might get some days off in this 71 days until the inauguration, well, think again.

In just minutes, President Obama will walk out to that podium and give his first extended Q&A, his first extended news conference with reporters since American voters elected Donald Trump president of the United States.

The last time we saw President Obama, he said some nice things about the president-elect. They were sitting in the Oval Office together. But we have learned since that, during that meeting and meetings with Trump officials, some White House staffers say they were taken aback by how little the president-elect and his team were aware of what exactly it takes to run the White House, how many staffers they would be inheriting vs. how many they would have to appoint within that building.

President-elect Trump made two pivotal governing decisions yesterday, signaling how his administration will run. He selected RNC Chairman Reince Priebus as the White House chief of staff. It's a move applauded by establishment Republicans, many of whom have very close relations with Mr. Priebus.

The president-elect, also much more controversial, made Breitbart chairman Steve Bannon his chief strategist. That's a move that has been denounced not only by many Republican and Democratic officials in Washington, but by the Southern Poverty Law Center and the Anti- Defamation League, both of whom suggest that Mr. Bannon has made hate- mongering and white supremacy palatable at the Breitbart site.

A press release from the transition team framed Bannon and Priebus as -- quote -- "equal partners."

Athena Jones is at the White House right now, where President Obama will come out in minutes for this news conference.

And, Athena, President Obama over and over again on the campaign trail talked about how in his view the now president-elect, Mr. Trump, was unfit to be commander in chief. There's no way he's still not going to be asked if he agrees with what he said before the election. Is there any indication how President Obama might answer that question today?

ATHENA JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Jake.

That's a question that's going to be top of mind for the dozens of reporters in this room. And there's some hints at how the president might answer it today. We did hear White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest asked last week about many of the forceful things the president has said about Donald Trump over the past many months, painting him at some points as an existential threat to the country.

And Josh Earnest said that, look, this was the president using forceful language to illustrate why he was so passionately in support of Hillary Clinton as the person that he thought should replace him. Josh Earnest said that these were -- quote -- "authentic views that haven't changed."

But, of course, now the president has had a chance to sit down with president-elect Donald Trump, spend an hour-and-a-half in the Oval Office, talk to him. We will have to see if anything has changed about his views of Trump's fitness to hold the office.

We will have to wait and see. I can tell you, though, that much of the White House team, including the president himself, have said that now they are focused on a smooth and peaceful and professional transition. They have talked a lot about how they -- how much they appreciate the way George W. Bush's team handled the transition of power back in 2008 and 2009.

And the president himself said after that Oval Office meeting last week that his number one priority over the next couple of months is to make sure that there's a successful transition to a president-elect or a President Trump, saying that making sure he's successful means that America succeeds.

TAPPER: And, Athena, what about White House staffers saying that Trump and his transition team didn't fully seem to understand the magnitude, the scope of the job? Are they saying that out of alarm or are they saying that to signal to Republicans in town that maybe the Trump team needs help? What are they saying to you?

JONES: Well, I think that the bottom line is that this election surprised a lot of people. It certainly surprised the folks here at the White House. It surprised the Trump campaign.

We have heard a lot of reporting to that effect. So, I think they were a bit just surprised that the Trump team coming in and Donald Trump himself had what's been described as a very rudimentary grasp of White House operations.

You talked about not being clear on how many people have to be replaced, for instance, in this building. Officials here have described it as a wakeup call of sorts, revealing the amount of work that has to be done over the coming -- I guess it's a little under 70 days now before Donald Trump is sworn in and take over here at the White House. We do know that it wasn't his whole team that came here last Thursday.

More formal sessions are planned between the incoming administration and the outgoing administration in the coming weeks, including more talks of consultations between president-elect Trump and President Obama -- Jake.

TAPPER: All right, Athena, stand by. We will come back to you in a second.

[15:05:01]

Also likely to come up in just minutes at President Obama's news conference, president-elect Trump's first governing decisions which have been made, in particular his crowning of the controversial Steve Bannon as White House chief strategist.

And senior counselor Kellyanne Conway called Bannon the general who led Trump's army to a White House win. But groups the combat prejudice and bigotry and even some former employees at Breitbart say that Bannon has tried to mainstream the racist and anti-Semitic ideologies of what is called the alt-right, the alt-right something of a combination of conservatives and populists along with white supremacists and anti-Semites.

Jim Acosta has more on the Bannon appointment and how it's worrying both Democrats and Republicans.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JIM ACOSTA, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In selecting Stephen Bannon as chief strategist, Donald Trump has invited into the Oval Office one of the leaders of the so-called alt-right movement, a combination of conservatives, populists, white supremacists, and anti-Semites.

Trump's campaign says Bannon will act as -- quote -- "equal partners" with RNC Chair Reince Priebus, who will serve as White House chief of staff.

Meantime, top Trump advisers are praising the Bannon pick.

KELLYANNE CONWAY, TRUMP CAMPAIGN MANAGER: It was great, because Steve Bannon has been the general of this campaign.

ACOSTA: Bannon is already coming under fire over his time as chairman of Breitbart News, which at times has featured anti-Semitic and white supremacist material, with headlines that call conservative columnist Bill Kristol a renegade Jew, advised women subjected to online harassment to simply log on, and alleged that political correctness protects a -- quote -- "Muslim rape culture."

For years, he's called for a takeover of the Republican Party.

STEVE BANNON, DONALD TRUMP CAMPAIGN CEO: What we need to do is bitch- slap the Republican Party and get those guys heeding to. And if we have to, we will take it over. ACOSTA: A spokesman for retiring Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid

said in a statement: "President-elect Trump's choice of Steve Bannon as his top aide signals that white supremacists will be represented at the highest levels in Trump's White House."

REINCE PRIEBUS, REPUBLICAN NATIONAL COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN: The guy I know is a guy that isn't any of those things. He is a guy who is pretty -- he's very, very smart, very temperate.

ACOSTA: The Bannon pick could inflame anti-Trump protesters and rattle a nation that is witnessing a rise in hateful rhetoric, like the reports of churches vandalized with neo-Nazi messaging and attacks on minorities, which Trump told "60 Minutes" must come to an end.

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENT-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 camera: Stop it.

ACOSTA: On the issues, Trump so far signaling a potential softening on sensitive topics, suggesting he won't work to outlaw same-sex marriage.

TRUMP: These cases have gone to the Supreme Court. They have been settled. And I think -- and I'm fine with that.

ACOSTA: But on another front, Roe vs. Wade Trump said he would appoint anti-abortion judges and, if it's overturned, it would be up to the states to decide.

TRUMP: Well, they will perhaps have to go to another -- they will have go to another state.

ACOSTA: As for Trump's signature campaign issue:

TRUMP: Don't worry about it. We're going to build the wall, folks. Don't worry.

ACOSTA: The president-elect sounds open to something less than a wall along the Mexican border.

(CROSSTALK)

TRUMP: Yes, it could be some fencing.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ACOSTA: Some white hoe staffers told CNN they were surprised by Trump's very basic understanding of White House operations.

As for Bannon, a key transition source tells CNN the Breitbart News executive is simply being given too much power -- Jake.

TAPPER: Jim Acosta, thank you so much.

I want to bring in our panel now while we wait for President Obama to come to the lectern and begin a news conference. We have with us CNN chief political analyst Gloria Borger, CNN

political commentator S.E. Cupp, and former senior adviser to the Trump campaign, former Congressman Jack Kingston.

Again, we're minutes away from President Obama news conference. We're going to talk about what we expect him to say and much more.

But let's go talk about what's going on right now with the Stephen Bannon pick, because I think that's alarming a lot of people.

Congressman, I do think that there is in Washington and around the nation a willingness to give Donald Trump a chance. I don't know that the Bannon pick is reassuring a lot of people. Do you understand why?

JACK KINGSTON (R), FORMER U.S. CONGRESSMAN: Well, I understand why. And I know that there are a lot of people who have some emotions about this and I think that's natural.

I have been on the losing side and I know how these things go. But if you look at the time from Steve Bannon joined the Trump campaign and all the same accusations we heard in early August, none of that happened. When you hear groups like Southern Poverty Law Center, which was denounced and discredited by the FBI in 2014 and no only used for a hate crime resource, this is an ultra-left-wing organization.

Of course they're going to jump on Steve Bannon and probably a dozen other appointees before it's over with.

TAPPER: What about the Anti-Defamation League?

KINGSTON: Well, when we hear from ex-spouses and we say something that happened I think it was 20 years ago in the 1990s is credible, I just don't think that stands up to what we have seen since Steve Bannon has been in this campaign.

[15:10:03]

Most of the angst Donald Trump happened pre-Bannon. And I think that when he's through picking his Cabinet and all his appointees, and it's very inclusive, I think people are going to breathe a sigh of relief and eventually get behind him.

TAPPER: What do you think, S.E.?

S.E. CUPP, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: It didn't really matter when Steve Bannon came into the campaign. Anyone who has read Breitbart content has to leave with the impression that it is a safe place for bigots and anti-Semites and misogynists and xenophobes.

And Steve Bannon brings that to the White House. And so that is deeply disconcerting. I think what Donald Trump did with this very first important decision was, he split the baby. He tried to please establishment Republicans and the alt-right.

And when you try to please everyone, you end up pleasing no one. I also think it's a really unfortunate missed opportunity. You have three white guys in charge of the country, four, if you include Mike Pence, when you had something capable like Kellyanne Conway, who has tirelessly steered Donald Trump in the right directions, and would have made a great chief of staff.

So, I just think, all around, missed opportunity.

GLORIA BORGER, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: I think we have to see also who gets direct access to Donald Trump.

This White House is going to be different from any other White House we have ever covered. And my guess is that everybody is going to have direct access to this president. The chief of staff is first in line. He's the gatekeeper.

He is the most important staffer in the White House. But a senior counselor, as David Axelrod was, as Karl Rove was, is the president's whisperer. And that's what gives people concern.

I was told by a source who worked in the campaign, who worked alongside Steve Bannon, I was told, look, he is somebody who cares about winning above all else. And he did it during this campaign, even to the point where he said to Donald Trump, don't go to Wisconsin without Paul Ryan. You don't to want start a fight with Paul Ryan right now.

That coming from Bannon was something to behold because he doesn't like Ryan, but they won.

(CROSSTALK)

BORGER: So, the question is, does the fight continue and does he work with Congress or does he just, you know, use this as a platform through channeling through Donald Trump? We don't know the answer to that.

KINGSTON: You know, one thing that I wanted to point out, so much of the criticism now really just comes from those who don't like Donald Trump and they're looking for something to jump on far more than substance.

When you hear a guy is a white supremacist, to me, that invokes Klan. It's sort of lynching. It's destruction of African-American property. Steve Bannon is guilty of none of that.

I would recommend an article written by Ken Stern in "Vanity Fair" just in August about him where he said, on his radio show, Bannon consistently pushed back against any suggestion of racism and always was trying to keep the forum level and balanced.

But I do agree with you, Gloria. I mean, part of what somebody like that does, he's a James Carville, he's a Paul Begala, he's a David Axelrod who sees things strategically. I know many times, as a House member, Karl Rove would say to us, listen, you have got to do Medicare Part D in this form because once it gets out of control it's going to cost a lot more money, sort of a practical blend of politics. TAPPER: With all due respect, the conservatives who have left

Breitbart after Steve Bannon took over talk about how he made business decisions to make Breitbart a site that was hospitable to that kind of warped thinking.

Whether it was a business decision or whether it actually reflects his ideology, this is a real concern. And It's not just put forward by liberals. It is conservatives out there who have worked with him and who left Breitbart.

I want to bring in CNN senior political analyst David Gergen.

David, we saw two separate realities emerge on Twitter last night after the announcements of chief of staff and senior counselor, those Republicans who praised Reince Priebus, while also those who were also ignoring Steve Bannon's new proximity to the Oval Office, Speaker Ryan, Wisconsin governor Scott Walker, Senator Bob Corker of Tennessee, Senator Lindsey Graham all praising the Priebus pick.

And then there are Republicans who went after Bannon, such as the strategist to Republican Governor John Kasich, John Weaver, who wrote -- quote -- "Just to be clear, news media, the next president named a racist anti-Semite as the co-equal of the chief of staff. Not normal."

It's not just the liberals who are attacking this pick, David.

DAVID GERGEN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Absolutely.

And it's been well understood for a long time that Steve Bannon is a scorch-the-earth kind of guy, sort of burn the house down. And there are some who think now that we have Bannon, plus Priebus, maybe only we're only going to burn half of the house down. But we will have to see.

[15:15:00]

I do think that Donald Trump has a history of creating rivalries in his own organization. Did that at the casinos, for example. And he seems to enjoy that, thinks he gets good results out of that.

He also -- of course, that's the way "The Apprentice" -- it was also -- it was intentional stirring up conflict. And so he seems to be drawn to that. But the issue ultimately becomes, the two-headed leadership system we know never survives. And the question is, which one of the two is going to emerge?

It would appear that Priebus has the inside track to being number one, becoming the central power player that past chiefs of staff have been. But you can't count on anything in this environment. I will tell you this, just if I may add this, Jake.

One time I have seen more than one person try to run the White House, which it worked, was the -- in the Reagan administration. As you will famously recall, there was a triumvirate there of Jim Baker, Ed Meese, and Mike Deaver, who were running the place in the beginning. That eventually worked for two reasons. One was that all three knew

they were working with a man who had fixed beliefs, who had fixed principles, knew how he thought the world worked. And, therefore, they couldn't influence him. They couldn't get into fights about that.

And in this case with Trump, you have got a guy, there's going to be a fight every day about what to do between the Bannon forces and the Priebus forces about where to go, what the strategy ought to be. And I think it's going to be more difficult.

But Baker eventually emerged as the number one in the Reagan operation.

BORGER: If you were sure about where Donald Trump was going to wind up on policy, maybe this would be less of an issue.

But we have seen in the first few days of president-elect Trump softening positions, if you will, you know, shading positions on Obamacare, on the wall. And so we're not sure where Donald Trump is going to wind up.

And in talking to people who have been with Donald Trump, it's very are often the last person to talk to him is the person that he ends up agreeing with. And so there is a fear that, OK, what if it's Bannon, if that's the last person? And that's where the fears are coming from, because Bannon has a preexisting -- has a record here.

TAPPER: Preexisting condition.

BORGER: Preexisting condition, I was going to say, right.

(LAUGHTER)

BORGER: And so that's -- you know, that's the fear. Who's going to be the last person?

KINGSTON: Well, let me say this, is I saw the interaction of Dave Bossie, Kellyanne Conway and Steve Bannon. And I did not see any oneupmanship. I thought they all complemented each other.

And then completely separate, you had Reince Priebus and Sean Spicer running the RNC. And it was a parallel organization. But they also worked together. As we can see, it was a winning combination. I truly don't believe that the fears that we're hearing about are founded.

I understand why they're out there, but I think the pushback of it doesn't -- the substance doesn't merit it.

TAPPER: But just a -- just a factual matter, there's a lot of good journalism throughout the Internet. There's certainly solid journalism that I have read in Breitbart.

But here's just an example. There's a thing called a tag. When you write a story, it gets tagged. So, let's say I write a story about Libya, let's say I write a story about Benghazi, tag Benghazi, tag Libya, tag Hillary Clinton, tag whatever.

And you go to the CNN.com site and you can search it and all these stories will come up. Breitbart has a tag, black crime. That's not a tag you are going to find in "The New York Times" or "The Washington Post" or CNN or for FOX News. That is a tag that is appealing to a specific group.

CUPP: There is no denying it. You cannot reshape or repackage what Breitbart is.

And let me speak on behalf of my late friend Andrew Breitbart, not what it started out as, but what it has become now, and openly marketed to this group of people. And I will agree, there is some good journalism, and there were at least some good journalists at Breitbart.com.

But it is inarguable. And so the idea that that has come over to the White House in such an influential position is very alarming. And I have to I have to disagree with my friend David Gergen.

I'm not so sure that Reince has the inside track to the top job. I am worried that Reince was a token to calm the establishment and that Bannon is actually going to be doing more of the strategizing and more of the dirty work.

Donald Trump over the course of the campaign was not always very nice to Reince Priebus. He said at one point he should be ashamed of himself. So, I think actually Trump and Bannon are far more aligned and he trusts him more than he trusts Reince, and that Reince was put in there to please people like Paul Ryan.

TAPPER: There's a lot of fears out there that we have been talking about, many of them theoretical.

But, in sanctuary cities, these are cities throughout the country that have declared that they are not going to enforce federal immigration laws, sanctuary cities, those fears are less theoretical.

[15:20:05]

Now that he's president-elect, Donald Trump has pledged to deport undocumented immigrants in this country illegally, may matter most there in these so-called sanctuary cities, places where officials say they are not going to enforce immigration laws.

The Windy City is where CNN's Rosa Flores joins me now.

Officials there say that they're worried about a health crisis.

Rosa, explain what's going on in Chicago.

ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, you're absolutely right, Jake.

What leaders are calling the situation after the election is a public health crisis because of the number of calls into crisis hot lines and suicide hot lines. They say that they have increased by 200 percent since the election.

And so they are very, very worried. And so they break it down like this. They say that they have found evidence that children have taken the rhetoric from the election as permission to bully immigrants, Muslims, the LGBTQ and other vulnerable communities.

And that's what medical experts here in Chicago are very worried about because they are worried about the mental health effects of those communities.

Now, I should say that Mayor Rahm Emanuel has come out and said that Chicago is a sanctuary city, it will remain a sanctuary city and a safe and secure place for all immigrants -- Jake.

TAPPER: Other mayors of other sanctuary cities, Rosa, are coming out and declaring their status on these undocumented immigrants in their cities, right?

FLORES: You're absolutely right. The concern is widespread.

The mayor of Minneapolis has also come out and said something similar, along the lines of what Mayor Rahm Emanuel has said. In Minneapolis, she has said, look, my police officers are not going to be immigration agents. They're not going to be exercising federal law, again, because they're very concerned, Jake, about the safety and security of certain communities within that city.

TAPPER: Rosa Flores in Chicago.

And we should note, I mean, the hostility is not only one way. Certainly, it seems as though the bulk of these incidents seem to be aimed at minorities. But we have also seen two men arrested in Connecticut for beating up somebody that was holding a Trump sign. There have been other incidents like that.

It's one of the reasons why people have been calling for not just president-elect Trump, but also maybe President Obama -- and maybe we will hear him say that -- but also possibly even Hillary Clinton to come out and tell people to cool it, to cool down.

CUPP: Yes. I watched the "60 Minutes" interview with Donald Trump last night, and he said, I'm going to look straight to the camera and say stop it to his supporters who are engaging in this kind of stuff.

And you have to wonder why he didn't look at the camera throughout the campaign and speak that strongly as he did. Unfortunately, it's too little too late right now. And I think what he's going to need to do is deliver a very serious speech in which he looks to the camera and he says, legal immigration is a good thing. Diversity is a good thing. Living next door to people who don't look like you is what makes America great.

Short of that, the sort of, you know, quick nod, stop it, I don't think that's going to staunch the real anxiety that's out there around the world in lots of different communities over the things he has said and the things he's promised to do. TAPPER: We're going to continue the conversation.

David, we're going to -- I will come right back to you. We're going to take a very quick break.

We're going to squeeze in a commercial and then we're going to keep talking about this subject.

Again, we're waiting for President Obama to come out for this news conference. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:27:24]

TAPPER: We're back with a special edition of CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Jake Tapper.

We're just minutes away from President Obama coming out for a news conference, his first since the election of president-elect Donald Trump.

Let's continue with our panel now.

David Gergen, before we took a break, S.E. Cupp was talking about how she thinks Donald Trump needs to deliver an address and talk to the nation, embracing the pluralism and the diversity of this country, trying to reassure people out there who are, frankly, scared.

GERGEN: I thought S.E. had a good point.

And I agree. I would like to expand the scope of the speech. And that is, I think it's very, very important that the president send a very clear message that he will respect the rights and will not diminish the rights of people who are minorities, of Muslims, of gays, and of many others who feel frightened.

I think he has to be very clear about this. And, Jake, I think he has to do something when he announces his new attorney general selection. I think a bigger speech is going to come in a few days. I think he will probably do the A.G. pretty quickly, but I think at that point he needs to tweet or have an announcement that's very, very clear about this.

There are so many people hurting out there. I got caught up in the demonstrations on Fifth Avenue outside Trump Tower. And there is so much anger, so much fear, that I do think this is unprecedented. We have never had demonstrations in the streets like this after -- the days after an election.

And I think he needs to address it. It's important to set the boat on a good course.

TAPPER: And, Congressman Kingston, I know you want to talk about this as well. KINGSTON: Well, I just wanted to remind everybody that the only

headquarters that was attacked during the campaign was a Republican headquarters in North Carolina.

The only people who have been arrested, to my knowledge, so far, is 71 protesters in Portland, Oregon. We know, in Chicago, for example, that a white Trump voter was beat up by African-American men. And we also know...

(CROSSTALK)

TAPPER: Why does it matter the race of the people that beat him up?

KINGSTON: Because that's what the topic is here, just to quote, xenophobia, homophobia, racist and sexist. That's what we talked about in the last...

(CROSSTALK)

TAPPER: ... had to do was say a Trump voter was beaten up. I don't know why you mentioned the race.

KINGSTON: Because I didn't bring it up. You guys brought it up.

TAPPER: This incident in Chicago?

KINGSTON: Yes.

And let me say this. Far more importantly than that, something that should be focused on is 37 people this weekend were shot in Chicago. It would appear to me that there would be so much common ground to address, hey, here's a problem that Rahm Emanuel should get together with Donald Trump on, and let's address what's happening in the failed city of Chicago, where there's just not the protection for the citizens that you need.

TAPPER: Gloria?

BORGER: You know, as the leader of the consistent, you can't live in a bubble.

And it's hard, particularly when you're in the White House, to live outside that bubble and to see what's going on. I mean, you know, Richard Nixon couldn't see what