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Anderson Cooper 360 Degrees
Trump Denies Turmoil: "It Is Going So Smoothly"; Global Uncertainty Surrounds President-Elect Trump; Clinton Makes First Public Appearance since Election Loss; Megyn Kelly Talks about Donald Trump, Roger Ailes. Aired 8-9p ET
Aired November 16, 2016 - 20:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Good evening. And thanks for joining us tonight.
Donald Trump denying his transition is in turmoil.
[20:00:00] His spokesman calling it very calm, very structured -- not the chaotic knife fight we've been hearing about. And certainly, not a vendetta by Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner against the former transition chief, Chris Christie. That's the official line.
We'll also hear about some new names being mentioned for cabinet positions.
Plus, the Jared Kushner back story, how Chris Christie sent his dad to prison.
Also, FOX News' Megyn Kelly. She joins us tonight on what led up to the debate question that pretty much set the tone for the entire campaign.
We begin with CNN's Jim Acosta outside Trump Tower with the latest in the transition.
What do you know, Jim?
JIM ACOSTA, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Well, Anderson, after days of reports of infighting and score settling inside the Trump transition team, you saw sort of an image reset from Donald Trump and his top advisors earlier today. You know the president-elect put out those tweets saying this is nothing to these reports of problems inside his transition. He says everything is going smoothly.
And you also saw some high profile advisors getting chatty with reporters, coming out in front of cameras. People like Jason Miller, the senior communications adviser, who said, no, there is no knife fight inside the Trump transition team. And even Newt Gingrich who is outside the D.C. transition office saying, no, no, no, we're not going to be filling these positions right away. We have time. We're not going to do it on the media's timetable. But one interesting question has not been resolved yet, and that is
this issue of whether or not Jared Kushner, Donald Trump's son-in-law, the husband of Ivanka Trump, will be receiving the security clearance necessary to receive the presidential daily briefing. Kellyanne Conway, who was the campaign manager, now senior adviser, was asked this question earlier today, Anderson. She said she didn't know the answer, but when she was asked whether that is appropriate, she said, yes, it is appropriate, because if you're going to get the presidential daily briefing, you're going to need that kind of access.
Well, Anderson, that kind of talk has prompted the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee to fire off a letter to Mike Pence, vice president-elect, head of the transition, to say that is not appropriate, son-in-laws do not get that kind of security clearance. So, that is a question that is unresolved at this hour, Anderson.
COOPER: We also have new reporting from the "New York Times" and also "The Wall Street Journal", both correspondents are here with us tonight. We'll talk with them in just a moment.
But, Jim, the president-elect also met with New York's Mayor Bill de Blasio for a little over -- a little more than an hour today. Do we know what they talked about? Because, obviously, they could not be any more different.
ACOSTA: No, that's right. They are probably on opposite ends of the spectrum, no question about it. But what Bill de Blasio came here to talk about and it's not too hard to figure out why, is to talk about immigrant issues.
And so, many of Donald Trump's policies could potentially adversely effect Latino immigrants in this country, Muslim immigrants in this country and Bill de Blasio, the mayor of New York City, he told reporters after his meeting with Donald Trump that he told the president-elect very directly that people in this city, the largest city in America, a city that symbolizes American freedom and its openness to immigrants that people are afraid. That people are afraid of Donald Trump's policies and what they mean for Latino immigrants and for Muslim immigrants.
There was, though, answer from De Blasio as to whether or not Donald Trump would change his policies. But, you know, one big policy that Donald Trump talked about on the campaign trail, Anderson, is ending sanctuary cities and New York City is one of them where law enforcement officers are not required to pass on the criminal status of somebody that they pick up in an arrest off the street.
That is a very critical question because what Donald Trump has said he wants to do right away once he's inaugurated and sworn in as president of the United States is start deporting undocumented criminals. And that is going to potentially and Bill de Blasio said this to Trump earlier today, create a lot of headaches for law enforcement in these cities.
And so, again, more unresolved issues for the president-elect and Bill de Blasio said he was very upfront about it earlier today. COOPER: Yes. More of that later tonight. Jim Acosta, thanks for
latest.
You mentioned Mayor de Blasio, a few dozen blocks down from Fifth Avenue, from Trump Tower, students in New York University fill Washington Square Park. They were joined by students nationwide protesting Trump immigration policies, pressuring officials to make their schools what they called "sanctuary campuses", limiting cooperation when federal immigration authorities when it comes to unauthorized immigrants.
Now, just one of many things to talk about tonight with the panel. Democratic strategist and Clinton 2008 senior campaign advisor, Maria Cardona, Republican strategist and Trump critic, Ana Navarro, CNN political analyst Maggie Haberman, also "Wall Street Journal" senior special writer Monica Langley, and Trump supporters Jeffrey Lord and Andre Bauer.
Monica, I want to start with you, because you just posted a story literally minutes ago on "The Wall Street Journal" about a possible role for Jared Kushner in the White House. What are you learning?
MONICA LANGLEY, SENIOR SPECIAL WRITER, THE WALL STREET JOURNAL: That's right. He's mulling going into the White House officially rather than an informal role as special advisor. Both Reince Priebus, who will be the chief of staff and Steve Bannon, who will be controversial strategic adviser want him there. As you probably know, Jared Kushner served as an intermediary of sorts during the campaign.
COOPER: He had a huge role during the campaign which maybe a lot of people on the outside didn't really realize.
LANGLEY: That's right. He is and was during the campaign and is now Donald Trump's closest advisor and confidant. And between those two very different people, Reince Priebus is total Republican establishment.
[20:05:04] Steve Bannon is the opposite. He's the one that's attracting the controversy. The fiery, you know, populist, nationalist figure. So, they both would like Jared Kushner to continue to be the intermediary and moderator between the two of those factions.
COOPER: Essentially, it's the makeup of the Trump campaign now in the White House.
LANGLEY: Correct. Exactly. And they believe they worked together super well as a team and they want to continue it in the White House.
Now, Jared Kushner is considering it. He has his lawyers looking at how -- I mean, he's a billionaire real estate investor himself. He's married to Ivanka Trump. He has his lawyer look at structures how he would put his real estate business into a blind trust or some other structure, so that he would have no access to its income or distribution.
There are a lot of people raising questions about whether this will violate anti-nepotism laws --
COOPER: Right.
LANGLEY: -- which were put in place after JFK for making Robert Kennedy his attorney general.
Hearing that it wouldn't apply to White House staff person because it's not a cabinet secretary, but to eliminate that, Jared Kushner has said he would not even take a penny from the job. He would take no salary.
So, I think that's still to be determined. He's gotten so much blowback in the last couple of days about his role our not within the transition that he's weighing whether he really wants to go into the White House, or just make this an informal advisory role.
COOPER: Maggie Haberman, what's the latest reporting --
MAGGIE HABERMAN, THE NEW YORK TIMES PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN CORRESPONDENT: We actually reported exactly that over the weekend. That he had his lawyers looking at what role he could play. They were looking at something along the lines of volunteer, because there are strict rules even applying to staff, if it's family member, about what you can do.
So, there were conversations about if Kushner has an office or if he uses a phone. That could end up becoming a problem. They were trying to explore whether they could do it. Whether he's in the White House or not in the White House, he is always going to be incredibly important in running this government in some way or another.
And we reported over the weekend how regardless of who had the chief of staff title, Jared Kushner was still in a lot of ways going to be the last stop. He's who Trump knows best and closest in the triad.
COOPER: I mean, I talked to a former chief of staff under George W. Bush yesterday, Josh Bolten, who was saying you have to have clear delineations in a staff like that in the White House. It seems like this is being set up as the sort of troika. Have we seen that?
HABERMAN: Well, we have seen it in the campaign and we've seen it in the Trump corporate offices, but we have not seen this in the White House to this extent.
I'd say that there is some analogy. It's not perfect. Which is just that if you look at the Obama White House, everybody would always say the chief of staff would be the balance of Valarie Jarrett, who is Obama's senior advisor, and that would sort of limit her role and 17 chiefs of staff later or whatever it was, Valerie Jarrett was still there.
So, I think that you saw some change there. But no, chief of staff manages the staff, does the hiring. It's very specific. And so, it is not what we have seen in the Trump world.
I've had a couple of Trump transition people say to me, what you know about titles, throw it out. Those don't mean anything to us. I think they're going to find that some of these structures are far more permanent than they realize.
COOPER: It's interesting because even Kellyanne Conway during the campaign who, I guess she was campaign director --
LANGLEY: Campaign manager, title.
COOPER: Campaign manager her official title. But in a way, she was sort of chief spokesperson, she was on camera far more than any campaign manager.
LANGLEY: That's right. She was not out with the candidate really at all, except a time or two. And David Bossie was the one inside actually putting together a lot of the strategy about how to run it. But Kellyanne Conway did what Donald Trump wanted her to do. That was to be on camera.
COOPER: So, the idea of -- to Maggie's point about title didn't matter.
LANGLEY: Yes, exactly.
COOPER: Jeffrey, I mean, you worked in the White House. What do you think about this sort of --
JEFFREY LORD, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I mean, I think it is a great idea. What this reminds me of exactly is Ronald Reagan's troika, which was Jim Baker as chief of staff, Ed Meese in a Steve Bannon role, is counselor, and Mike Deaver who was like a son to the Reagans in the Jared Kushner role.
Every president has a Jared Kushner. Sometimes as in the Reagan's case, somebody who is like a son to them. It's on friend. All the way back to Wilson and FDR, all the way through the Kennedy administration and on to today with Valerie Jarrett.
So, there's always somebody like that. It's always good for the president because he has ultimate trust in that person's loyalty and judgment. And it's a good thing. I happen too know him and think would be great in the job.
COOPER: Andre, I guess you take a look back in the George W. Bush administration where you had Karl Rove but you also had chiefs of staff. Not necessarily troika, but at least sort of two people who had the president's ear.
ANDRE BAUER, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I think this is showing new things to come. Protocol is thrown out the window now. You have a businessman in the White House now who's not to conform and not going to worry about what the press is saying.
[20:10:03] He's going to make the best decision he thinks will help him get the job done. And I think the American people asked for that. So, it's refreshing.
He's going make it fun to watch politics again for all of us covering it.
COOPER: For all the talk --
(LAUGHTER)
LORD: Ana looks thrilled.
ANA NAVARRO, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Are we having fun yet?
COOPER: But, Maggie, for all the talk, Donald Trump pushing back on "New York Times" reporting saying, look, things are going incredibly smoothly. Everything is great with the transition.
You know, Mike Rogers who left yesterday, who I talked to yesterday said, look, there are clearly some issues. He believes it is going to get worked out. He wouldn't as far as to say knife fight or anything like that. But he said there's clearly some issues.
HABERMAN: I mean, there are clearly some issues.
Look, I had heard Wednesday morning that there is going to be a massive change in the transition. I couldn't nail it down, but this was basically within 12 hours of them knowing Donald Trump was going to be the president.
They had done very minimal transition work. Christie had done the role that he was allowed to perform but basically Donald Trump did not treat transition particularly seriously. It wasn't because he wasn't focused on the job. He's superstitious. He doesn't look at this the same way.
Once it became clear that there was going to be a change in terms of he was going to be the president, they modulated their approach. I've heard from lots of people. You know, Jared Kushner and the Chris Christie have a notoriously horrible relationship based on the fact that Christie prosecuted his father.
COOPER: Is that what it's based on?
HABERMAN: Yes, that is why. And Jared Kushner protested Chris Christie getting that position.
That having been said, there are many reason why this happened, as I understand it from several sources. I don't think it was just one thing. I think that there were concerns for some people about the bridgegate verdict.
I think that there were concerns about just certain of pieces of work that had been done. There were concerns about the presence of lobbyists on the transition team. So, you go down the list and there's a lot of that, but it is more chaotic than I think we're used to seeing in recent transitions.
COOPER: It also just, Monica, the whole idea of loyalty to Donald Trump, it just time and time, it comes back, it seems, to loyalty. LANGLEY: That is so key to him. And I do think though with Chris
Christie, the bridgegate thing put him over the edge. I don't think it was motivated as much for Jared Kushner because of the -- he had already gotten past that. I think gotten a lot past the thing with his father, the prosecution of his father, when he came for the first rival to come out for Donald Trump.
Look, they have a complicated history no doubt, Jared Kushner and Chris Christie. But once bridgegate happened, that was just a bridge too far, excuse the pun. And I do think that once that happened, Chris Christie had too much baggage. He was named vice chairman simply as a face saving measure. He will not have a role in this new administration.
COOPER: All the lanes are closed off.
LANGLEY: Exactly.
NAVARRO: Bridge over troubled water.
HABERMAN: There's one other piece they missed and I heard this now the last couple days. Trump himself was very frustrated with the Christie after the "Access Hollywood" tape came out.
COOPER: He certainly disappeared.
HABERMAN: Well, Christie made clear privately that he thought he needed Trump to deal with this differently, as did almost every person who he was talking to. When basically every person cancelled Sunday show appearances that Sunday, including incoming chief of staff, Reince Priebus, including Kellyanne Conway, Rudy Giuliani was the only person who went on TV and defended him, and that is something that stayed with Trump.
COOPER: All right. We got to take a break. We're going to hear from the rest of our panelists. Much more to talk about in the next two hours. Who knows, maybe the next president will actually tweet something. Again, you never know.
Barring that, we'll go global and look at what's shaping up to be a very different four years, at least. We have some new reporting on the state of the transition as far as the rest of the world is concerned.
And later, my conversation with Megyn Kelly about her galvanizing moment during the first debate and how Trump tried to make nice with her before he got not so nice on stage.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[20:16:58] COOPER: Well, Hillary Clinton is expected to speak shortly tonight, any minute, in fact. Her first remarks since her concession speech. We'll bring tm to you when she does.
In the meantime, Donald Trump, as you know, takes pride in embracing a whole string of adjectives about himself, starting with un -- unconventional, unpredictable, unprecedented, reveling in uncreating uncertainty, or creating uncertainty. No doubt those characteristics served him well on the campaign trail.
But the global stage, as the most powerful person in the world, he's got some unsettled because Donald Trump has wasted no time in breaking with convention.
CNN's Jim Sciutto tonight joins us with more.
So, Trump has broken with traditional protocol in the ways he's contacting foreign leaders. What have you learned?
JIM SCIUTTO, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: No question, and some of this substantial protocol. I spoke with a diplomat from a very close U.S. ally today who said in the wake of Trump's victory, they had to reach out to multiple contacts inside the Trump camp before they can figure out who to speak to, to arrange a call with their head of state. They finally did, it was more than a day after their victory when they were after -- later in the queue than some other not so close allies.
And, you know, there's a little bit of diplomatic pique there maybe, but there's also genuine confusion about who these major allies and foreign powers need to speak with in the Trump administration. In addition to that, Anderson, the Trump team has still not contacted the State Department for help in these contacts, and that is not just to just get the two leaders on the phone, say. But it's for the option of having briefings with the State Department with the president-elect before you have these phone calls to know what the key issues are before you begin those first key conversations.
COOPER: Does -- I mean, does this have U.S. allies genuinely nervous?
SCIUTTO: There's -- it's early I would say for them to be genuinely nervous. There is certainly confusion but -- about who to contact in the campaign. But also just based on the candidate's statements during the campaign, there is genuine substantive confusion about what a Trump foreign policy looks like.
You have the first meetings with the Japanese prime minister, that is tomorrow. Japan is going to have the question, did you mean it when you said you want to nuclearize Asia? That you consider Japan and South Korea, for instance, having nuclear weapons, breaking with decades of U.S. policy?
NATO allies, particularly those in Eastern Europe, are going to want to know how much Donald Trump wants to stand up to Russia. They also want to know, did he mean it when he said the NATO alliance is obsolete because these are countries depending on the NATO alliance for their security against what they see as real and immediate Russian threat?
So, those are hard questions that these countries and their close allies are going to want to have answered.
COOPER: Yes. We're going to take to "GPS's" Fareed Zachary about this later on, in the next hour. Jim Sciutto, thanks very much.
Back with the panel.
Maggie, this was some of your reporting about the difficulty some have had in trying to get in contact with Donald Trump. That's again, something Donald Trump pushed back in "The New York Times" about today, saying essentially he's talked to plenty of foreign leaders. Not really responding to the idea they're hard to reach.
HABERMAN: Right. This is a technique Donald Trump used throughout the campaign and will clearly use throughout the transition and I assume his presidency which is saying something that actually the story didn't actually say.
(CROSSTALK)
[20:20:04] HABERMAN: Right. And then get people to argue over, as opposed to what was actually said.
So, what we said, not that he didn't talk to people but that they had an unconventional time reaching him, such as dialing up Trump Tower cold. "Reuters" confirmed this on their own. There was some report on someone, I think in Australia, getting Trump's cell phone from a golfer who knew Trump. I mean, this is not normal protocol.
And the concern is not just protocol for protocol sake. It's that these are not secure lines. It's what kind of conversations taking place on what phones?
The Clinton campaign spent a lot of time to figure out what the protocol was going to be for how she would handle calls from world leader. They're not only campaign that has ever done that. Again, this is not just a campaign that wasn't expecting to win, but they are still kind of stumbling into how to do this going forward.
COOPER: Maria, is that what it is? I mean, obviously, you're a Democrat not Trump supporter. Is that what it is? The sort of unexpected position that they now find themselves in sort of playing catch up? Or is there a larger problem?
MARIA CARDONA, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, I think that's part of it. And I think, you know, to be completely realistic, given that nobody there, at least, you know, Trump himself has never been in government, I think we should give him a little bit of time to figure this out. I can't believe I'm saying this. But --
COOPER: Do you want to go over to this table?
(LAUGHTER)
CARDONA: Hang on.
But I think the concern is that what we are seeing now isn't just sort of disarray because you need some time to figure things out. I think the bigger problem here is that because he likes to be unconventional, that really does foment uncertainty in the world stage, and with these world leaders. Well, if he's unconventional about how to get even in touch with him, what is it going to mean for the relationships that he's going to need to continue to move forward on the global stage and on the global arena?
And I think furthermore just quickly about the issue we were talking about earlier, unconventional is one thing. But bringing in your son- in-law and the whole lot of conflict of interest that Trump himself has, I think that is the biggest concern for the American people and people that are looking at this as like -- and you guys were worried about Hillary Clinton and the conflict of interest, are you kidding me?
Look at what's before you. We don't know what's in his taxes. We don't know what relationship he has with all of these foreign governments that he now perhaps owes tons of money too, and he's going in the position to make laws, regulations and implement who knows what kinds of executive decisions that could benefit them.
COOPER: And I can imagine some Trump supporters here and saying, you know what, maybe a little fear on the part of folks overseas, our allies overseas, or, you know, kind of uncertainty, maybe that's OK to kind of keep them on their toes?
NAVARRO: Well, I think the operative word there is allies. These are supposedly our friends. So, hopefully, they shouldn't feel uncertainty or fear.
I wish he would spend more time combating Putin, combating ISIS, combating Kim Jong-un than he does combating "The New York Times." I mean, this is a guy who has been in office now, has been president- elect for seven days and has been tweeting repeatedly about "The New York Times."
Stop being obsessed about a newspaper in the United States. They're not your enemy. There's people who are hacking into our electoral system that are our enemy. And you need to start focusing on that.
Look, I actually welcome the idea of a son-in-law coming into the White House. I prefer him to a white supremacist, anti-Semite.
CARDONA: But you're getting both.
NAVARRO: I think you need, no, he's orthodox Jewish. I think you need a Trump whisperer. I think you need a Trump manager. I think Jared Kushner, and everybody know him, tells me he's a very smart guy, very grounded, discrete, focused and serious. I think he's got his father-in-law's ear.
And if he can advise Trump, restrain Trump, discipline Trump and contain Trump without Trump realizing he's being restrained, contained and disciplined, that's a very good thing for America.
COOPER: Well, also, the reporting is that is part of the role that Steve Bannon played in the campaign, sort of trying to get Donald Trump to not tweet some things and successfully do that. Although, obviously, he brings with him a lot of other things. But Ana raises an interesting point about Donald Trump's obsession
with media coverage and watching television and watching cable news, obviously, reading "New York Times" and reading all the reporting -- most presidents, at least that I can remember in modern times, have not done that. President Obama talked about not really watching on a daily basis, you know, cable news. I think George W. Bush didn't either.
At a certain point, does Donald Trump stop doing that? Can he stop doing that, Jeff?
LORD: Sure, I think he can.
COOPER: Really? Really?
NAVARRO: When or without needing medication?
CARDONA: Wow
LORD: The one thing I would say is presidents do -- President Obama was, whether he watched it or not, was obsessed with FOX News. He was obsessed with talk radio.
[20:25:00] Bill Clinton was obsessed --
COOPER: Well, right, they are critical of it. But they're not listening to it constantly.
LANGLEY: They are not responding to it.
COOPER: I mean, to have the president elect tweeting about the "New York Times," tweeting about --
LORD: Right. But I think that this is part of his appeal to be perfectly candid. I think that --
COOPER: You don't see it as a slight character flaw for a president? A potential danger that your focus -- I mean --
LORD: No, no, seriously.
COOPER: I know a lot of famous people. I don't know of anybody who watches as much news about themselves and follows, probably has every magazine they are ever been on the cover of.
LORD: I think it helped him to do that. I think it helped him structure his campaign and what he was going to talk about and et cetera.
LANGLEY: Plus, he was trapped on a plane a lot of the time honestly, you know, when he was going to all these states. He really was trapped on a plane and watching it.
COOPER: Plenty of candidates are and they are reading.
(CROSSTALK) LANGLEY: This is true. I think he's going to become so busy he will have to stop watching quite as much television but it is very important to him --
COOPER: -- to be in touch. I get that.
NAVARRO: He's got 4,000 appointments to fill. He's got a chaotic transition is going on. How the hell can he not be that busy now?
COOPER: I think Monica's point is really interesting and Maggie follow-up on it. He -- I mean, Jeffrey, I think you mentioned this yesterday. Twitter is a way for him to feel in touch with people. There's large rallies, which according to reporting, or the "New York Times," he wants to continue those.
(CROSSTALK)
COOPER: Let me finish. It is a way for him to feel in touch with people and I guess watching the shows is as well.
HABERMAN: It is a way for him to feel that people are hearing from him directly. It's even just being in touch with people. People felt he was talking to them in this campaign. That's what Twitter did, that's what those rallies did. He communicated -- regardless of what people think about the message -- he did communicate very specifically to people.
(CROSSTALK)
COOPER: Let her finish.
HABERMAN: I'm coughing so much. I'm barely getting through the sentence.
COOPER: Ay, yi, yi.
HABERMAN: But it was also a way for him to get around the mainstream media. What I think he's not figured out, I was thinking about this last week and I thought about it again when Monica was talking, I don't think he realizes yet what his days are going to be like. The days of the president are very, very different than the days of a candidate, which is basically being on a plane, and going from rally to rally. However many he would do a day, toward the end, it was a lot, it was not always like that.
They are trying to impress that your life is about to change dramatically. So, what he's doing right now doesn't necessarily reflect what we will see later. I just think the reality of the job will catch up to him at some point.
COOPER: You know, it's interesting, we're about to hear from Hillary Clinton. This will be her first remarks -- don't know exactly what she's going to say. We're going to bring them to you and monitor them also if she's not talking in topic.
Do you expect her -- I mean, what role do you see her taking on? CARDONA: That's a great question, I think, she's going to continue to
be involved in all of the issues that she has cared deeply about her whole life. Issues having to do with women, having to do with kids. Perhaps some kind of global work.
I'm sure she will be continuing to work with the Clinton Foundation. Her voice will continue to be heard on a lot of things.
COOPER: So, you think this foundation continues a pace as it has been.
CARDONA: Absolutely. That is my thought.
COOPER: Especially now because there's no conflict of her --
CARDONA: That's exactly right. And the tremendous work that the Clinton Foundation has been doing from day one in terms of saving lives, I think is something that should be something that continues from a global perspective.
COOPER: Ana, for those who oppose Donald Trump, you were a never Trumper, what is the role you see for those people whether they're Democrats or Republicans, do they -- is there a time where they are waiting to give Donald Trump a chance and see what happens? Or does the resistance continue throughout?
NAVARRO: Both. Look, I think on the one hand, he's now the president of all of us. And if he fails, we all fail. And the cost of failure is really scary.
If he fails on national security, if he fails on detecting a terrorist attack, American lives could be in danger. It is a scary, scary thought.
So, we should all be hoping that he succeeds, that he has a good administration, that he can create jobs, that he can stabilize the economy, that he can do good for the country.
That being said, if he doesn't, if he continues doing things like appointing perceived white supremacists, if he continues not speaking out on the division, the racial attacks that are going on in the streets of America all over the country, then hell yes, we've got remain vigilant. We're not going to remain silent just because he's now president.
I want him to be a good president but if he's not a good president, I have every right like an American, every one of us does, to protest, to be vigilant, to hold him accountable, to make sure that he is the type of president that we as an American people deserve.
LANGLEY: Anderson, two things. I've talked to people at the transition today and they are speech soon that does address the fears, the protests and that kind of thing, because he does need to come out and say I am going to be a president for all people. I understand there are a lot of fears.
[20:30:08] COOPER: But he did say the night he won. But you are saying more substantive.
LANGLEY: Yes, I think the pressure is building upon him to come out and say something. And I do know, in particular with Jared Kushner, that he is -- but he was one of the ones that helped draft a lot of his speeches during the campaign, that he's actually working on something that will discuss with his father-in-law that addresses that.
A second thing is in addition to what you said about the economy, not just national security but on the economy and wanting to bring jobs. You know, yesterday you had IBM CEO Ginni Rometty, a female CEO of an iconic company, send him a letter to say I am willing to help you, make this country stronger. And so I think it is going to be interesting now to see if he then touches back with the CEOs in the business community that are willing to give him a chance. And I had lunch with a bunch of CEOs yesterday. And they said to me that Jared Kushner was one of the people that gave them hope, because they think he is a very calming influence on Donald Trump. And he is a bright guy.
CARDONA: If he does do that. If he does do the speech which is something that I mentioned he should do from the get go because even though his speech the night of the election was very magnanimous and very gracious. Five minutes of nice words does not make up for 15 months of insults which is what a lot of these communities of color and women in general have felt his campaign was what his campaign was all about? And then bringing in someone like Steve Bannon just kind of rub salt in the wounds.
If he is able to do that and he does it an incredible way, I think that it's a very good first step but emphasis on the first step. He has to make sure that he follows-up his words that he wants to be the president of everybody, not just those who brought him to the White House with actual actions.
LANGLEY: There you see question I ask as if, well will he speak about Steve Bannon and the Alt-right and all that and I got the feeling no that ...
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm sure that won't happen ...
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That one he said ...
(CROSSTALK)
LORD: What I think he needs to do and the greatest contribution, one of the really big contributions he can make here, is stop this division of people to do communities of color and this that and the other thing. We're all Americans here. And I do think the -- as I've said many times that we have been divided repeatedly, repeatedly into different groups and it only produces bad results.
NAVARRO: OK, let me respond to that. Look, those are really pretty words and I appreciate you say them and I actually think you say them genuinely because I know you. But here's a problem. He unleashed this. He was a dividing factor. He inserted it into the rhetoric. He has been talk about the division and dividing us into the Mexicans and non-Mexicans and immigrants and Muslims for the last 18 months it is now his responsibility to put Humpy-Dumpy back together.
COOPER: Hillary Clinton is taking the first public remark tonight since conceding the election. She is in Children's Defense Fund event tonight in Washington. She's just taken the stage right now. Let's just listen in, see what her remarks are on. We don't have really have much guidance or any guidance on what she's going to be talking about. Let's just listen in.
HILLARY CLINTON (D), FMR. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Oh thank you. Thank you, thank you. Oh, it is so wonderful to be here, with all of you on behalf of the Children's Defense Fund. I was listening backstage as Marion went through the 45 years that we have known each other and even reminded me of some things that I have not recalled. Namely that this event was the very first event that my husband and I went to after he was elected president.
And so it is especially poignant and meaningful to me to be here again with all of you. And I want to start by congratulating the terrific young people that we are celebrating tonight.
You will hear more about each of them because each has faced painful challenges, violence and poverty, abandonment. But they never gave up. They never stopped reaching, never stopped dreaming and yes they have beaten the odds. They call Troy the little poet who could. He's an artist on the basketball court and a flourishing writer in the classroom and he dreams of becoming a film maker. Bethany lived in one foster home after another. But with the help of a wonderful teacher and her own determination, she is thriving and hopes to become a doctor so she can care for others. Carlos, left a difficult childhood in Guatemala, made to it America all by himself. Then he took a second journey making it all the way to college where he is studying to become an engineer. Janet's secret weapon is her beautiful voice and her musical talent. Music had helped her overcome every obstacle that life has thrown in her path.
[20:35:22] And Ujavelle, persevered through domestic violence at home and bullying at school and found her voice producing a student television show at school and now she has set her sights on becoming a the journalist.
COOPER: We're going take a quick break, we're going to keep monitoring Secretary Clinton, bring you any news that she may make tonight, bring that to you.
Coming up next, my conversation Megyn Kelly and her new memoir, the Fox News anchor opens up about her controversy with Donald Trump during the campaign and a lot more.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: Well throughout their presidential election, journalist were obviously frequent target of Donald Trump. Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly came under fire after the first Republican debate when she ask Trump about his history of calling women a variety of names. Now the next day Trump hit back hard in an interview with CNN's Don Lemon.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
[20:40:04] DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT-ELECT OF UNITED STATES: You know, you could see there was coming out of her eyes. Blood coming out of her wherever.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
COOPER: Well for the better part of the next nine months, Trump and his supporters slammed Megyn Kelly on Twitter. She was called bimbo. Donald Trump re-tweeted that and worst she got death threats. Had to hire security detail, in other words she became part of the story in a way no journalist ever wants to be. Now in her new book, "Settle for More", she's sharing new details about all of this and more, I spoke with Megyn this afternoon.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: I get to start we're talking about the debates, that first question that you asked in the first debate, you had worked on it and your team had worked on it obviously for a long time. Did you know what it was going to set off? Did you know ...
MEGYN KELLY, FOX NEWS ANCHOR: No.
COOPER: ... what would follow?
KELLY: I don't think I could have ever imagined what would come after that question. I knew he probably wouldn't like it, right? Because Trump had already shown himself to be a little sensitive to, you know, tough questions.
COOPER: He had already called you up.
KELLY: We had had a tough exchange on the Monday before that Thursday debate. He was angry about a segment I had done the prior week involving his divorce from Ivana Trump.
COOPER: All right, allegations that she had made during that divorce.
KELLY: Right, she was claiming back in the divorce that he had raped her. She recanted those allegations fully and then the "Daily Beast" did a story reviving it that prior week, and I put on the "Daily Beast" reporter to give him a hard time about, you know, 30 years old. She recanted. What are you doing.
Well, Trump didn't like it getting any air time at all and he called me -- he insisted that I call him the Monday before that Thursday debate and when I did it did not go well.
COOPER: You said in the book that he threatened you.
KELLY: He did. So he was very angry that I aired that segment. And, you know, I said look, I did you a favor, you know. I had nobody was even telling you the other side of that, they were just accepting this as the relevant story. He didn't see that way and ultimately I said, look, Mr. Trump, you don't control the editorial in the "Kelly File" and that was it. He said that's it. You're a disgrace. You ought to be ashamed of yourself. And then he said oh I almost unleashed by beautiful Twitter account against you and I still may.
And that was four days before the presidential debate at which I knew I was going to open with a tough question about women, not about Ivana Trump but about women. So, you know, going in I had some nerves because I had feeling he wouldn't like it. But I had to do my job.
COOPER: I want to play that moment just for -- not that every viewer in the world hasn't seen it already but let's just play it.
KELLY: You called women you don't like fat pig, dog, slobs and disgusting animals, your Twitter account ...
TRUMP: Only Rosie O'Donnell.
KELLY: No it wasn't. Your Twitter account ...
TRUMP: Thank you.
KELLY: For the record this was well beyond Rosie O'Donnell.
TRUMP: Yes, I'm sure.
KELLY: You once told the contestant on "Celebrity Apprentice" it would be a pretty picture to see her on her knees.
TRUMP: Honestly Megyn, if you don't like it I'm sorry. I've been very nice to you. Although I could be probably maybe not be based on the way you have treated me but I wouldn't do that.
COOPER: Looking at it now? What do you think?
KELLY: What I thought in the moment which was that was a veiled threat, and I understood why he was suggesting I hadn't been nice to him. And, you know, I figured out at the time, maybe he's going to come after me a bit on Twitter and that will be that. I mean this is in part of the nature of our jobs. Sometimes politicians are unhappy with our coverage and you had to take it.
So that's what I taught was going to happen. You know, he's beating up on me pretty good in the days after that debate and then it just started to take on a different tone and it started to have just different words and by, you know, the following night he was on with Don Lemon and made those blood comments. And that just changed everything in -- in the debate.
You know, I mean it was, I went to the beach to be with my husband and my kids later that night. I saw Don that night, normally I'm not watching him. I love Don. But I saw the next and we pre taped the "Kelly File" and Trump had insisted that he go on at 9:00 on CNN across for me. You guys let him go on commercial free for 30 minutes and we still beat you. Not you. It was Don. And he -- that's when he made those comments. So, I got in the car to go to the beach after that, and I was looking through my phone and just the internet lost its mind over those comments and I see politicians tweeting out "I stand with Megyn." I was like, what the? You know, the presidential candidates and just things would never be the same again. It was just ...
COOPER: You had to get security. I mean you had -- even to go to Disney World I think with your family you had have a security.
[20:45:00] KELLY: We had security guards the whole year. I mean the threat level just got so high that it was impossible not to take that seriously. And, you know, is not like I was walking around actively believing that somebody was going to necessarily try something but it was high enough that we had to take it seriously.
COOPER: But you write about in the book, that a Fox executive actually said somebody to the Trump campaign about, you know, it would not be good for you if Megyn Kelly is killed.
KELLY: So, Michael Cohen, who is a Trump's top lawyer and an executive vice president with the Trump Organization had re-tweeted, "lets gut her," about me. At a time when the threat level was very high which he knew. And Bill Shine, an executive vice president of Fox called him up to say you got to stop this. Like we understand you're angry but this is, you know, she's got three little kids, she's walking around New York really. And what Bill Shine said to Michael Cohen was, let me put it to you in terms you can understand, if Megyn Kelly gets killed it is not going help your candidate.
COOPER: The fact that an executive at your company though, I mean that's an actual thought, you know, that's out there, that's a real concern is incredibly telling.
KELLY: Well listen, there is no question that some of the tactics engaged in by those supporting in team Trump were questionable. You know, Michael Cohen, did that. Corey Lewandowski specifically threatened me if I showed up at the second debate hosted by Fox News, which our executive vice president said that to him, "knock him off, you don't threatened our reporters, she will be there". And that was the one that Trump skipped.
And, you know, it went on from there. I mean even as recently as right before Donald Trump won his online social media guy issued another threat saying wait till you see what happens to her after this election. But ...
COOPER: You took that as a threat, as a personal threat or as a professional threat.
KELLY: I'm going to take that -- it's Trump's golf caddie who now runs his online services, right, goes like I don't -- he's trying to get my attention I guess. But, the point is these are not your normal tactics that we see in a presidential race, unleashed against a journalist who asked a tough question.
COOPER: I don't think it would have made any difference but some in reading the book have criticized you for not revealing all of this the conversation you had with Trump before where, you know, he talked about unleashing his beautiful Twitter on you, kind of holding on to that until the book came out. Do you think it would have made any difference?
KELLY: No. I mean, do you think if the "Access Hollywood" tape didn't make a difference and the 12 female accusers didn't make a difference and the Khan family and Judge Curiel, none of that mattered that my -- you know, he mentioned his beautiful Twitter account was going to be a game changer.
You know, my approach in this was I wanted to be honest, so I had revealed that I received some death threats and I had a guard and, you know, that the level was getting a little dangerous, but I didn't want to make it anymore about me. You know, Trump kept trying to make the story about me and the story was about him and ultimately Hillary Clinton, but in the early days him and the other Republicans.
I didn't -- I just -- I write in the book in sophomore that, I felt like a human being who had been dropped into a shark tank and there were passers by looking in slightly horrified at what was going on and all I wanted to do last year was get myself out of the shark tank. And it was not going to help to chum up the waters more with -- and he did this and he did this and here is my reaction to that, I just -- i didn't want to be the story. Even when the he was making the comments, the blood comments the other things, we didn't even cover it on the "Kelly File". Just didn't even want to watch it.
COOPER: Journalistically, it's a difficult position because on one hand these are facts which, you know, might persuade a viewer or at least inform a viewer or it just part of the historical record. The flip side as journalist you don't want to be the story. You don't want to be ...
KELLY: Exactly. And I think journalistically it wasn't a hard call for me, because this isn't like someone came to me and said I want to tell you something that happened between me and Donald Trump. This is me. You know, we're under no obligation to report our own personal experiences just because we also happen to be journalists. In that regard we're sort of half private citizen where it is up to us whether we want to reveal our personal stories.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: More of my conversation with Megyn Kelly ahead tonight, including this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: I lost my dad when I was 10. Your dad died when you were a sophomore in high school and I had realize that I tell you I read the book, b ut I'm wondering that loss, did it shape the person you are now. Did it change the person you were?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [20:52:51] COOPER: Well, it has been, to put it mildly quite a year Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly. She's been a good part of the presidential campaign locked in a feud with Donald Trump after asking about his history of making demeaning comments about women. There was also the earthquake that rock her network Fox News chairman Roger Ailes forced to resign over accusations of sexual harassment.
Now in her new memoir settle for more, she's sharing new details about the unwanted sexual advantages, she said she endured early in her career at Fox. Ailes was a former adviser to Trump during the campaign but as Trump was attacking Kelly on Twitter relentlessly. Here's part two of our conversation.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: Donald Trump, you know, early on the primary he once was talking about how he can be presidential, he can be however he wants. Do you think he is going to chang significantly, he still tweeting today ...
KELLY: Yeah.
COOPER: ... you know, just today against the "New York Times." Do you think that changes -- I mean do you think, do you know -- do you feel like you know what President Trump is going to govern like? What is he going to be like?
KELLY: No. I mean no. I don't know. I'm fascinated to find out. I mean a great story to cover. But you know, look. He is 70 years old. I don't know a lot of 70-year-old men who change from the way they used to be and I think generally past his prologue.
So, I think he's probably going to be very much the same although he might try to rein himself in a little but, I think hopefully with respect to some of his dicier rhetoric, he will be lifted up by the office. And I'm hoping that the power of it, and, you know, just the majesty of it if you will, will appeal to his better angels.
COOPER: Just briefly, because we're almost out of time. The entire Roger Ailes harassment, not only get about towards you but to so many women there. I mean its hard looking from the outside in to imagine that that could have gone on so long from the top down. I mean, I feel like, if that was happening here in this company, it is just a different set-up. I don't know that the top has that much power that it did under Roger Ailes.
I saw something Bill O'Reilly said, you know, I guess he's promoting a book saying, something about, you know, you could have gone to HR. It seemed like Roger Ailes controlled the HR. I mean that -- and that's the situation, you know, many women face. It's not so easy to just say, I'll yeah well I'll just to go, you know, a superior and tell them.
[20:55:07] KELLY: Thank you for recognizing that. That's exactly right. And I lay it out in the book because I think this is a real problem that many companies and I want people to be put on notice. I'm hoping CEOs will hear this message and say, you know, what men maybe I set this problem in my own company and I got to provide a safe off ramp for women who feel too scared to report it.
They don't always feel comfortable going to general counsel or the HR. You got to had somebody I would say outside of the company who doesn't depend on the CEO for his or her paycheck, to whom the women and it can happen to men, too, can go to report.
And at Fox News it is very true that Roger Ailes was very much a king of sorts. And this is all laid out in the book and that he founded the company, he co-founded the company and he had loyalists placed throughout the company. And he demanded loyalty. I mean O'Reilly speaks of loyalty. That is the culture that Roger demanded, that that should be placed above all other things and I would submit that is part of what created the problem we had for some time there.
And I am very happy that now that's been addressed, and the actual owners of the company, the Murdochs have come in. And as soon as this was brought to their attention, they got rid of him and have created a new situation over there where they've made very clear, they want people to be safe and to feel safe. And for what it's worth, they were ones who said to me you should include this chapter in your book. It's important.
COOPER: Just finally, you and I share something in common in which I lost my dad when I was 10. Your dad died when you were a sophomore in high school. And I hadn't realized that until I read the book. And there's a quote my mom who always quotes the writer name Mary Gordon, who said, "A fatherless girl thinks all things are possible, nothing is safe."
My mom grew up without a father. You had a father for much of your childhood, but I'm wondering that loss, did it shape the person you are now? Did it change the person you were?
KELLY: Well, I know, you know, the answer is yes, right? Because when you lose a parent at a young age, it just creates a void that can never be filled. I mean you can go all over the world covering very dangerous wars. And it is still there. You can stand on top of the news business and it is still there. And I would love to say it's given me a great perspective on the world and made me a better person and I guess to some extent that's true.
But I'd trade it all back to have one more day with him. I feel lucky that I had my dad until I was 15 and his imprint on me was made and is secure. I think about that now with my own kids who are 7, 5 and 3. I worry about mortality, right? As do you if you have great loss at a young age.
COOPER: How old was your father when he died?
KELLY: He was 45.
COOPER: Wow.
KELLY: My age right now. COOPER: That's -- yeah. So my dad was 50, I've always thought I would die by 50.
KELLY: That's how I feel. I'm 45 now. I turn 46 on Friday. So I've got a few more days.
COOPER: I think you're going to be all right.
KELLY: But I've been looking forward to my 46th birthday, I mean for that reason. But I think about mortality a lot. And the thing that take away from it Anderson, is that no, really, you could die any day. And you can't waste one second of your time here. It's too short to be mired in controversy and acrimony, and sadness and I change my life to settle for more and try to do better for myself. And that's a gut check moment I continue to do and that I want others to do, to improve their own lives. Because who knows?
COOPER: Also, that, you know, you'd had kind of an argument with your dad and that was really the last, you had this lasting image with him after the argument laying on the couch alone looking at the Christmas tree and it was later that night that he died. That to me, you know, I had to stop reading for a while there.
KELLY: It was very hard to write. It was one chapter of the book that I can't go back and read, because it's upsetting. But, yeah we had an argument the night he died. And we almost never argued. He never had a harsh word for me. But I was being a bratty teenager who wanted a nice class ring. I wanted a nicer one than we could afford and he told me we couldn't. And I kept complaining. And he turned and walked out of the kitchen. And it was the last exchange I ever had with my dad.
And I stormed up to my room and there he was sitting on the couch staring at the Christmas tree. And I didn't say anything to him. I just went into my bedroom. And the next thing I knew my sister burst in and said wake up, daddy had a heart attack. And he never revived. And, you know, within three hours we were at the hospital next to his bedside and he was gone.
COOPER: All right. Megyn Kelly. Megyn thanks very much.
KELLY: Thanks for having me Anderson, I'm a fan.
COOPER: Thanks, me too.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[21:00:01] COOPER: The book is settled for more. If you're joining us right now at the top of the hour. Hillary Clinton has just finished talking for the first time since her concession speech last Wednesday about her defeat. Just spoken fun of old and dear friends talking members of the Children's Defends Fund in Washington, our Joe Johns is there as well he joins us now. Joe ...
