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One World with Zain Asher
Trump Takes Questions At Mar-a-Lago; Trump Talks Reporters In Wide- Ranging News Conference; The CEO Of SoftBank Stating That He Has Renewed Confidence In The U.S. Economy; Donald Trump Spoke About Any Concerns That A Number In The Medical Community Have About His Choice For HHS Secretary, RFK Jr.; Ukraine's Children Living With Psychological Trauma From War; Suspected Drone Sighting Spread In Eastern U.S.; Police IN Madison, Wisconsin Respond To School Shooting; Aired 12-1p ET
Aired December 16, 2024 - 12:00:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[12:00:00]
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT-ELECT OF THE UNITED STATES: Nothing's going to happen very quickly. I think you're going to find that Bobby is a very
rational guy. I found him to be very rational. No, nothing. You're not going to lose the polio vaccine. That's not going to happen.
I saw what happened with the polio. I have friends that were very much affected by that. I have friends from many years ago, and they have --
obviously, they're still in not such good shape because of it. You know, that was -- and many people died.
And the moment they took that vaccine, it ended. Dr. Jonas Salk did a great job. So I don't anticipate that at all. But we're going to look into
finding, why is the autism rate so much higher than it was 20, 25, 30 years ago? I mean, it's like, it's 100 times higher. There's something wrong. And
we're going to try finding that.
We're also going to find out, why are we paying more than other countries? And we were in the process of doing that through transparency and other
things. We were doing a good job in that first term, and we brought it down. We got the $35. All of the different things we got, you know, we were
the ones that got all of that done. Every one of those things, we got them done. I said, you know, I hope I win because otherwise somebody is going to
take a lot of credit for what we did.
But now what happens is we're going to -- we're going to have a big conversation on price. Why is it that Germany and U.K. and other countries
are paying so much more for the same box of medicine made in the same plant? Why is it that we're paying many times more?
And I know the answer, because our government didn't do what they were supposed to do. And what I put in place was terminated unexpectedly by the
Biden administration, and they shouldn't have terminated it. It would have had a huge impact. OK?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And, Mr. President, one quick question. On Ukraine, you mentioned that some of the areas are already decimated. Do you believe
that Ukraine should cede territory to Russia?
TRUMP: Well, I'm going to let you know that after I have my first meeting. But a lot of that territory, when you look at what's happened to those -- I
mean, there are cities that there's not a building standing. It's a demolition site. There's not a building standing.
So people can't go back to those cities. There's nothing there. It's just rubble. Just like when I knocked down a building in Manhattan, which is
actually, this is worse, actually, because we do it step by step. This thing has just got demolished.
And by the way, in those buildings are many people. Many people were in those buildings. You know, when they said the number in Ukraine is going to
be a much higher number of deaths, is going to be a much higher number than you're hearing. You know, they're big buildings. That's what I did very
well. And these are very long buildings. They're 15 to 20 stories high. They're massive buildings. I was surprised at how big. And they're
flattened like a pancake. One or two bombs hit them and they just collapsed.
And they'd say, nobody was hurt. Well, nobody knows who was in those buildings. There were a lot of people in those buildings. They're going to
find that when they start doing the removal. Many more people are being killed in the Ukraine War with Russia than is being reported, and that
includes soldiers.
The soldiers are being killed -- it's a carnage that we haven't seen since the Second World War. It's got to be stopped. And I'm doing -- I'm doing my
best to stop that.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Sir?
TRUMP: Yeah, please, go ahead.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You had a meeting with Mrs. Abe yesterday, but Japanese Prime Minister --
TRUMP: Mrs. Abe.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mrs. Abe, yes. And Japanese Prime Minister Ishiba is hoping to have a meeting anytime soon. Are you --
TRUMP: I will be there. In fact, I sent him a memento. I sent him a book. The Prime Minister. But Mrs. Abe was very close with our First Lady, with
Melania. And she loved Melania's book. And she called and wanted to know if she could have.
I was very close to the Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe. He was great. He was a great man. And his wife wanted to know if it would be possible to have
dinner. And it was just out of respect to Shinzo.
And, yes, I'd love to see the Prime Minister. We will do that. I actually sent him a book and some other things for him through Mrs. Abe.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Will that happen before the inauguration day?
TRUMP: It could. If they'd like to do that, I would do that. Yes.
(CROSSTALK)
I have -- I have -- I have great respect for the, you know, for the position. And if he'd like to do that, I'd be here.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. President, don't you have the border?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The President said that Ambassador to Japan will be on George Glass. Is that your final decision?
TRUMP: Highly respected man. That's right. Highly respected. He's been an ambassador before. Did a fantastic job. We consider Japan very important.
He's very highly respected.
OK. Couple of questions.
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Which other world leaders have you invited to the inauguration? Which other world leaders have you invited to the
inauguration?
TRUMP: The world leaders are calling me. And some really would like to meet.
[12:05:03]
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Are they coming?
TRUMP: No, I mean, literally they're calling me and I'll be seeing some of them. I think it's rude not to. I mean, it's hard to say I'm not going to
see you. And I've spoken to way over a hundred where they called to congratulate on the not only the election but the size of the election, the
extent of the victory. And they were great. I mean, I spoke to over a hundred countries.
You wouldn't believe how many countries there are. And I'm trying my best I can to get back to everybody, but there are a lot of countries. And every
one of them, literally everyone called and it was very nice.
So, yes, I'd see some if some felt it was an emergency. I've seen -- as you know, I've seen President Zelenskyy, he came to France while I was there
for the cathedral opening. They actually had about 70 presidents and prime ministers and in one case a king.
And we saw some great people. I also met with William. And I was very impressed by William. I think William is terrific. I was very impressed by
William. As you know, I met with him, too.
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Did you invite Zelenskyy to the inauguration?
TRUMP: No. But if he'd like to come, I'd like to have him. I mean, I didn't invite him, no.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Are you disappointed that China Xi can't come to the - - are you disappointed that China Xi won't be at the inauguration?
TRUMP: I don't know they he won't be at the inauguration. I mean, I haven't really spoken to him about it. I don't know that, actually. I would say
that if he'd like to come, I'd love to have him. But there's been nothing much discussed.
I have had discussions with him, letters, et cetera, et cetera at a very high level. You know, we had a very good relationship until COVID. COVID
didn't end the relationship, but it was a bridge too far for me.
But if he'd like to come, I'd certainly be. Just so you understand, he hasn't said one way or the other. Because a lot of people say, he won't
come, he will come. People think he will come, he won't come. It's something we barely discussed, just about didn't discuss. But I have had,
especially through letters, some very good conversations.
(CROSSTALK)
You know, because China and the United States can together solve all of the problems of the world, if you think about it. So it's very important. And,
you know, he was a friend of mine. I mean, he was here for a long time, right in that spot, except sitting in a very comfortable chair. He wasn't
standing like you are.
But we spent hours and hours talking. And he's an amazing guy. The press -- the press hates when I say that, but he's an amazing person.
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Real quick. The UnitedHealthcare shooting, the shooting of the CEO.
TRUMP: I think it's settled.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Can you give us your thoughts about that? What do you make of the reaction around this suspected shooter?
TRUMP: Well, I think it's terrible?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Does that tell you anything about how people think about him?
TRUMP: Yes, yes. I think it's a terrible thing. I think it's really terrible that some people seem to admire him, like him.
And I was happy to see that it wasn't specific to this gentleman that was killed. It's just an overall sickness as opposed to a specific sickness.
That was a terrible thing. It was cold-blooded. Just a cold-blooded horrible killing. And how people can like this guy is -- that's a sickness
actually. That's really very bad, especially the way it was done it was so bad right in the back and very bad very -- thing like that you just -- you
can't believe that some people and maybe it's fake news. I don't know.
It's hard to believe that can even be thought of. But it seems that there's a certain appetite for him. I don't get it. Yes, please.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Could you just comment on -- I want to expand on the defamation lawsuits. Could you see moving that to other people with
individual platforms, social media influencers, people that --
TRUMP: Or newspapers, yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
TRUMP: Yes. Oh, I do. I do. I think you have to do it because they're very dishonest.
We need a great media. We need a fair media. We need -- it's very important. And we need borders. We need walls, but we need borders. And we
need fair elections.
You look at California, millions and millions of ballots were sent out. They're still counting the vote in California with the machines. They're
counting the vote. If you had paper ballots, the votes would have been counted four weeks ago, three weeks ago.
Now, you need fair elections, you need borders, and you need a fair press, and the press is -- no, I see others. I have a few others that I'm doing.
I'm going to -- as an example, we're bringing -- I'm doing this not because I want to, I'm doing this because I feel I have an obligation to. I'm going
to be bringing one against the people in Iowa, their newspaper, which had a very, very good pollster who got me right all the time.
[12:10:17]
And then just before the election, she said I was going to lose by three or four points, and it became the biggest story all over the world because I
was going to win Iowa by 20 points. The farmers loved me and I loved the farmers.
And it was interesting the way she did it. She brought it down two weeks before. She said I was going to only win by four. That was a big strike.
But that was good because she brought it down from like 22 points to four or whatever the number was way up, way up. Easy win. Never even thought to
go there. I respect them. I love them. And they understand there's no reason to go there because she brought it from way up, walk away, which it
was, and it turned out to be in the election too, by the way. It was a win by many, many points.
And then she brought it down very smartly to four, a couple of weeks before. And everyone said, wow, that's amazing. He's only up by four
points. Then she brought it down to where I was down by three or four, whatever number she is.
And that was the "Des Moines Register." And it was their parent. And in my opinion, it was fraud and it was election interference. You know, she's
gotten me right always. She's a very good pollster. She knows what she was doing. And she then quit before. And we'll probably be filing a major
lawsuit against them today or tomorrow. We're filing one on "60 Minutes," you know about that, where they took Kamala's answer, which was a crazy
answer, a horrible answer, and they took the whole answer out, and they replaced it with something else she said later on in the interview, which
wasn't a great answer, but it wasn't like the first one. The first was grossly incompetent. It was weird.
And that was fraud and election interference by their news magazine, a big part of CBS News. So, as you know, we're involved in that one. We're
involved in one which has been going on for a while and very successfully against Bob Woodward where he didn't quote me properly from the tapes.
And then on top of everything else, he sold the tapes, which he wasn't allowed to do. He could only use them for reporting purposes, not for sale
purposes. And he admits that. And I think we'll be successful on that one.
And we have one very interestingly on Pulitzer because reporters at "The New York Times," "Washington Post" got Pulitzer Prizes for their wonderful,
accurate, and highly professional reporting on the Russia, Russia, Russia hoax.
Well, it turned out to be a hoax. And they were exactly wrong. People like many people, John Solomon, Sean Hannity is not for Pulitzer, but Sean
Hannity got it right. Many people got it right. Tucker got it right. Jesse got it right. Laura got it right. Jeanine got it right. A lot of people got
it right. They didn't get anything. They gave it to reporters that got it absolutely wrong. And now everybody admits it was a hoax. And I want them
to get back -- take back the Pulitzer prizes and pay big damages. And I think we're doing very well on that one. They have no excuse for it.
They gave a Pulitzer Prize to writers that got Russia, Russia, Russia wrong. And so I think we're doing well.
And I feel I have to do this. I shouldn't really be the one to do it. It should have been the Justice Department or somebody else. But I have to do
it. It costs a lot of money to do it. But we have to straighten out the press. Our press is very corrupt. Almost as corrupt as our elections.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are you worried about Venezuela? Sir, do you have any discussions with Venezuela?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: For January 6th defendants, you have said in the first few minutes of your administration, you want to issue pardons for January
6th defendants. Does that include -- will that be a blanket pardon? Does that include everyone?
TRUMP: Well, you'll find out, but it's going to go quickly.
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you have any discussion, sir, with -- in terms of your mass deportation plans, have you had any preliminary discussions with
countries like Venezuela from where the Tren de Aragua gang is now popping up?
TRUMP: They'll take them back.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They're going to take them back?
TRUMP: They're all taking them back, yup. And if they don't, they'll be met very harshly economically. OK. They'll all take them back.
You know, Venezuela and other countries were not behaving very well with us during my administration. And within 24 hours, they were behaving very
well. They'll all take them back.
Jeff? Nice to see you, Jeff. This is like the old days, right? You've looked -- actually you look much better now than you did four years ago.
What are you doing? What's he doing? All right, go ahead.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you, sir. The first day you just mentioned that you're in office, I imagine you've got some executive orders that you want
to go through. Can you tell us what your priorities are?
TRUMP: We'll have a lot. Well, you --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What are your priorities?
TRUMP: I'll bet you could tell. You could say as well as I could. We'll have many executive orders and other things that we'll be signing on the
first day.
[12:15:07]
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Can you also -- just going back to my initial question, question about the Middle East, you said that your conversation with Prime
Minister Netanyahu was kind of a review. Did you repeat that?
TRUMP: We just had a very good conversation. And, you know, the real conversations will start on the 20th. But we had a really good
conversation. And I think we're going to be in a good place in the Middle East.
I think the Middle East is -- will be in a good place. I think, actually, more difficult is going to be the Russia-Ukraine situation. I see that as
more difficult. I don't think they should have allowed missiles to be shot 200 miles into Russia. I think that was a bad thing. And that brought the
Koreans in, you know, North Korea, another man I get along with very well. I'm the only one that does. But that did a lot of bad things.
I don't think that should have been allowed. Not when there's a possibility. And certainly not just weeks before I take over. Why would
they do that without asking me what I thought? I wouldn't have had them do that. I think that was a big mistake they made.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Will you reverse that decision when you're in office?
TRUMP: I might, yes. I thought it was a very stupid thing to do.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Give me a reaction to --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just one last follow-up. When you -- when you say that there will be hell to pay if the hostages are not released before January
20th, what does that mean?
TRUMP: Well, they're going to have to determine what that means. But it means it won't be pleasant.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. President, how is your meeting --
TRUMP: It's not going to be pleasant. Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How was your meeting with Apple CEO, Tim Cook? And did you talk about tariffs in that meeting?
TRUMP: Meeting with who?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Apple CEO, Tim Cook.
TRUMP: I did have dinner with Tim Cook. I had dinner with sort of almost all of them and the rest are coming. And this is one of the big
differences, I think, between -- we were talking about it before.
One of the big differences between the first term -- the first term, everybody was fighting me. In this term, everybody wants to be my friend. I
don't know. My personality changed or something.
But I had -- as you know, I had Sundar from Google, but I also had Sergey. Nobody reported that. Sergey is the owner, the primary owner, along with
his friend, as you know. And Sergey was here also.
I can't believe you didn't pick that one up. Nobody picked that up. But I will tell you. No, it's a big difference. The big difference is that the
first time everybody was fighting me, on all fronts, and we had a great administration. We got the biggest tax cuts in history, rebuilt the
military. Too much of it was given away to Afghanistan, stupidly given away, horribly given away.
I think that's one of the reasons that Putin went in to Ukraine when he saw the stupidity of million of these guys. Stupid people, very stupid people.
If he didn't -- they didn't do such a big -- you know, we were pulling out of Afghanistan, but I would have pulled out with dignity and strength. They
wouldn't be having parades, I guarantee you, showing our equipment that they left behind, because we weren't going to leave any equipment behind.
Not 10 cents. We were going to take every screw and every bolt.
So, yes, the biggest difference is that people want to get along with me this time. Well, they've gone through four years and, you know, it wasn't
easy for me, but it wasn't easy for them either. And that's a great thing, though. Getting along is a great thing.
So Tim Cook was here. I think he's done an incredible job at Apple. And he talked about the future of Apple. It's going to be a bright future. But we
have many others also and not in that business. And we do have Jeff Bezos, Amazon, coming in sometime during the week. I look forward to that.
We have a lot of great executives coming in. The top executives, the top bankers, they're all calling. And honestly, in the first time, I don't know
what it was. It's like a complete opposite in the first one. And the press has covered that fairly, actually, for change.
The first one, they were very hostile. And maybe it was my fault, but I don't really think so. They were just very right from the beginning. And
this one is much less hostile. It's really the opposite of hostile.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Can I get your reaction on that Duke lacrosse, sir? I know -- I know that you had some, I believe, involvement 18 years ago with
the students at Duke accused of rape in Lacrosse. Now we have this development.
TRUMP: Well, I thought it was a -- I thought it was a hoax when it happened, the Duke situation. I didn't believe the woman, as you know. And
you destroyed -- they destroyed the lives of these kids, they destroyed. And I don't care what they got. Their lives have been destroyed. Their
lives have been shortened by what took place. And now the woman admitted that it never happened. That is horrible.
And as you know, I took a lot of heat when I said that this is -- this did not happen. And those kids were beautiful kids with beautiful families. And
they were, in some cases, will never be the same. They will never be the same.
[12:20:08]
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Have you talked to them by the -- by chance?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Any thoughts on the Postal Service? You mentioned Bezos a second ago. And I've always thought Bezos would be a key person to go in
there and really streamline the logistics --
TRUMP: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: -- of the Post Office, but they lose billions.
TRUMP: Well, there is talk about the Postal Service being taken private. You do know that. Not the worst idea I've ever heard. Really is it.
You know, it's a lot different today with between Amazon and UPS and FedEx and all the things that you didn't have. But there is talk about that. It's
an idea that a lot of people have liked for a long time. We're looking at it. I think we're looking at that along with a lot of other.
Any questions for Howard, by the way, commerce.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sure. I'll ask one. Mr. Incoming Secretary, do you see another trade deal with China coming?
HOWARD LUTNICK, CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, CANTOR FITZGERALD: I think the president.
TRUMP: It's a tough one, right?
LUTNICK: Oh, it's easy for me. You're sitting next to me, so it's OK.
No. The president has very clear agenda for tariffs. And I think reciprocity is something that is going to be a key topic for us. How you
treat us is how you should expect to be treated.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Would you like to weigh in, sir, on that?
TRUMP: He said it's the word reciprocal. If they tax us, we tax them the same amount. They tax us -- forgetting just for a second about the word
tax. They tax us, we tax them. And they tax us -- almost in all cases, they're taxing us. And we haven't been taxing them.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is there a deal underway?
TRUMP: Sorry?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is there a deal already underway with respect to that? Let's just say this. We're going to make great deals. And we have all the
cards. And until I came along. Don't forget, and Howard was going over the numbers with me last night. We took in $600 billion and more in taxes and
tariffs from China. No other president took in $0.10, not $0.10, not $0.10. And no, well, we're going to be doing things. We're going to be treating
people very fairly.
But the word reciprocal is important, because if somebody charges us -- India, we don't have to talk about own -- if India charges us 100 percent,
do we charge them nothing for the same? You know, they send in a bicycle, and we send them a bicycle. They charge us 100 and 200. India charges a
lot. Brazil charges a lot.
If they want to charge us, that's fine, but we're going to charge them the same thing. That's a big thing.
And you know what, the senators, some of them aren't necessarily business people. When I give that to them they say, that sounds fair to me.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are you concerned that tariffs might hurt the stock market rise that you have seen in the economy more broadly?
TRUMP: Make our country rich. Tariffs will make our country rich.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But won't they raise prices?
TRUMP: Properly used. And make -- no. Well, I didn't have any inflation. And I had massive tariffs on a lot of things. We put tariffs on steel. If I
didn't put tariffs on steel, 50 percent and more, they were dumping steel in China and others. I put tariffs on and it stopped and we took a fortune.
We made a fortune on it.
Tariffs properly used, which we will do. And being reciprocal with other nations, but it'll make our country rich. Our country right now loses to
everybody. Almost nobody do we have a surplus with. There are a couple of countries and they're embarrassed by it, but almost nobody.
And tariffs will make -- I always said to me, tariffs, the most beautiful word in the dictionary, it'll make our country rich. You go back and look
at the 1890s, 1880s, McKinley, and you take a look at tariffs, that was when we were at our proportionately the richest. Go ahead.
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did you get to a good spot?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Back on Ukraine, Mr. President, what should Zelenskyy, if anything, be prepared to give up to -- at his war?
TRUMP: He wouldn't be prepared to make a deal. That's all. Got to be a deal. No. Got to be a deal. Too many people being killed. That is a war.
Too many people. You've got to make a deal. And Putin has to make a deal, too.
By the way, Putin has to make a deal. And Putin would have never gone in if I was president. If I was president, we wouldn't have had inflation. Our
oil prices would have been lower. I had a good relationship with Putin. He would have -- despite the Russia hoax, which made it more difficult.
If we had that election, if it were an honorable election, we wouldn't have had any of the problems that we're talking about right now. Putin would
have never gotten --
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You said that you could make that deal before you take office. Do you still think you could make that deal?
TRUMP: I'm going to try.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Will you ask Putin to give up Assad?
TRUMP: Well, I haven't thought of it. I think we have to get on with all of this. We'll have to see what happens.
But right now, Syria has a lot of -- you know, there's a lot of indefinites. Nobody knows what's going to happen with Syria. I think Turkey
is going to hold the key to Syria, actually. I don't think you've heard that from anybody else, but I've been pretty good at predicting.
[12:25:14]
I want to thank you all. And we're going to make America great again. Thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you very much, Howard.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BIANNA GOLODRYGA, CNN ANCHOR: All right. You've been listening to a wide- ranging news conference for about an hour now with President-elect Donald Trump taking questions from reporters in Mar-a-Lago, talking about a myriad
of issues ranging from domestic policies to international affairs, and specifically, as you just heard there, going back to Syria.
He spoke on Ukraine, the war, saying that there has to be a deal and that he will be speaking with both President Putin and Zelenskyy once he does
officially take office on January 20th. He spoke about the big announcement today economically with the CEO of SoftBank, announcing a four-year, $100
billion investment in the United States, adding some 100,000 jobs with it.
The CEO of SoftBank stating that he has renewed confidence in the U.S. economy, thanks in large part to his words to some of President-elect
Trump's policies that he will be unveiling as well.
He spoke about any concerns that a number in the medical community have about his choice for HHS Secretary, RFK Jr. in that role, given his
previous statements about vaccines. He said that he is not a vaccine skeptic, that he does support vaccine for polio and others, though he does
not support vaccine mandates including in schools.
He also spoke about the border as well. And he even touched on a story we have been focusing on and is receiving a great deal of interest,
specifically on the East Coast, and that is the unprecedented number of drone sightings stating that he believes the Pentagon knows what is
happening and owes the American public an explanation.
Good afternoon, everybody. I'm Bianna Golodryga. Zain is off today. And you are watching ONE WORLD.
As we noted, President-elect Donald Trump wrapping up that news conference taking questions about his cabinet picks and vaccines. Also making that
major announcement with the CEO of SoftBank, as I noted.
SoftBank announcement is a big win for president-elect, who returns to the White House for a second term in five weeks.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: This historic investment is a monumental demonstration of confidence in America's future. And it will help ensure that artificial intelligence,
emerging technologies, and other industries of tomorrow are built, created, and grown right here in the USA.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GOLODRYGA: CNN's Kristen Holmes joins us from Washington. Kristen, listen, well, we can take up the remaining 30 minutes if our program now to go over
every issue that was raised here in this news conference, as I mentioned, a lot of focus on foreign policy, on the war in Syria, the role, the
outside's role.
He noted that Turkey, in his view, will have and that has had in the ouster of Bashar al-Assad, stating that, in his view again, following his
conversation with Prime Minister Netanyahu, given the numerous issues and conflicts in that region. He still believes that the harder issue to tackle
is the war in Ukraine.
And then moving back domestically, we talked about the vaccine concerns, about some of the questions that RFK Jr. has raised about the efficacy of
vaccines in the past, but also notable the role of the media and the precedent he views that the settlement with ABC News for $15 million has
set for future lawsuits.
And he specifically, I believe he made news, I haven't heard this before, stating that they plan now to sue the "Des Moines Register" over what
proved to be false polling or, you know, false outcome of the polling from Ann Selzer, who subsequently then stepped down from her position, stating
in that poll that there was increased support for Kamala Harris among voters that did not prove to be the case in Iowa.
What stood out to you? Pick and choose whatever you'd like to from this grab bag of issues that Donald Trump touched upon. I just thought this
seemed to be something I hadn't heard before.
KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that was certainly new. Now, it's not that surprising, given one, they feel like they got a victory
with this ABC settlement, so now they're looking at other avenues. It's also not surprising, given the fact that Donald Trump was really fixated on
this poll. It came out right before the election. He had said privately, he had griped about the fact that it came out. He said it should have never
been published.
And there is a belief among Trump's orbit that this was somehow intentional, that she knew that this could impact the election in some way
and that she is partisan. Now, obviously we have no indication of that. This is just what I have heard talking to Trump's senior advisors. So it
doesn't surprise me that given this victory that now they are looking at other avenues to go after what they call legacy or mainstream media.
[12:30:11]
Now the two things I do want to know, you talked about foreign policy. He would not answer questions directly as to whether or not he has spoken to
Vladimir Putin. He also said that when he was asked about whether or not he would tell Putin he had to turn over Bashar al-Assad that he had not
thought about that either.
So interesting there because we still have no real light into the conversations he has had if he has had any with Vladimir Putin. However, we
obviously know he has had a series of meetings and phone calls with Zelenskyy over what is going on between Zelenskyy and Putin. So that was
interesting to hear him just deny since he basically answered every other question. He wouldn't answer that question.
Now on RFK Jr. and why this is so important, one, RFK Jr. is expected up on the Hill today. He is going to be meeting with 25 senators throughout the
week. He is one of Donald Trump's most controversial picks. He has been nominated or he has been chosen to lead the Health and Human Services
Department. And this is pretty risky for Donald Trump, given the fact that there are a lot of skeptics of RFK who believe that he is peddled in
conspiracy theories around vaccines.
Now you heard Donald Trump talk about the polio vaccine. He's a big believer in it. The reason why that is so notable now, we know he said it
before, but now it's so notable, it's because a lawyer for RFK wanted to essentially revoke the FDA's approval of the polio vaccine, which has a lot
of people here, incredibly worried about their children, about schooling, about what this means.
And he did say he didn't believe in vaccine mandates and something we've heard for a long time. He said he doesn't believe in mandates overall. But
it was interesting to hear him talk about the support for the polio vaccine.
Also, he was specifically asked if he was going to let RFK Jr. of RFK Jr. was going to revoke any of these vaccines or try to get their approval
revoked. And he said what he wants from him is a report on all of these vaccines and how they play out and potential links to autism. Obviously, as
we know that we've not seen any evidence of that at all. But this is something that RFK Jr. has continued to espouse. So I'm unsurprising there.
But it was interesting to hear Trump say kind of hedge on that a little bit and say, I don't want him to do anything. I just want to see a report on
what exactly this would look like. Remember, this guy still has to get approved. RFK Jr. still has to get approved. And senators are very wary of
his stance on vaccines. So Donald Trump clearly here knows that and is walking a fine line.
GOLODRYGA: Does he seem emboldened, Kristen, at this point, given that about a week and a half ago, odds of Pete Hegseth still remaining up for
the job here at the nomination for defense secretary were very low. People were already anticipating that he would withdraw his name, that he would
bow down to the pressure behind the scenes. You were hearing that there are more and more Republicans who were going to object to his nomination.
And yet, he's withstood now three or four weeks in. And in fact, you're hearing the opposite, at least on the record for Republicans who seem to be
more open to considering him. And again, the other reporting that there was a lot of pressure from the Trump camp for that position shift. And then
you have the likes of Tulsi Gabbard and Kash Patel as well.
So does the president feel that given some of the controversial headlines surrounding these picks that he's in a position right now with Republicans
where most, if not all, could likely be confirmed?
HOLMES: I think that the big one was Pete Hegseth. Now there has been a tide shift. We know that there have been a lot of people saying they were
concerned about him. It seems to be that a lot of Republicans now are coming around after that pressure campaign that you just mentioned. He
certainly feels emboldened after that.
But one thing I do want to note is that the difference between Hegseth and someone like RFK, Jr. or Tulsi Gabbard is that we already knew that Donald
Trump was going to pour an enormous amount of capital into RFK Jr. And Tulsi Gabbard. He believes they helped him get elected. And he wants to put
that forward because he believes he is shifting essentially Washington, taking people who are disruptors and putting them into office and that
that's part of this mandate that he had because he won the popular vote and because he won the election. So we know he's going to put a lot of effort
in behind those two.
Now I do think that there is again a level of emboldened after the Hegseth kind of shift, particularly given the fact that they were looking at
specific senators who could be primary. And this is not Donald Trump. In particular, he himself has stayed largely out of the fray, we are told. But
his team and his MAGA allies have not.
Now he was asked specifically during this press conference about primary people who voted against his picks. And he kind of hedged a little bit. He
didn't go full scorched earth, which we often hear from Donald Trump. He said that if somebody was unreasonable and their reason for not liking one
of his nominees, they should probably be primary or they will probably be primary just because of their unreasonable stance.
[12:35:09]
But then he said if someone had a reasonable thing that they opposed about one of the candidates, he could see that happening as well. He is clearly
keeping his hands out of the dirty work here and leaving it to these MAGA allies and they have been successful as we saw with Senator Joni Ernst who
had said, she was really on the fence about Pete Hegseth. She had shied away from him. And now seems to be just not fully supporting him, but she
said he should at least get his hearing and she has been much more supportive than she had been at the beginning after this pressure campaign
against her.
GOLODRYGA: And making it all the more notable that you had at least one prominent Republican senator from North Carolina and that is Thom Tillis
publicly speaking out over the weekend criticizing that what he viewed as a pressure campaign specifically for this cause to have Republicans in the
Senate actually move forward with some of these more controversial picks because of threats about being primary exactly as you noted he called them
political opportunists.
Kristen Holmes, thank you so much. Appreciate the time and the breakdown of that very lengthy press conference. We'll have much more from President-
elect Trump's press conference after a quick break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GOLODRYGA: All right. We just heard from President-elect Donald Trump where he was asked about a number of issues, including vaccines and the war in
Ukraine. They're taking a closer look at the impact the war is having on its youngest and most vulnerable population.
[12:40:09]
Now, the conflict is taking a staggering toll on a generation of children who have experienced violence, fear, trauma and loss. It's estimated some
five million children have been displaced either inside the country or are living abroad.
Eight organizations are worried about the long-term psychological impact of the war. UNICEF says the conflict has wiped out nearly three years of
schooling for many children and has robbed them of their education and happiness.
Time now for The Exchange. We want to bring in the co-founder of Ukraine's Children's Action Project. You have been seeing some of the video posted by
the nonprofit group now. Dr. Irwin Redlener is also a professor of pediatrics at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York and he
joins us live from Lviv, Ukraine.
Dr. Redlener, thank you so much for joining us and being so flexible because we had set this aside as a standalone topic to discuss obviously an
urgent situation there. We've been covering the war now for two and a half years. Specifically though, its impact on children, apologies for the
scramble surrounding the president's press conference.
But I know there were a number of issues that he touched on that you would like to address one relates to the war. He says what most would agree with
that the war should come to an end. It's just how this war actually comes to an end and the give and take that these negotiations will have to
include from both Vladimir Putin and President Zelenskyy. I think a lot of people take issue with so feel free to weigh in on that.
And also as a pediatrician, when you hear the president raise concerns or skepticism about vaccine mandates specifically as it relates to schools,
where would you like to begin?
IRWIN REDLENER, CO-FOUNDER, UKRAINE CHILDREN'S ACTION PROJECT: Well, why don't we start with Ukraine since I'm sitting here right now in Lviv and
just spent the day and yesterday and really over the weekend meeting with children and families from Ukraine, some of whom are out of Ukraine and
living in Poland and some are right here in Ukraine itself.
And first of all, this is a very, very crucial time for Ukraine. Ukraine is one of the growing strongest economies in Europe. It's an ally of the
United States. The full-scale invasion by Russia in February of 2022 has disrupted the lives and the normalcy of children and families for the
entire country of Ukraine.
About two-thirds of the children of Ukraine have actually been displaced by the war either out of the country entirely or displaced from the eastern
battlefront areas to safer areas in western Ukraine.
The problem is though that many of these children have not been going to school regularly. This has been a significant amount of psychological
trauma and not only that, obviously there has been almost 2,000 children who have been killed, many have been injured. There's children being
kidnapped as we speak back to Russia.
So Ukraine has been highly traumatized. And, of course, like in every other war, it's the children that are taking the brunt of the violence and the
aggression of the issues that they had no say in. They're just suffering the results from.
So we're hoping that this war will come to an end if nothing else on behalf of Ukraine's children. And they're looking for their future and we think
they will have one, but we've got to get this war stopped.
GOLODRYGA: Yes. And a point you and others make is, you know, highlighting what President Zelenskyy says and that is the need for a just end to the
war, where Ukraine can remain independent and have sovereignty over whatever territory they ultimately end up agreeing to and start to rebuild
their country without the lingering threat of Vladimir Putin once again, re-invading the country sometime later.
REDLENER: Right.
GOLODRYGA: So many Ukrainians have left the country, has children. They've started schools in other countries now there in Europe that have graciously
taken them in. They've started learning the local language there.
And while that is commendable and a good alternative to living within a war zone itself, repatriating these people is a key initiative for Ukraine
post-war. And that is very difficult for many of these families to have to then once again uproot their children and bring them back to Ukraine, but
it is crucial for the country to survive successfully.
REDLENER: Totally. And, you know, listen, children, this is not a cliche, Children are literally the future of Ukraine. Unfortunately, the
battleground areas in Eastern and Southern Ukraine are where many of the families, Ukrainian families left and they went to other countries.
[12:45:02]
And so even if the war ended tomorrow, it would be very difficult for a lot of those families to go back. They can't go back to where they came from.
In many cases, the communities have been destroyed, many are under Russian occupation. And many of them will fall to Russia in a negotiated
settlement. And that itself is very anxiety-producing for almost everybody we speak to here in Ukraine because people are worried that if there's a
ceasefire, Russia will just use that time to rebuild its military so that this is not something I learned in my pediatric training.
But the fact of the matter is that for Ukraine, it is essential that they have security agreements, either joining NATO or having other security
arrangements, so they will not continue to be threatened by Russia.
So it's a very complicated situation. But as you rightly point out, it is critical those kids come back. But if they've been learning Polish history
and Polish language or German culture for the last three years, their connection to Ukraine, their Ukrainian identity will essentially dissipate.
And that is -- that is really bad for Ukraine and the future of this country.
GOLODRYGA: Can I ask you quickly just to weigh in as a pediatrician, but also as one who's there treating children in Ukraine with covered war zones
and its impact on children in Gaza as well and administering vaccines. The fact that there is still an ongoing debate about the efficacy of vaccines
that are proven to be extremely efficient, nearly eradicating disease here in the U.S. What do you make of that? And do you support vaccine mandates
for school children?
REDLENER: Yes, of course. This is not an issue that's even debatable anymore. One of the more shocking things about this last few years has been
the incredible misinformation that's been spread, obviously, on social media, but by presidential candidates.
This is proven science. This is -- this is reality. First of all, no childhood vaccine, no vaccine at all creates autism. That has been
disproven over and over and over again. And that connection is made up its fantasy, its anti-science.
But the other thing is that we leave vaccines like for months, measles, rubella and polio up to parents, that creates a problem because if 15, 20
percent of the kids in your child's class are not vaccinated, that will make your children liable to catch these terrible diseases that have been
essentially eradicated.
So this is about public health. You know, you break your leg, you don't want to get it treated. I'm sorry to hear that, but you know, you'll live
with that.
But if you don't get vaccinated, you're not just endangering yourself or your child, you're endangering my children. And I think that's fair. And
that's the reason we have rules about public health.
Vaccines are critical. They represent some of the greatest advances in medicine ever. And the idea that we've been talking about going backwards
is astounding and distressing.
GOLODRYGA: Dr. Irwin Redlener, we'll have to leave it there. Thank you so much for the time and for the work that you continue to do for the children
--
REDLENER: Of course.
GOLODRYGA: -- in Ukraine. Appreciate it.
And we'll be back after a quick break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[12:50:08]
GOLODRYGA: And back to our top story, President-elect Donald Trump wrapping up a wide-ranging news conference just a short time ago. He was asked about
the mysterious drone so many people say they've seen in American skies and he said the military needs to tell people what they know.
Brett Bruen is a president -- is the president of the Global Situation Room, a communications consultancy and was a National Security Council
official in the Obama administration. He joins me now live in Alexandria, Virginia.
We have limited time, but I want to get through a couple of issues with you. Frist, Brett, thanks for joining us.
Your reaction to how President-elect Trump reacted to or responded to questions about these mysterious drones and suggesting that the Pentagon
knows a lot more than they're revealing at this point.
BRETT BRUEN, PRESIDENT, GLOBAL SITUATION ROOM: Well, Bianna, first, I have to say, I kind of feel like I went on a trip with Michael J. Fox in the
DeLorean "Back to the Future."
It was a bit of a roller coaster ride. The drones were just one of the many issues that he seemed to touch on. I hope you had all of them on your bingo
card.
But yes, on the drones, what Trump said is a bit more responsible, quite frankly, than what he has posted on social media, which was testing that we
ought to just start shooting the drones down. For any number of reasons, I don't have to explain, that's a bad idea, not just because they could land
on people, they could land on power lines, cause a whole lot of damage.
We do, however, and, you know, this is something that I think is incumbent upon the Biden administration to answer more questions, to share more
information. And, obviously, you know, Trump is pushing for that.
GOLODRYGA: And that is something that we should note lawmakers from both parties are pushing for as well. Neither party seems satisfied with how the
administration is handling this mystery right now.
Let's get to overseas, specifically with Syria. President-elect Trump saying that it is Turkey that he thinks will play or hold a key in an
outsized role, and what happens in the future of Syria. Even going as far as describing it as an unfriendly takeover, what did you make of his
comments?
And as they relate to what he has posted last week, and that is if the U.S. and his view should have no involvement whatsoever in the future of Syria?
BRUEN: Well, welcome to Diplomacy under Trump 2.0. He intends to delegate out our diplomacy and responsibilities for key countries' issues around the
world.
The problem with delegating a whole country and a country in crisis to Recep Tayyip Erdogan is the fact that his agenda is not necessarily ours,
is not necessarily in the interest of Syrians themselves. He obviously has both domestically and Turkey as well as a significant Kurdish population in
Syria, which is concerning.
And I think the problem with the way that Trump is approaching foreign policy, and we heard it several times during that press conference is sort
of, you know, a shoot-first aim later, kind of foreign policy mantra. And that is going to create a whole lot of collateral damage. It's going to
have a whole lot of unintended consequences.
GOLODRYGA: Yes. We have 900 U.S. troops stationed there as well, really helping to support Kurdish fighters and rebels there. So curious to see
what the Trump administration does in terms of the future of those troops remaining in the country.
Quickly, he was also asked whether he had wanted to push or plans for somehow trying to extradite Bashar al-Assad out of Russia. He said he
hasn't thought of that, but it's time to move on. Now, this comes just hours after we appear to have a statement from Assad himself, his first-
since departing parting Syria, saying that his departure was not planned and it was actually requested by Moscow itself.
[12:55:03]
BRUEN: Yes. Look, I think Trump is not someone based on his first term who is going to hold a high standard for accountability on human rights. It's
one of the reasons why dictators around the world are embracing, or at least trying to embrace Trump in order to hopefully get a pass on some of
these human rights problems.
I will say just briefly, the invitation, it seemed like somewhat of a extemporaneous invitation to Zelenskyy to come to Washington for the
inauguration is going to be met, I expect, with a whole lot of warm and quite frankly, travel plan making at the last minute by folks in Kyiv to
try to get there for the inauguration because they know they'll have it and Putin won't.
GOLODRYGA: Yes. The president liked to say that a lot of people are requesting and have expressed interest to come to the inauguration.
We'll have to leave it there, Brett Bruen, thank you so much.
And yet more breaking news now just into CNN. Police in Madison, Wisconsin are responding to a shooting at a school. They currently report multiple
people have been injured. Police have told CNN they're working to clear the school and do not have anyone in custody as of yet. The school is a
Christian school and has about 390 students. Of course, we're going to be keeping a close eye on this story throughout the day and bring you any of
the latest developments.
Meantime, that does it for this hour of ONE WORLD. Thanks so much for watching. I'm Bianna Golodryga. "AMANPOUR" is up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
END
