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EARLY START

Trump's Two Jobs: President & Producer; Fast Food CEO To Run Labor Department; Hillary Clinton Slams Fake News. Aired 5:30-6a ET

Aired December 9, 2016 - 05:30   ET

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


[05:30:00] JOHN BERMAN, CNN HOST: He goes to Michigan tonight. There are some new cabinet announcements to vet. He picked a Labor secretary and the president-elect is expected to name his pick for secretary of state early next week.Overnight, Mr. Trump was in Iowa promising to bring jobs back to the United States. CNN's Jeff Zeleny was there and has the very latest.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: John and Alison, it has been one month since Donald Trump woke up on the morning after Election Day as the president-elect. Now on a victory lap he goes to battleground states across the country, the latest in which was in Des Moines, Iowa last night. He spoke to thousands of supporters. A bit of a nostalgic walk through his victory, particularly the 10-point win he had in Iowa over Hillary Clinton. He'll be heading to Grand Rapids, Michigan -- heading to Louisiana today, as well.

But Donald Trump is trying to make good on his vow to change the government. He's trying to make good on his vow to drain the swamp. Still more showboating and showmanship than specifics here. This is what he told voters last night in Des Moines.

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENT-ELECT: I actually love calling these companies. I say give me a list of 10 companies that are leaving and I actually love calling these companies and saying hi -- and I get the president of this company and I say hi, how you doing? Oh, hello, Mr. President-elect, congratulations. Yes, congratulations and, by the way, while we're on the phone don't leave. Please don't leave, please. And we've had great success. You'll be seeing a lot more success.

ZELENY: The speech widely applauded by his supporters here, also briefing interrupted by a few protesters. Donald Trump seemed to take it all in stride, a far different tone than we saw during the campaign. He said, as they were led away, "they're with us, they just don't know it yet." But, John and Alison, that is the challenge and the burden for Donald Trump going forward here as he makes that pivot from campaigning to the governing realities.

He's about finished naming his cabinet. I am told he's going to likely name his secretary of state choice early next week. The cabinet will nearly be complete and the Supreme Court justice, then he'll break for the holidays. In January is when it all begins -- John and Alison. (END VIDEOTAPE)

BERMAN: Mr. Jeff Zeleny in Iowa. Meanwhile, this NBC reality show brought to you by the commander-in-chief. New word this morning that President-elect Trump will remain as executive producer of NBC's "CELEBRITY APPRENTICE" while he is in the White House. Trump hosted "THE APPRENTICE" for 14 seasons, also "CELEBRITY APPRENTICE" where Arnold Schwarzenegger takes over next month.

A Trump spokeswoman told CNN that "Mr. Trump has a big stake in the show and conceived of it with Mark Burnett." -- Burnett creating the original "APPRENTICE. It is not clear how much Trump will make as executive producer. It could be some, you know, thousands of dollars per show. The arrangement does raise some serious questions about conflict of interest problems, not just for the president-elect but also for NBC, which will be airing a Trump-produced show while its news division reports on him.

ALISON KOSIK, CNN HOST: I don't think he's concerned with the optics of it. It's not illegal.

BERMAN: No.

KOSIK: He can do it, it's just unprecedented. We haven't had a president who's been this wealthy and had his hand in so many different types of businesses.

BERMAN: It's just it continues to be interesting to me that Donald Trump, himself, announced on Twitter he's going to hold a news conference December 15th to explain how he's separating himself from his businesses --

KOSIK: Yes.

BERMAN: -- and while we wait for that news conference we learn about more ways that he's not separating himself --

KOSIK: Right.

BERMAN: -- from his businesses, so we'll have to wait and see what he says.

KOSIK: All right. Donald Trump will nominate Andrew Puzder for Labor Secretary, a source close to the decision is telling CNN. Puzder is the CEO of CKE Restaurants which owns Hardee's and Carl's Jr. Now, he opposes a $15 minimum wage but he's OK with a smaller increase from the current federal rate of $7.25 an hour.

Now, he's been an outspoken critic of Obamacare. He's blasted new overtime rules which would extend the pay to more workers.Puzder is credited with turning around fast food chain Hardee's since he took over as CEO in 2000, but it was forced to pay out $9 million to settle three class action lawsuits involving overtime pay.

(Video playing) The company has been criticized recently for its commercials that you see here, some which feature women in bikinis eating burgers. Puzder told "CNN MONEY" last year he thinks the ads are American and there's nothing wrong with them. Listen to this.

BERMAN: Puzder's appointment, we should say, requires Senate confirmation. As Labor Secretary he would oversee the U.S. job market, regulate workplaces, produce stats like the unemployment rate that underpin the U.S. economy. The Bureau of Labor Statistics, you know. Also, look -- you know, Donald Trump frequently says he doesn't believe the unemployment numbers. Well, his own bureau is going to be producing those unemployment numbers. We'll see how he feels about them then.

All right. Hillary Clinton, she calls fake news a dangerous epidemic at an event honoring retired Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid. Clinton spoke out against blatantly false stories that masquerade as news and she backed new laws to fight foreign propaganda. She, apparently, is referring to alleged Russian meddling in the last election.

[05:35:03] Now, Sec. Clinton did not mention "Pizzagate" -- that's the completely bogus, false, made-up, full of lies story that Clinton and her campaign chair ran a child sex ring out of a Washington pizza shop -- but her remarks seemed to address the shots fired at the restaurant by a man bent on what he said was "self-investigating" the story.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HILLARY CLINTON (D), FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The epidemic of malicious fake news and false propaganda that flooded social media over the past year, it's now clear that so-called fake news can have real world consequences. This isn't about politics or partisanship. Lives are at risk. Lives of ordinary people just trying to go about their days to do their jobs, contribute to their communities. It's a danger that must be addressed and addressed quickly.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KOSIK: All right. Let's dig in deep and break down the latest on the Trump transition and bring in CNN POLITICS reporter Tal Kopan, live this morning in Washington. Good morning.

TAL KOPAN, CNN POLITICS REPORTER: Good morning.

KOSIK: So I want to talk more about Andrew Puzder. He -- for one, he's obviously being nominated for Labor Secretary. He's a vocal critic of government regulation. He opposes the $15 minimum wage and broader overtime pay for workers, not to mention he's a millionaire. So, keeping that in mind and the wealthy array of people that Donald Trump is putting into his cabinet, he tried to defend that at his rally in Iowa. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: By the way, some of the people I put on to negotiate, you've been noticing, are some of the most successful people in the world and one newspaper criticized me. Why can't they have people of modest means? Because I want people that made a fortune because now they're negotiating with you, OK? It's no different than a great baseball player or a great golfer. We want the people that are going to bring -- and they're so proud to do it. These people have given up fortunes of income in order to make a dollar a year.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KOSIK: And he's talking about himself there. Does he make a point there, though? You don't want people who aren't successful taking this high-level positions.

KOPAN: Yes, absolutely, I've heard this a lot. Social media is a beautiful thing and we get to hear directly from the voters sometime, and I've heard a lot of why shouldn't he appoint successful people for some of these posts. You know, there is a concern, always, how did these people make their money? I think we're going to hear a lot of those questions in Senate confirmation hearings.

You know, I'm told that Senate Democrats are especially going to be looking at some of the financial disclosure forms that are required to be filed by every cabinet nominee, every administration. Those forms are going to get a very close look from some of these billionaires and millionaires that are being appointed to the cabinet. Very scrutinized for conflict of interest because, of course, Democrats can't take on Donald Trump directly on that issue and so we're going to see that play out a lot with some of the cabinet secretaries.

And, you know, Democrats are going to get a chance to ask that question. Success is one thing but is there a problem when our government is too staffed with people who are independently wealthy and not necessarily with people who have sort of worked real-life situations. So I think that we're going to see this air out quite a bit when these people come up for confirmation.

BERMAN: Yes, the Democrats will get to ask a lot of sternly-worded questions but they don't have the power to stop or block any of these appointments. You know, what's interesting, Tal, to me, is that some people have looked at the Trump presidency -- the incoming Trump administration -- they say Donald Trump as the first post-ideological president.

Yet, at least some of his cabinet picks in key departments are seen as highly ideological. You know, Betsy DeVos going to lead the Education Department. She is seen as someone who's ideological in education, very pro-charter schools, pro-voucher. You've the EPA -- incoming EPA chief Scott Pruitt, a guy who wants to -- you know, has been suing the EPA, a climate science denier. It's interesting that Donald Trump has chosen, in at least some of these departments, to pick people that appeal very much to the ideological wing of the Republican Party.

KOPAN: Yes, absolutely. I think the conservative base is very pleased with the majority of these cabinet picks. And even the ones that maybe aren't necessarily as ideological, they recognize as people who are sort of designed to get particular things done.

And so, when you do look at putting some -- nominating someone for EPA who has directly taken on the EPA with legal action challenging many of the Obama administration regulations, that's exactly the type of thing that a lot of the people advising the Donald Trump transition have been calling for, for years. They love the idea of a secretary who can sort of dismantle a lot of what they have called overreach from the Obama administration.

So I guess in some ways it's surprising if Donald Trump was seen as possibly moderating once he gets in office but we're still going to have to see what policies these pursue, even if they sort of have tendencies in that direction.

[05:40:00] KOSIK: What about the critics that are pointing to the fact that Donald Trump is nominating too many generals to his cabinet posts? Some may say that everybody's making too much of a big deal about this. That it's actually advantageous because those in the military are more thoughtful and deliberate about decision-making, whether it's about immigration or terrorism.

KOPAN: Yes, and obviously, being a general in the military is huge management task. And so, in some ways that does sort of serve as a preparation for perhaps running a cabinet. You see a lot of generals go into sort of defense contracting in the business world when they do retire, so we see them go into that way.

But, you know, the big question that people are raising is the premise of civilian control of our government. And the reason that there is a law prohibiting an active duty military member from serving as Defense Secretary for seven years after they retire, which would have to be waived for Gen. Mattis, is the idea of civilian control of the military, and so that's why people are asking big question. It's does this give too much military power in the cabinet?

BERMAN: Tal Kopan, great to see you this morning. Have a fantastic weekend.

KOSIK: Bye, Tal.

KOPAN: Thanks, bye.

BERMAN: All right. Millions around the world talking about the contributions of John Glenn this morning. What an impact this man made on this country. So many reasons to be thankful for him.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:45:33] (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN GLENN, FORMER ASTRONAUT AND U.S. SENATOR: (INAUDIBLE).

NASA: May the (INAUDIBLE) be with you. Good Lord ride all the way (ph). Godspeed, John Glenn.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KOSIK: Tributes pouring in from across the planet for space pioneer and former Ohio senator John Glenn. The trailblazing Glenn became the first American to orbit the earth, changing the course of the space race in 1962, but Glenn had already made a name for himself in the sky. He was a Navy test pilot and flew nearly 150 missions in World War II and Korea, and broke the transcontinental speed record, flying from Los Angeles to New York in 1957.

Glenn never traveled to the moon after his friend, then-President John F. Kennedy, ordered NASA not to fly him, fearing for his safety. He later did serve four terms in the U.S. Senate, though, representing Ohio, beginning in 1974.

BERMAN: Now, Glenn did eventually get back to space in 1998. He was 77 years old, the oldest astronaut ever. He was awarded the Congressional Space Medal of Honor in 1978, the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2012. Honestly, there aren't enough awards for a life like John Glenn's.

In a statement on Thursday, President Obama said "John always had the right stuff." Of course, there was the movie, "THE RIGHT STUFF", which dealt with the Mercury astronauts -- "inspiring generations of scientists, engineers and astronauts who will take us to Mars and beyond. The last of America's first astronauts has left us, but propelled by their example we know that our future here on Earth compels us to keep reaching for the heavens. On behalf of a grateful nation, Godspeed, John Glenn."

Now, before heading back into space for his second trip Glenn spoke about his emotions before his first flight. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GLENN: I used to joke about it in the past when people would say what do you think about on the launch pad. And the standard answer was how do you think you'd feel if you knew you were on top of two million parts built by the lowest bidder on the government contract?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KOSIK: John Glenn is survived by his wife of 73 years, Annie. Yes, they have two children and two grandchildren. A private burial with full military honors is planned at Arlington National Cemetery. John Glenn was 95 years young. You know, it's so -- it's actually amazing to sit and talk about all of his accomplishments. Accomplishments -- it's the stuff that dreams are made of and he lived it. And he's got this legacy where he's got friends and a fellow astronaut speaking so favorably of him, saying he was a consummate professional, a leader to the highest caliber, and a genuinely nice man.

BERMAN: Twenty-four years in the U.S. Senate as a second career --

KOSIK: Right.

BERMAN: -- after being the first American --

KOSIK: Talk about job sharing.

BERMAN: -- to orbit the earth. Really someone who made a difference here and what more can you ask for? KOSIK: All right, let's take a look at what's coming up on "NEW DAY". Good morning, Alisyn Camerota.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN HOST: Hey, guys, Happy Friday.

KOSIK: Happy Friday.

CAMEROTA: Great to see you. So, why is the president-elect going to be the executive producer of "THE APPRENTICE" on this coming season? We're going to have Kellyanne Conway, one of his top advisers, on to talk about that.

And if you saw NEW DAY yesterday, you saw Chris and me get into a heated exchange about climate change. Why is it so hard to talk about climate change without it devolving into a shouting match? This morning we have on a scientist who has been steeped in this stuff for 50 years. He has a suggestion for how to bring both sides together. And Chris is reading a book I got for him. What is it, Chris?

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN HOST: (Holds up book).

CAMEROTA: "Overcoming Aggression". We're going to have the author on this morning.

CUOMO: It's after -- "Overcoming Passive-Aggression" is what Congressman Tim Murphy and his co-author wrote about.

CAMEROTA: But I crossed that part out.

CUOMO: She modified it for me.

CAMEROTA: I took that chapter out.

BERMAN: That's awesome. He just finished "Fifty Shades of Grey" so now he needs -- he needs a new good book, so --

CAMEROTA: Right.

CUOMO: Recommended by J.B.

BERMAN: That's right. He took my earmarked copy.

KOSIK: I think you may need a pair of boxing gloves for that segment. I'll be watching.

CAMEROTA: OK, fantastic. Thanks, guys.

CUOMO: I took it like a man.

BERMAN: Do your show.

KOSIK: We're you reading "Fifty Shades of Grey" at some point?

BERMAN: No, no, no, no. It's all good.

KOSIK: OK, if you say so. All right. The Dow is one big rally away from a milestone that seemed untouchable just a few months ago. We're going to tell you what that is and show you the big winners that are probably part of your 401(k) when we get a check on CNN Money Stream, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:54:00] KOSIK: New revelations this morning in connection with that deadly warehouse fire in Oakland, California which claimed the lives of 36 people.

In an exclusive interview, Oakland fire chief Teresa Deloach Reed tells CNN she does not know the last time or even if the building was ever inspected by her department. She says the city's fire inspection teams have been hampered by years of budget cuts and hiring freezes. The chief says her team is still combing through the records but says it is possible the so-called Ghost Ship, which sat vacant for years, may not have even been in the city's database.

The mayor announcing just this week a task force to assess fire safety in Oakland to make sure lessons are learned from this tragedy.

BERMAN: Fire-ravaged Gatlinburg, Tennessee getting back on its feet. Businesses that were unscathed by the deadly wildfires are set to reopen in just a few hours. Storeowners on the tourist strip, they've been cleaning, painting, doing all they can. They're trying to get shoppers back. The deadly wildfires that ripped through the Smoky Mountains, they killed at least 14 people, destroyed more than 1,700 buildings.

[05:55:03] KOSIK: All right, let's get a check on CNN Money Stream this morning. The explosive post-election rally continues to push stocks into uncharted territory. The Dow, the S&P 500, and the Nasdaq all hitting record highs Thursday and just about every part of the market is getting a Trump bump. Nearly three-quarters of the stocks in the S&P 500 are up since November 8th. About half of those winners have gained at least 10 percent.

And the big winners are the big banks. Check out these gains. Bank of America up 35 percent since the election. Goldman Sachs rising 32 percent. Morgan Stanley is gaining 27 percent. And despite the major fake account scandal that plagued Wells Fargo, well guess what? Wells Fargo is up almost 26 percent over the past month. Not too shabby. Fueling the gains there are the prospects of less regulations, lower taxes, and higher interest rates.

So the Dow is getting real close to a major milestone. It's now just 385 points away from 20,000. Gosh, it's been an incredible ending for a strong year for stocks. The week before the election -- check this out -- the Dow was below 18,000. And looking back to earlier this year the average was below 16,000 as oil prices crashed. Now, we could see more gains today. We are seeing Dow futures ticking just slightly higher but S&P futures are lower. Stock markets in Europe and Asia are mixed.

Donald Trump says he sold all of his stocks in June so he missed the recent rally, but maybe not entirely because in May -- we found out some information -- he had filed a financial disclosure form showing his financial holdings and it showed a pretty diversified mix.

Part of it was 50 percent of his holdings or $85 million was held by hedge funds so if he hasn't sold these positions this could present many potential conflicts of interest not only with the stocks these hedge funds invest it but also with the people who run these funds. Some donated to his campaign or have close ties to his cabinet picks, like Treasury Secretary nominee and former Goldman Sachs partner Steve Mnuchin.

So, let me say this. Check out this new CNN Money Stream app. It's business personalized. The stories, videos, tweets, and topics you want all in one feed. Download it now on the App Store or Google Play.

BERMAN: So, it's interesting because the Trump team has said that he sold his individual stockholdings --

KOSIK: Right.

BERMAN: -- but they haven't made clear about the hedge fund holdings that actually represent a much larger chunk of the portfolio?

KOSIK: The Trump camp -- the Trump camp let us know a few days ago that he sold all his stocks but he's still -- his disclosure form shows he had these hedge funds, it showed he had bonds, he's had gold holdings. We don't know yet if he -- if he sold that or what happened with that, so --

BERMAN: It will be interesting to find out again. Donald Trump has said on December 15th he's going to tell us about disentangling from his business ties. But again, since he's told us that he was going to have that speech we've learned more ways there is not disentanglement.

KOSIK: But not disentangling from "CELEBRITY APPRENTICE".

BERMAN: Certainly not, certainly not.

KOSIK: All right, that's all for EARLY START. Thanks for being with us this morning. I'm Alison Kosik.

BERMAN: I'm John Berman. Donald Trump, he promises to bring U.S. jobs but does that mean remaining as executive producer of the "CELEBRITY APPRENTICE"? "NEW DAY" starts right now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: The enemy's pretty tough, right, so I think we need some tough people.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The people he is picking is, quite frankly, scary.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: These people are far more committed to protecting our democracy than their critics.

TRUMP: The nation of China, they haven't played by the rules and I know it's time that they're going to start. BERMAN: Donald Trump will keep his title as executive producer of NBC's "CELEBRITY APPRENTICE".

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's a big enough job without the conflict presented by his business interests.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: John Glenn, one of America's first astronauts.

GLENN: Oh, that view is tremendous.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He was tremendously generous. We're going to miss him here.

NASA: Godspeed, John Glenn.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER: This is NEW DAY with Chris Cuomo and Alisyn Camerota.

CUOMO: What a loss and, yet, the passing of John Glenn gives us the chance to remember all that he did. I mean, he is as much as hero for a generation of children today as he was two generations ago.

CAMEROTA: It's great to look at all those old film clips. Just really inspiring.

CUOMO: What a man. Godspeed, John Glenn. Good morning. Welcome to your new day. It's Friday, December 9th, 6:00 in the East. Up first, President-elect Donald Trump taking his victory lap to the Midwest touting his ability to keep jobs in America and taking aim at China, kind of. We'll tell you about that. He was also defending his wealthy and controversial cabinet picks.

CAMEROTA: This, as a new conflict of interest crops up. The next commander-in-chief will still be the executive producer of the show "CELEBRITY APPRENTICE" and he'll still be collecting a paycheck from NBC while serving as President of the United States.

We're just 42 days away from Inauguration Day. We have it all covered for you so let's begin with CNN's Sunlen Serfaty, live in Washington. Good morning, Sunlen.

SUNLEN SERFATY, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Alisyn. Well, this is real uncharted territory for a president here, certainly raising a lot of questions. After Trump takes the oath of office the nation will have a president who will still be part of and have his name listed in the credits of a reality show. All this as Trump hits the road in full force defending the people he's chosen for his cabinet.