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More Anti-Trump Protests Erupt in U.S. Cities; 200+ Arrested in Nationwide Anti-Trump Protests; Trump Holds Planning Meeting Today; Source: Giuliani Considered for Secretary of State; Priebus: Protesters "Disappointed" with Outcome; More than 100K Sign Up for Obamacare Post-Election; Democrats Vow to Save Obamacare. Aired 10- 10:30a ET

Aired November 11, 2016 - 10:00   ET

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


[10:00:16]

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: And good morning. And thank you so much for joining me. I'm Carol Costello live in Washington, D.C. Thousands of protesters take to the streets for a second night of nationwide protests. Donald Trump, again their target.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PROTESTERS: Not my president! Not my president! Not my president! Not my president! Not my president!

COSTELLO: Protesters citing a bitter presidential election often tainted with racial overtones, and outrage. Voicing concerns about the future of civil rights in a Trump America. And our president- elect tweeting this, "Just had a very open and successful presidential election. Now professional protesters, incited by the media, are protesting. Very unfair!"

And then just a couple of hours ago this morning Trump tweets this. "Love the fact that the small groups of protesters last night have passion for our great country. We will all come together and be proud!"

Most of last night's rallies were angry but peaceful, but in Portland, Oregon, it was a different story. Tensions exploded.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Police, saying the protests had escalated into a riot, deploying flash-bang grenades to break up the crowds. Across the country, more than 200 people were placed under arrest and more anti- Trump demonstrations are planned for tonight. Most of these arrests unfolding overnight in Los Angeles. And that's where we find our Stephanie Elam. Good morning.

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol. Yes, here in Los Angeles, you saw 185 people arrested some for blocking roads. You also had some people who were out past curfew because they were young. Those people also detained as well. We know that they were in front of L.A. City hall chanting "not my president." That's what was happening here in Los Angeles.

But you mentioned Portland, and you really have to take a look at these images again coming out of Portland last night. It started off peaceful enough but the crowd grew to more than 4,000 people. There was vandalism of cars, broken windows of businesses. And so as the crowd got bigger, police actually referring to some anarchists. They used the term anarchists among the crowd who were disrupting this protest. And so they said that they went to less lethal munitions to help disperse the crowd, the tear gas and the rubber baton rounds as well when the crowd turned violent there. Overall, 26 people arrested in Portland after what they called extensive criminal and dangerous behavior there and the unlawful protest.

But there were protests throughout the country. Saw it in Denver last night. We saw people protesting in Philadelphia, in Minneapolis, in Dallas. Also in Oakland where there were 1,000 protesters or so that came out into the streets in Northern California, breaking store windows. There was also graffiti as well. And also some threats against police officers. They said people were arrested with Molotov cocktails as well as M-80 firecrackers in Oakland. There were 11 people arrested.

So, all in all, more than 200 people arrested for these protests. I wouldn't report the second night since the presidential election. And again, Carol, more are expected for tonight.

COSTELLO: All right. Stephanie Elam will check back. There are now just 70 days until Donald Trump takes the oath of office. And he's meeting today to start assembling his White House staff. CNN's Jason Carroll is covering that. He's outside of Trump Tower in New York. Good morning.

JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: And good morning to you, Carol. Donald Trump tweeting about the whole transition effort going forward, tweeting this morning, "Busy day planned in New York. Will soon be making some very important decisions on the people who will be running our government!"

One of the people, potentially who might be helping out or even running the government, former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who was just seen entering Trump Tower, just a few moments ago. CNN has learned that he is perhaps one of the names being floated as potential Secretary of State, also being considered, Newt Gingrich as well. As you know Carol, one of the early positions that's normally announced, is White House Chief of Staff. And there seems to be a lot of back and forth about who that might be.

CNN also learning that after meeting with Paul Ryan yesterday and Mitch McConnell, that they are suggesting that Reince Priebus would be the best man for that slot, but we are also hearing that perhaps Donald Trump is leaning more towards someone else, Steve Bannon, the former campaign CEO and also, as we know, head of Breitbart and also, very critical of a Paul Ryan which could make for a very interesting situation going forward. But the transition team hard at work over the next few hours, next few days, putting this team together. Carol? COSTELLO: All right, Jason Carroll reporting live from Trump

Tower in New York City. So let's talk about that and more. I'm joined by CNN senior political analyst and senior editor for "The Atlantic," Ron Brownstein, political reporter for "NPR," Sarah McCammon, CNN political commentator and president of the Congressional Leadership Fund, Mike Shields, and CNN politics reporter, Sara Murray. Welcome to all of you.

Sarah McCammon, I want to start with you because you covered one of these protests in New York City. So Donald Trump tweeting overnight, "Just had a very open and successful presidential election. Now professional protesters, incited by the media, are protesting. Very unfair!"

[10:05:16] Did it look to you, like these were professional protesters in New York City?

SARAH MCCAMMON, POLITICAL REPORTER "NPR": What I saw, Carol, was a lot of -- mostly young people, there's a lot of diversity there, just carrying - looked like handmade signs, that said things like "no racism, no homophobia" and chanting - I mean, I saw no indication that they were paid, although it's impossible to know for sure. But it felt like a - just a group of people who'd come in to the streets and in New York City, a couple of nights ago, there was a large group, traffic slowed down, almost pretty much to a halt in Times Square for a little while. But you know, I've never even to think they were paid. They came out pretty quickly and there they were.

COSTELLO: And of course, Mr. Trump supporters were asked about that. In fact, Reince Priebus, who of course Donald Trump is considering for you know, his Chief of Staff. He was on "Good Morning America" and here's what he said when asked if - these protesters were professional protesters.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REINCE PRIEBUS, REPUBLICAN NATIONAL COMMITTEE CHAIR: But I do know, though, and I think what President-elect Trump knows, is that it's very clear that at least in the e-mails that were released, that we had the DNC, the Hillary Clinton campaign, or someone in between, going to Donald Trump rallies and inciting violence. And so, that happened. And so, there are such things as professional protesters. But I'm sure that the vast majority of people are just very disappointed with the outcome of the elections. So, I'll give them that and I'll also say I understand the first amendment of the bill of rights. But this elections is over now, and we have a president-elect who has done everything he can do or the last 48 hours, to say let's bring people together.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: OK. So, I want to address that question to you Mike, because you know Reince Priebus, you're a good friend of his. So, first of all, what did he mean by that statement, because he sort of intimated that these might be professional protesters, but then he said, oh, but they're probably not. So what did he mean? MIKE SHIELDS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR AND PRESIDENT

CONGRESSIONAL LEADERSHIP FUND: Well, look, there's clearly organization. The left organizes these protests, whether or not professional, or whether or not professional organizers. It's clear. This didn't just happen overnight, especially the scale that we're seeing. You see Michael Moore and you see different groups out there putting this together. But to me, what I think they should be protesting is that the DNC. Hillary Clinton got six million votes less that Barack Obama did in his last election. She failed and they're now - they're upset about the fact that their candidate got less votes than Barack Obama did. They ought to be going at the DNC in saying why didn't we nominate Bernie Sanders or somebody who could win the election. --

COSTELLO: But isn't that sort of deflection on your part, and I don't need to be mean about that. But right now, we have protests going on across America. Some of them are violent, right? In Omaha, they had used pepper balls to break up the crowds, right? So, isn't it incumbent upon Mr. Trump to come out with more than a second tweet this morning saying, "Love the fact that the small groups of protesters last night have passion for our great country. We will all come together and be proud!" I mean, they weren't small protests, there were 4,000 people protesting in some of the cities across America. -- 5,000 people in New York City. They are not small.

SHIELDS: No. They're exercising their first amendment rights. It is Veterans Day today. I think we can all celebrate the fact that they should be allowed to do that. But they are protesting something that already happened. And so, it makes you wonder what is their goal, I mean what are they trying to achieve other than making the current president-elect look bad. He's tweeted something. He's sort of - he's come out and said we should all be together. I think once he starts proposing policy solutions that people disagree with, maybe it would make more sense than to say OK, now he's actually doing something I disagree with. He hasn't been sworn in. It's been like, three days since he won the election. We had a contest. They fair Democratic contest to decide who the President of the United States is going to be. And they are upset because their candidate got six million votes less than Barack Obama's. So, I think --

COSTELLO: Well, they probably would point to the fact that Hillary Clinton got more of the popular vote than Donald Trump.

SARA MURRAY, CNN POLITICS REPORTER: But I also think there is this question here of, does Donald Trump get it. Does he get the divide that is happening in this country right now? And yes, he won in a fair and due process. And I don't think that anyone is disputing that. But he also won in a fair and due process in a way we have not seen a candidate do before. I mean, he retweeted, white supremacists. He called for the return of stop and frisk. He said, he would impose a Muslim ban on the U.S. He said things that were deeply offensive to Latinos, deeply offensive to young women and they had reason. They had reason to wake up the morning after Election Day and be worried about where their place is in Donald Trump's America.

And the fact that he sent that first tweet last night and then, clearly got his hand slapped overnight and then sent a new tweet this morning saying no, no, it's OK, these are peaceful protests, is a sign, I think, that his staff at least is aware that you need to do something to try to heal these divisions but I don't think that that tweet he sent last night is a good indication that the candidate himself, now the president-elect, realizes how worried people are about their future under a President Donald Trump.

COSTELLO: And I just want to show some more examples of why people are worried. This actually happened. I'm going to show you what some kids were

[10:10:16] saying in a middle school in Royal Oak, Michigan. Let's watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MIDDLE SCHOOL KIDS: Build the wall! Build the wall!

COSTELLO: So these kids were chanting, "build the wall," in front of Hispanic students in that middle school. Here's another example from York, Pennsylvania. These were high school students. Listen.

HIGH SCHOOL KIDS: White power! White power! White power!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: OK. So, they are going down the hall holding a Trump sign and saying "white power." So, it just makes you step back and say really?

MCCAMMON: And I think we heard in Donald Trump's acceptance speech on Wednesday morning as it was. An effort to reach across the aisle and talk about unity and he said he's going to be a president for everyone. But here we see, you know, in the last couple of days just such a strong response. I have heard people say, well, what those protesters hope to accomplish. And I'm not sure that's the right question. I mean, I think the question is, what they are trying to express. And right now, the whole nation is sort of processing where we're at in various ways. So the challenge for Trump is to show that he can, you know, can he continue to strike that tone he struck after he was elected.

COSTELLO: And I don't want to forget you, Ron Brownstein. Ron Brownstein joins us too. So, can you put this in some sort of perspective for us? What's going on in our country at the moment?

RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST AND SENIOR EDITOR "THE ATLANTIC": Yes. I think, look, this was not a normal election. And I think, the point of the protesters is to say this was not a normal election. This was a cultural civil war. Donald Trump ran, I think objectively the most racially divisive campaign as George Wallace in 1968. He won the Electoral College fair and square as Sara said, but over 60 million people voted against him. In the end, Hillary Clinton will win the popular vote by a larger margin than Al Gore did. And I believe if you look at polling, the vast majority of the coalition that voted against him believes he is either personally a racist or deliberately exploited racial division to help win the election. And I think -- I just think you will see more of this, particularly as he goes forward, if he in fact tries to implement key elements of the agenda he ran on, accelerating deportation, building a wall, banning immigration from large portions of the world and as Sara said, promoting national stop and frisk.

I think you're going to see more of this. I mean, this really is a struggle over the direction of the country between two very different Americas. I just point out, these protests are occurring in big cities. If you look at the hundred largest metropolitan areas in the country, Hillary Clinton won them by at least 12 million votes. Donald Trump dominated everywhere else but we have a big divide. And I think the goal of the protesters is to basically say this was not a normal election and this should not be normalized. Look, I mean, when it turns to violence, Americans are going to respond against that but that I think is going to be a big theme. I don't think that the initial notes of unity are realistic. I think this is going to be a very divisive period between two Americas with very different visions of what the country is and where it's going.

COSTELLO: And I must say, Harry Reid's statement, Manu Raju, read it, you know, in the last hour of "Newsroom," very divisive statement. You know, basically calling Donald Trump out and the party for being racist, we are going to guard against it. You heard Sen. Elizabeth Warren come out. It's not quite helpful either, is it?

SHIELDS: Well, no. I mean, look, 60 million Americans voted for Donald Trump, OK? You can't with broad brush paint the Republican activists that showed up to victory centers and all the ground game the RNC put together and then just say, well they're all racists and they're all for deportation and they're all for Muslim ban. That's not what they --

COSTELLO: But they elected a guy who believed all that.

SHIELDS: Well, right, but there's -- more issues in the presidential campaign than just those. And I think these protesters want to highlight those and the people on the left want to highlight those, when there's a much bigger issue going on in the country, with jobs, with the economy, -- with people feeling left out.

COSTELLO: So, help Democrats understand Steve Bannon. Because Steve Bannon is a former editor of Breitbart, right? He pushed the birtherism notion. He led the push to delegitimize the first African- American President of the United States. So, why would Donald Trump, be considering that sort of person to be his Chief of Staff, knowing that there's this upheaval in the country?

SHIELDS: Well, look, I do think it's on the administration -- they have been here for three days. They haven't even been sworn in yet. It is on them to bring the country together. President-elect Trump was here in Washington, D.C. two days ago, saying we want to bring the country together. He had a meeting with the President of the United States. We talked about bringing the country together. --

COSTELLO: Well, after that meeting, Steve Bannon's name came up for Chief of Staff.

SHIELDS: Well, my point is, you've got to see what they actually do in their policy proposals. See what they are trying to do with the administration. I mean, we can all -- we can keep rehashing the election over and over and over again. In the end, 60 million Americans, Americans voted for Donald Trump for reasons other than just the things that we are talking about here.

So we've got see what his administration puts together before we start passing judgments about the split. I mean, what Ron is talking about is true. There is a cultural split in the country. And it's incumbent whether Hillary Clinton had won or Donald Trump had won, they both were going to face that split and both have the

[10:15:16] responsibility to try to bring the country together and move forward. One of the things the country is mad about is that Washington doesn't work. And so now, Republicans are in control and they've got to make it work. And it's incumbent on all of them to do that and answer the questions that --

COSTELLO: And just quickly, Ron -

BROWNSTEIN: Real quickly, can I just say real quick, I mean, Mike is right, that there were many issues that elected Donald Trump. Economic concerns, concerns about the political system but the fact is, that there is a big portion of the country that believes at the center of his message was an attempt to marginalize groups that are emerging in American society. They kind of restore a cultural and political order that kept them, that kind of sublimated them and kept them to the edges. And I can - pretty much assure you they are not going to go quietly. The Millennial generation is as big now in American society as the baby boomers when Richard Nixon got elected in 1968. And I do wonder if that is sort of a preview of what we may expect over the next couple years.

COSTELLO: All right. I have to leave it there, Ron Brownstein, Mike Shields, Sara McCammon, Sara Murray, thanks to all of you.

Still to come in the "Newsroom," President Obama's signature legislation on the chopping block with the Republican Congress and the Republican President. How Obamacare could be repealed, next.

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[10:20:16] COSTELLO: The day after Donald Trump was voted into the White House, more than 100,000 people signed up for Obamacare. Now, as Trump promises to repeal and replace the affordable care act, the Obama administration, well, is trying to tout the law's benefits. Joining us live from the White House, CNN correspondent Athena Jones. Good morning.

ATHENA JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol. That's right. We are talking about the president's signature domestic achievement. It bears his name or at least is nicknamed after him. And we know the Republicans have - since its very beginning wanted to repeal and replace this law. What's unclear is how soon it will all unravel. What provisions they might want to keep, when they will replace it, when they will repeal it. In the meantime the White House is urging people to continue to sign up. They said that you can still reap the benefits and the protections of this law until we get those other questions answered. A lot of experts you talk to will say that even if the Republicans do move to repeal the law, it wouldn't necessarily affect the people who are signing up right now. There would be a delay, so that insurance companies can adjust. People wouldn't immediately be robbed of those health insurance plans.

But as you mentioned, the day after Trump won the election, 100,000 people went to the healthcare.gov, exchange's website, to sign up for health plans, that is the busiest day since open enrollment began back on November 1st. And so, you are hearing the White House say look, go sign up, you can benefit from these protections. Protections like consumer protections, preventing lifetime caps, making sure people aren't discriminated against because they have pre- existing conditions, making sure that people don't have to pay more for health coverage just because they are a woman. And also, this provision that allows children or kids up to age 26 to stay on their parents' plan.

So, there are a lot of things that the White House is continuing to tout. They have also noted that because they say of the affordable care act, the number of people without health insurance fell to a record low last year of 8.6 percent. So they say this is something that Republicans are going to have to consider taking away health insurance from 20 million people if they decide to completely do away with this law. Carol?

COSTELLO: All right, Athena Jones reporting live from the White House, many thanks.

There is a fight formulating right now to stop the repeal of Obamacare. To talk about that, I'm joined by Ron Pollack. He's the executive director of Families USA. Welcome. So, your organization says you are going to go on a full-out war to keep Obamacare. What exactly does that look like?

RON POLLACK, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR FAMILES USA: Well, there are tens of millions of people whose lives really will be at risk if the affordable care act is repealed because health coverage is their lifeline. 20 plus million people have gained coverage as a result of the affordable care act. There are 72.5 million people on the safety net Medicaid Program, and President-elect Trump is talking about trying to repeal the affordable care act, to restructure the Medicaid Program which would result in cut-backs --

COSTELLO: Well, I talked to a lot of Republicans about this. A, they said that, you know, if Obamacare is repealed, that people won't automatically be thrown off their policies. There will be like a grace period, right? And then those people who lose insurance will just go to Medicaid.

POLLACK: Well, that's not clear. First of all, we don't know what the Medicaid Program is going to look like with Trump's presidency. But you know, one of the things that's really important, to understand, it's one thing not to give something to someone who has never experienced it. It's a totally different thing to give something of great value, particularly a lifeline, and they really appreciate it, and then to say we are going to take it away. There are no doubts is going to be a real backlash if that happens.

COSTELLO: I think one of the things that some people don't realize is that many of the people who signed up for Obamacare are really sick people who desperately needed insurance, who have diseases like cancer, other catastrophic illnesses. So, if you repeal Obamacare, what happens to those people?

POLLACK: Well, Carol, there are 130 million people approximately, who have some form of pre-existing condition, diabetes, high blood pressure, asthma, history of heart disease or cancer. Those folks before were in a no insurance zone because insurers could say as they did that we are going to deny coverage to people who need it the most.

COSTELLO: But Republicans say we are going to keep that part of Obamacare.

POLLACK: Well, I hope that is true. Remember, President-elect Trump said during the campaign that he's going to repeal the entire affordable care act. So there are a lot of things we don't know yet. But we do know there are tens upon tens of millions of people who depend on the affordable care act, who depend on Medicaid. And of course, they are terribly worried that the coverage they have would be taken away. You made one very important point among others

[10:25:16] that people are now signing up for coverage and it's actually pretty significant, the sign-ups, 100,000 the day after the election.

COSTELLO: But I can tell you what Republicans would say about that, too. They are signing up because if they don't, they will be penalized, right? They have to pay a penalty if they don't sign up. And number two, they won't believe that number.

POLLACK: Well, they may not believe the number, but it is true that there is a penalty if people do not get health coverage, and -- but I think what really motivates folks is they want to be protected. When they need health care, when their kids need health care, when their spouses need health care, they want to make sure they can get it because otherwise, they are at great risk.

COSTELLO: And I don't want to dismiss, some people do have problems with their policies. They have very high deductibles, right? And very expensive policies but that's not true in every state and with every person. So, then you have to think is there a fix, is there a compromise, but there's a Republican House, the Republican Senate and the Republican President, and they're all saying we are going to repeal this law. So how can you fight it?

POLLACK: Well, there's no doubt that Republicans have all the levers of decision making now in their hands. And so the question is, what are the Republicans prepared to do and how are they going to respond to the -- millions of people who are going to be really in dire straits, who are going to rejoin the ranks of the uninsured if the affordable care act is repealed and won't be able to get the care they need. Some of those folks, their health is going to get much worse and others are going to pay the ultimate price. So, we'll see whether this ultimately happens. And we are going to fight this. Let's be really clear.

COSTELLO: All right, Ron Pollack, thank you so much.

POLLACK: Delighted to be with you.

COSTELLO: Nice to have you here. Thank you so much. Still to come in the "Newsroom," she's a woman, a Muslim, an immigrant and she says she's one of the silent supporters of Donald Trump. She's my next guest.

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