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President-elect Donald Trump has agreed to pay $25 million to settle lawsuits against Trump University; Melania and their 10-year- old son, Barron, will not move into the White House; Pope Francis extended indefinitely the power of priests to grant forgiveness for abortion; Aired 3:30-4:00p ET

Aired November 21, 2016 - 15:30   ET

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


[15:30:00] ART RODERICK, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Now, the information put out about the San Antonio shooter, there's a lot of information law enforcement has put out. His photograph, incident prior to the shooting, his getaway vehicle. So, there's a lot of information they have put out to the public. And I know there's going to be phone calls coming in and they are going through those phone calls and they have got a lot of law enforcement agencies assisting them that once they come up with an identity on this particular individual, they will have him in custody fairly quickly.

PAMELA BROWN, CNN HOST: Going back to Pat Carrethers, who you mentioned, that really hits home for you, right, Art, because you knew him personally?

RODERICK: Yes. The law enforcement family is a tight-knit community and Pat worked on the southeast regional fugitive task force. In fact, he was the deputy commander. And they were going to arrest an individual that had shot a law enforcement with an AK-47. And Pat, unfortunately, gave his life protecting the community there in Georgia.

And I'll tell you, he was a great law enforcement professional and a public safety whose life was dedicated to public safety. And he instill that to his five children that he left behind, these three older sons. Two of them are graduates of the naval academy and his number three son is actually a freshman at the naval academy right now in Annapolis, Maryland.

BROWN: Five kids. Our hearts certainly go out to them and for you for losing a friend.

Just lastly, what advice do you have for law enforcement officers across the country after these four separate attacks in 24 hours? And as you mention, I think there's more than 60 percent increase in deaths of law enforcement this year compared to last year.

RODERICK: Yes. It's really becoming an epidemic. And it is the ambush that really is the crime here. I mean, these law enforcement officers are either sitting in their cruisers or as you saw in Dallas and Baton Rouge, just picked off by sniper-type killings.

Law enforcement ramps up, as they did after Dallas and after Baton Rouge where they are going to double up in these police cruisers to prevent any of these killings. But there's not much they can do there. They are actually sitting ducks inside their cruisers. So they have to be very careful about individuals approaching them. But they are there to serve the public. And, unfortunately, the public, you know, when you look at these individuals that shot these police officers basically either sniped at them or just walked up and shot them while doing their job in keeping the public safe out there.

BROWN: All right. And it all makes you wonder what Jeff Sessions, with confirmed, will be the chief law enforcement officer in the country, what he will do to end this kind of thing.

RODERICK: Exactly.

BROWN: Art Roderick, thank you very much. We do appreciate it.

RODERICK: Thanks.

BROWN: And up next, the president-elect taking to twitter to defend his 25 million settlement over Trump University. My next guest says it's the not the only legal case that could come back to haunt a Trump presidency.

Stay with us. We will be back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:42:17] BROWN: President-elect Donald Trump has agreed to pay $25 million to settle lawsuits against Trump University. And now the biggest question has to be, why? Why did Trump agree to settle the case when all along he adamantly and repeatedly said he would not? Look at this video Released by Trump during the campaign.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT-ELECT OF THE UNITED STATES: It's something I could have settled numerous times. I just don't believe in settling, especially when you're right. I don't like to settle. When I'm like about something, I like to go to court, so I'll go to court.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: But, Trump did settle in what prosecutors and attorneys for the over 6,000 plaintiffs call a major victory.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JASON FORGE, LAWYER FOR STUDENTS ON TRUMP UNIVERSITY LAWSUIT: It really is a great result. Everybody who was enrolled in this school and wants their money back will get over half their money back, at a minimum and, perhaps, up to all of their money back. So we are very pleased with the outcome. We are at each other's throat for 6 1/2 years and we were able to find the common ground with them and do something good here.

(END VIDEO CLIP) BROWN: I'm joined now by CNN senior investigative correspondent Drew Griffin and CNN legal analyst and former prosecutor Paul Callan who just published an article to CNN.com about this case.

So I want to go to you first, Paul, then I will get to you, Drew.

Paul, $25 million to over 6,000 victims. In your eyes, who got the best deal here?

PAUL CALLAN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: I think the students got a great deal here because, frankly, if you do the math on this, you know, the average student paid about $1400 or $1500 for the course. And this means they are all getting their money back and a lot of them are getting all of their money back. And really, it would almost be the gross revenues of the Trump University. If you like suing GM in a class action for fraud that occurred with respect few students, they have to give up their annual income for the year. So it's a big, big number. So I think the students did well.

Trump did well -- Trump had his reasons, though, because, frankly, this thing would have caused him to show up at a trial in the middle of his presidency. And he could have been hit for as much as $150 million if he took it to trial. So, there's a little bit of a win on both sides.

BROWN: And we are going to get to that in just a minute.

But first, I want us to all listen to what Trump's incoming chief of staff said about the settlement and then we are going to talk more about that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REINCE PRIEBUS, INCOMING TRUMP CHIEF OF STAFF: When the presidency hits you and it's at you front door and you realize that you're president of the United States for all Americans, there are some things that are important to you and some things you decide, look, let's move on. We are not admitting wrongdoing. And let's just start leading this country without distraction. That's what you're seeing. I think that Americans should look at this as a real positive sign about what kind of great president he is going to be and how he wants to lead this country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[15:40:05] BROWN: So Drew, is there anything left in the Trump University case at Dems could take advantage of to hurt or slow the Trump presidency or as of now is it moot?

DREW GRIFFIN, CNN SENIOR INVESTIGATIVE CORRESPONDENT: You know, I think it's moot. Well, they haven't tried. You heard the plaintiff's attorney. This has been going on for 6 1/2 years. The school closed in 2010. And, remember, Pamela, you know it was the Republicans that first tried to use this against their opponents in the primaries. It didn't work for them then. It didn't work for the Democrats. So except for some cheap shots probably going forward when discussing education issues in Congress, I don't see this as lingering. I think he really did set this aside.

BROWN: Yes. That's a fair point.

Paul, so under this agreement, Trump will not admit fault, but it raises the question, are there still ways for any of those students to come after the president-elect? Are there still land mines ahead for him?

CALLAN: No, I think this is going to be a full and complete resolution of the Trump University matter. But, you know, the interesting thing, Pam, when I was looking into this cased is that he has so many pending lawsuits by even conservative accounts, there are at least a couple dozen relatively serious cases pending. Now, will the plaintiffs in those cases be emboldened to be more aggressive and try to force him into a courtroom? Now, you can imagine the president of the United States being pulled into two dozen lawsuits. It would be unprecedented in American history.

Prior to Trump assuming office, only three presidents had ever been called into court or potentially called into court on very minor cases. And he's got more than two dozen pending cases.

BROWN: Fascinating.

GRIFFIN: So this is really -- the Supreme Court may have to look at this again to see whether the commander in-chief has to go and answer in court to these cases.

BROWN: Yes. And it's interesting because Trump has said that he doesn't like to settle because it could lead to more lawsuits and that kind of thing.

So Drew, back to you, it may be a false equivalents but I want to hear what your thoughts are on this idea that Republicans in Congress warn that Hillary Clinton, but so far not much concern over Donald Trump and his business ties. Is a false (INAUDIBLE) or not? Should they be investigating this?

GRIFFIN: You know, you're delving into the political punt pundit tree field which I'm not a part of but the Clinton foundation, state department, that involved U.S. federal government business. At least that's what the Republicans were alleging, which is why they would have some reach as far as congressional oversight.

But, you know, Trump University teaching seminars on weekend across the country to private citizens. A private company teaching private citizen who then sued him. I don't really see and Paul can probably, you know, have more to say, I don't see where Congress finds an avenue to investigate that.

BROWN: Paul?

CALLAN: No, they don't. Well, I don't think they do. But here's what I find to be the most interesting thing about Trump and lawsuits. If Trump will, say, a car manufacturer and he sold cars, well, he could become independent of his car company and the car company could be managed by somebody else and life would go on. But what does Trump sell? Trump sells the Trump name. So even if he becomes independent, even if he says, well, I'm going to have nothing to do with the business, the business is selling the Trump name. And what he does as president wild either enhance or detract from the Trump brand.

Never in American history have we confronted such a situation. So, unless he gives up the Trump brand completely and says, don't sell it anymore and puts his kids out of business, there's going to be a problem that's going to recur throughout the Trump presidency.

BROWN: And there are already a lot of questions about conflicts of interest, that kind of thing. So a lot of work to be done on that front.

Drew and Paul, thank you very much. Do appreciate it.

CALLAN: Thank you.

BROWN: And up next, the Trump transition team says the next first lady will be staying at Trump tower at least for a few months. Why Melania Trump and her son, Barron are delaying their White House move and what that means for her new responsibilities.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:48:05] BROWN: Well, Donald Trump confirmed he will move into the White House immediately after taking office, but his wife, Melania and their 10-year-old son, Barron, will not be making the transition until after Barron is out of school for the year. So how will the future first lady manage the east wing from afar?

Joining me now to discuss, Kate Anderson Brower, a historian of first ladies and author of "first women: the Grace and power of America's modern first ladies."

Kate, thanks so much for coming on. Just curious, is this unprecedented? Has this ever happened before?

KATE ANDERSON BROWER, AUTHOR, FIRST WOMAN: It is. It's happened twice before. Martha Washington, of course, didn't live in the White House because it wasn't built yet and then President Harrison's wife never moved into the White House because he died shortly after being elected.

So it's unprecedented in modern history, absolutely. And it's surprising to see, but she has talked a lot about being, you know, her sole world being raising Barron, his father is away a lot. So it's interesting to me that they left the kind of open ended whether or not, you know, next year they will put him in a private school here in D.C. I thought it was interesting the way Donald Trump phrased it yesterday, where it was really an open question. Just seeing it through this semester and then in the summer maybe moving to Washington.

BROWN: Because when you look at past first families, with Malia and Sasha Obama, Chelsea Clinton, they all came into the White House as children right away, right?

BROWER: Right. I mean, with the Obama daughters, they were very young, you know, seven and ten, respectively. And then you had a, very young Chelsea Clinton coming in. So it is really been protocol to make the effort to have them move into Washington. And for Michelle Obama, of course, she brought in her mother Marry Anne Robinson who lives in a suite on the third floor of the White House. And that was something I think Melania Trump should consider, and probably is considering on whether or not her parents live with them in New York, should move with them to give Barron a sense of normalcy. It has worked for past presidents.

BROWN: And you think about the east wing, an entire east wing, you know, dedicated to the first lady, what will happen to that in the meantime? How does Mrs. Trump carry out her agenda and duties as first lady from afar?

[15:50:09] BROWER: You know, I talked to a staffer who worked for Laura Bush when she was the first lady who said, you know, we haven't seen this before. It is unprecedented in modern history, but it can happen. You still have a social secretary who needs to plan events for the president, right. She will still have a press secretary and chief of staff, projects coordinator and that is something that Melania Trump really needs to work on as finding those key people around her to implement some of these ideas. She had liked the cyber- bullying.

So it is not as though this east wing staff can only operate with the first lady physically there. You can do a lot of things. Technology has made it very possible to do a lot of things, you know, from a satellite. But I think overall it's more the appearance of recognizing and understanding the great privilege of living in the White House. And I think she will come to Washington for state dinners and be a visible presence here.

BROWN: And it makes you wonder if Trump will then be going to New York when he is president to visit his wife and his son. That and I imagine that is a sort of security nightmare, if you will, for New York and secret service. I mean, that's unprecedented, too, I would imagine.

It is. I think it's really interesting, because a lot of first ladies in history say their happiest memories are in the White House with their husbands because they get to see them more than ever before. Jackie Kennedy said this, Michelle Obama has joked about that. You know, you are living above the store, essentially.

And on the campaign, they barely get to see their husbands. And that would definitely be true for Donald Trump and Melania. So you would think they would want to spend as much time as possible. And I think they will find it's much easier if they're both living together in the White House rather than traveling back and forth every weekend.

BROWN: All right. Kate Anderson Brower, fascinating stuff. Thank you so much.

BROWER: Thank you.

BROWN: And up next, Pope Francis has been the power of Catholic priests to forgive abortions. We will discuss why now and what was message he may be trying to send.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:51:13] BROWN: Well, Pope Francis is once again paving a way for a more merciful, welcoming and forgiving church. He has just extended indefinitely the power of priests to grant forgiveness for abortion. Now normally this is something only bishops for specifically designated confessors are allowed to do. But the Pope made this announcement today as the church's special year of mercy concluded. In a letter he stated that while abortion is a grave sin, since it puts an end to an innocent life. In the same way, however, I can and must state that there is no sin that God's mercy cannot reach and wipe away when it finds a repentant heart seeking to be reconciled with the Father.

So let's talk about this with CNN religion commentator Father Edwards Beck.

First of all, Father, how significant is this announcement, this extension?

FATHER EDWARD BECK, CNN RELIGION COMMENTATOR: It is significant, Pamela, because it has continued a major theme of this papacy and that is mercy. We have just ended this year of mercy. And the Pope has said, you know what? We can't just put mercy into a year, we have to extend it. And so, what he granted priests to be able to do absolve abortion just for that year, he said, no, it's going to be now everywhere for all time. And so, it's just kind of widening the circle more and more. And again, he is living up to this barrier breaker Pope.

BROWN: And for those who don't know a lot about the catholic faith, what does this mean for Catholic women who have had an abortion?

BECK: Well, in this country, priests could always forgive abortion because bishops allowed them to in certain diocese. And then they were automatically though excommunicated if they had an abortion. And now, a priest can say, no, you are not excommunicated. Welcome back to the church.

So for Catholics and for women in particular, I think it is saying that stop putting yourself old (ph) blaming other to put you on the outside. We want to get everybody into this big tent. And this is a Pope who continues to try to break the barriers. We have seen it with other groups, and now certainly it's happening now more with women and this particular issue.

You know, as a minister in the church as a priest, I have a lot of women who come toe in confession, confessing abortions. And there is a lot of pain, a lot of guilt, a lot of feeling on the outside like they don't belong, that they have done something unforgivable. And this Pope is saying, look, everything can be forgiven. Nothing is beyond the purview of the mercy of God.

BROWN: And I'm curious, how is this edict from Pope Francis different than what Pope John Paul II did in the previous holy year in 2000?

BECK: Well, it differs because now in all diocese throughout the world, priests can now forgive abortion. In other words, it used to be reserved for bishops if someone was excommunicated because they had an abortion. The bishop was the only one who could bring them back into the fold. The Pope has now said all over the world, doesn't matter of the diocese, priest can do that. So it makes it more accessible. I mean, how many people are going to make an appointment with the bishop or go through the bishop to have a sin forgiven and be brought back into the fold? This way, they go to their local priest. They go to confession. They express repentance or remorse and they again brought back into the fold. So it is just that accessibility that is really been major news here I think.

BROWN: And like you said, it really fit in to this overall message of mercy toward groups like, you know, gays and lesbians as well, like divorced couples, like women who have had abortion, that message of mercy for those groups.

Father Edward Beck, thank you very much. Appreciate you coming on.

BECK: Thank you, Pamela. Happy Thanksgiving.

BROWN: Happy Thanksgiving to you as well.

And thank you so much for watching me right here on the NEWSROOM filling in for my colleague Brooke Baldwin.

"The LEAD with Jake Tapper" starts right now.

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Thank you, Pamela.

Meeting with foreign businessmen while running the U.S. government. Remember, when that was a bad thing?

"The LEAD" starts right now.

His critics called him a liberal New York Democrat. Some even accused him of being a Democrat Party plant. So could one Democrat find --.

END