Trump's First White House Hires; Bannon Blasted As Trump Chief Strategist; Trump On Hate Crimes: "Stop It"; What Will Trump's Kids Be Doing For Him?; Carl Icahn On Trump's Policies; Trump Speaks With Chinese President Xi Jinping
CHRIS FRATES, CNN INVESTIGATIVE CORRESPONDENT: Trump put the head of the Republican National Committee in one of the most powerful positions in Washington. But Priebus' insider cred is balanced out Bannon's anti-establishment worldview. In a statement about the duo, Trump said this. "Bannon and Priebus will continue the effective leadership team they formed during the campaign, working as equal partners to transform the federal government, making it much more efficient, effective, and productive." Now, Priebus is known inside the Beltway and has good working relationships with Republicans on Capitol Hill. People like Sen. Mitch McConnell, who is the Senate majority leader, and House Speaker Paul Ryan, who's been a longtime friend of Priebus. And those relationships and Priebus' knowledge of exactly how Washington works could be key in helping Trump pass his legislative agenda through Congress. Now, Bannon, who's the Trump campaign CEO, also ran "Breitbart News" and that news site has been accused of catering to racists, sexists, and anti-Semitic audiences. And Bannon's also been critical of the GOP establishment. Now both men will advise the next president, President-elect Donald Trump -- Victor, Christine, back to you.</s>VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: All right, Chris, thank you so much. Now, hate watchdog groups are slamming Donald Trump's choice of "Breitbart" boss, Steve Bannon, as chief strategist and senior adviser. The Anti-Defamation League released a statement saying this. "It is a sad day when a man who presided over the premiere website of the alt-right, a loose-knit group of white nationalists and unabashed anti-Semites and racists, is slated to be a senior staff member in the people's house."</s>CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: The Southern Poverty Law Center scolding the president-elect for the hire in a tweet. "Trump should rescind this hire. In his victory speech, Trump said he intended to be president for all Americans. Bannon should go."</s>BLACKWELL: And this from retiring Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid, escalating his attacks on the incoming president with this new statement. "President-elect Trump's choice of Steve Bannon as his top aide signals that White Supremacists will be represented at the highest levels in Trump's White House."</s>ROMANS: All right, the sear of racist harassment following Trump's election appears to have become a reality in some communities. One of several incidents reported across the country happened at an Episcopal church in a heavily Latino neighborhood. This is just outside Washington. Graffiti reading "Trump nation, whites only" was discovered Sunday morning on a wall and on a sign advertising Spanish language services. Washington's Episcopal bishop, Mariann Budde, calling on Donald Trump to speak out against the vandalism.</s>BLACKWELL: Well, Trump talked about it, albeit briefly on Sunday, in his first sit-down interview on television since winning the election, on CBS's "60 MINUTES". Trump was pressed to address acts of violence, and harassment, and vandalism that his supporters had reportedly committed in his name.</s>DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENT-ELECT: I would say don't do it, that's terrible -- because I'm going to bring this country together.</s>LESLEY STAHL, CBS CORRESPONDENT, "60 MINUTES": They're harassing Latinos, Muslims.</s>TRUMP: I am so saddened to hear that and I say stop it, if it helps. I will say this, and I'll say it right to the camera, stop it.</s>ROMANS: All right, let's break down the latest on the Trump transition and what we're learning about Trump's policies with "CNN POLITICS" reporter, Eugene Scott. Good Monday morning to you.</s>EUGENE SCOTT, CNN POLITICS REPORTER: Good morning, good morning.</s>ROMANS: Welcome back. We love it when you get up early for us. So last night on "60 MINUTES" President-elect Trump sat down and talked to Lesley Stahl, and on immigration, two of the signature policies, a deportation force and building a physical wall along the entire border. We heard that over and over again for the last 15 months. This is what he said last night about his immigration policies.</s>STAHL: Are you really going to build a wall?</s>TRUMP: Yes.</s>STAHL: They're talking about a fence in the Republican Congress.</s>TRUMP: True.</s>STAHL: Would you accept the fence?</s>TRUMP: For certain areas, I would.</s>STAHL: What about the pledge to deport millions and millions of undocumented immigrants?</s>TRUMP: What we are going to do is get the people that are criminal and have criminal records -- gang members, drug dealers. We have a lot of these people -- probably two million -- it could even be three million. We are getting them out of our country or we're going to incarcerate. But, we're getting them out of our country. They're here illegally. After the border is secured and after everything gets normalized, we're going to make a determination on the people that you're talking about.</s>ROMANS: Ironically, some of that sounds like current policy. They're already -- I mean, President Obama has been criticized for having --</s>SCOTT: Right.</s>ROMANS: - a deportation force --</s>SCOTT: Sure.</s>ROMANS: -- for kicking people out of the country. We already have areas of the -- of the -- of the border with Mexico that is a fence. Is Donald Trump walking back some of those promises that were so popular among his supporters?</s>SCOTT: Well, we certainly didn't see him say that he's going to build the biggest wall with the most beautiful door, which is what he regularly said when he was on the campaign. But I think what he is realizing is that a significant percentage of Republicans do not support deporting and do not support building the wall. And so, now that he has their support -- now that they helped elect him, I think he has to realize that he's serving multiple demographics and he has to find a way to compromise. And that's what Reince Priebus is going to help him do.</s>ROMANS: Well, you sound like -- that sounds like a Washington politician. You get to Washington and to get stuff done you have to horse trade.</s>SCOTT: Well, he's been a politician since he announced his campaign, even though many people say he's not a politician. You can't run for a president and not be a politician --</s>ROMANS: Right.</s>SCOTT: -- and we're going to see more of this.</s>BLACKWELL: Let's talk about the Supreme Court because for some people who weren't passionate about Donald Trump as their nominee, that was what they leaned on to say that we are going to support Donald Trump for the presidency. I want everyone to listen to what he said about two important issues and his nominees to the Court.</s>STAHL: Will you appoint -- are you looking to appoint a justice who wants to overturn Roe v. Wade?</s>TRUMP: So look, here's what's going to happen. I'm going to appoint -- I'm pro-life. The judges will be pro-life. If it ever were overturned it would go back to the states, so -- it would go back to the states --</s>STAHL: And then, some women won't be able to get an abortion?</s>TRUMP: No, it will go back to the states.</s>STAHL: By state?</s>TRUMP: They'll perhaps have to go to another -- they'll have to go to another state.</s>STAHL: Do you support marriage equality?</s>TRUMP: I -- it's irrelevant because it was already settled, it's law. It was settled in the Supreme Court. I mean, it's done.</s>STAHL: So even if you appoint a judge that --</s>TRUMP: It's done. You have -- these cases have gone to the Supreme Court, they've been settled and I'm fine with that.</s>BLACKWELL: So, as it relates to abortion rights he is having this discussion about if he sends a justice who could tip it into -- to overturn Roe v. Wade, but when it comes to marriage equality, settled, done.</s>SCOTT: Yes.</s>BLACKWELL: It shows what the priority, socially, will be for this White House.</s>SCOTT: Yes, that's very interesting because Roe v. Wade is settled and done, according to the Supreme Court. But many of his supporters were hoping that he would appoint a judge who would be pro-life and interested in reversing it. And we see that if you do reverse it you definitely have to send it back to the states first. But it's not going to be the slam dunk that so many people think it will be. The reality is people have various views on these issues, even within the group of people --</s>ROMANS: Right.</s>SCOTT: -- who support it -- Donald Trump -- and he has to listen to more of them and see what they want. It's not as simple as saying this is what I want, this is what's going to happen. That's not what being president is like.</s>ROMANS: Let's talk about the transition team. His kids are on there, his son-in-law is on there. They will also be taking care of his business so that's sort of an interesting overlap there. It raises questions, potentially, about conflict of interest. He's made a couple of appointments -- Reince Priebus, Steve Bannon. What's your takeaway?</s>SCOTT: Well, it's not that surprising that they're on the transition team because they've been key advisers during the campaign. But it is against federal law for them to have staff positions in his administration. You can't hire them. But the reality is you don't have to have a job within the White House, officially, to be a strong adviser. And we should expect them to continue being strong advisers, especially his daughter, Ivanka, on issues related to women and working mothers. And his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, in terms of policy and strategy in business dealings.</s>ROMANS: All right. Eugene Scott, nice to see you this Monday morning.</s>SCOTT: Thank you, guys.</s>ROMANS: Thanks for being here.</s>BLACKWELL: All right, this afternoon President Obama -- he will hold his first news conference since Donald Trump was elected to secede him. This comes just before the president embarks on his final foreign trip in office. He's looking to reassure anxious allies about the stability of U.S. foreign policy despite Donald Trump's stated intent to undo some of the top Obama initiatives. The president will travel to Greece, Germany, and Peru.</s>ROMANS: Billionaire investor Carl Icahn, a vocal supporter of Donald Trump, but he doesn't agree with every one of Trump's policies. In an interview with CNN's Poppy Harlow, Icahn says Trump's plans to repeal Wall Street regulations may not be the right answer. He does support Trump's proposals to deregulate other areas of business. Icahn thinks the Federal Reserve had no choice but to keep interest rates low. You know, Donald Trump has criticized the Federal Reserve as political. Carl Icahn does not agree. And when asked about Trump's temperament, Icahn said this.</s>CARL ICAHN, BUSINESS MAGNATE: The issue is this country must take a different -- a different approach. The country must go in and be a friend to business. After eight years we have been anything but that and now, this is the hope -- that you have to do it. And if you don't do it, we will definitely lose our</s>ROMANS: Icahn will not join the Trump administration. He says he's never worked for anyone else in his life and he's not going to start now, but he hopes Washington and Trump will listen to his advice.</s>BLACKWELL: Yes, Donald Trump has suggested several times on the campaign trail that he would bring in Carl Icahn to be part of the team. Carl says no, I've got a job, I don't work for anyone else.</s>ROMANS: Carl Icahn does not seem to be a fan of big bureaucracies.</s>BLACKWELL: Yes.</s>ROMANS: I don't think he'd want to be on the -- in the Treasury Department.</s>BLACKWELL: All right, so let's talk about the Seahawks and the Patriots. Did you see this? A Sunday night rematch of one of the most thrilling Super Bowls ever and the teams did not disappoint. Hines Ward with the details in the Bleacher Report -- that's next.