Trump Nominees Contradict His Policy Positions; Biggest Takeaways from Tillerson Confirmation Hearing
WHITFIELD: Welcome back. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. A fresh round of nomination hearings on Capitol Hill next week, including Donald Trump's picks for treasury and the next ambassador to the United Nations. As CNN's Jeff Zeleny explains, if this past week is any indication that we might hear views that aren't exactly in line with the president-elect, we'll see it all unfold.</s>JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRSEPONDENT (voice-over): Donald Trump is facing a new round of opposition on Capitol Hill, not from Democrats but from his own cabinet nominees. At one confirmation hearing after another, Trump's team is contradicting the president- elect on some of his key campaign trail promises. On Russia, Trump taking a far softer tone on Vladimir Putin than his pick for defense secretary, retired General James Mattis did.</s>DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT-ELECT OF THE UNITED STATES: If Putin likes Trump, I consider that an asset, not a liability.</s>GEN. JAMES MATTIS, DEFENSE SECRETARY NOMINEE: I have very modest expectations about areas of cooperation with Mr. Putin.</s>ZELENY: On the intelligence probe into Russian hacking, Trump sounded far less certain than Mike Pompeo, his choice to lead the</s>CIA. TRUMP: As far as hacking, I think it was Russia, but I think we get also hacked by other countries and other people.</s>REP. MIKE POMPEO, (R), KANSAS & CIA DIRECTOR NOMINEE: It's clear about what took place here, about Russian involvement in efforts to hack information and to have an impact on American democracy. I'm very clear eyed about what that intelligence report says.</s>ZELENY: At Trump Tower Friday, the president-elect downplayed the differences between his views and those of his perspective cabinet.</s>TRUMP: I told them to be yourselves and say what you want to say. Don't worry about me. I'm going to do the right thing, whatever it is. I may be right. And they may be right. But I said be yourself.</s>ZELENY: But his rhetoric before the election, and since, is now colliding with governing, sending mixed signals to Americans and allies about where the new administration stands. On the campaign trail, Trump railed against NATO, while his defense secretary nominee took a different view.</s>TRUMP: NATO is obsolete. It was 67 years or over 60 years old.</s>GEN. JAMES MATTIS, DEFENSE SECRETARY NOMINEE: Having served once as NATO a supreme allied commander, it is the most successful military alliance probably in modern world history, maybe ever.</s>ZELENY: The Senators spent much of their time this week asking the nominees if they agree with Trump's views on hot-button issues, like torture. His pick for attorney general, Jeff Sessions, said he did not.</s>TRUMP: Would I approve waterboarding? You bet your ass I'd approve it.</s>SEN. JEFF SESSIONS, (R), ALABAMA & U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL NOMINEE: Congress is taking an action now that makes it absolutely improper and illegal to use waterboarding or any other form of torture.</s>ZELENY: In one of his biggest pledges of all, building a wall on the border with Mexico --</s>TRUMP: We are going to build a great border wall to stop illegal immigration.</s>ZELENY: His pick to lead Department of Homeland Security, retired General John Kelly, disagreed.</s>GEN. JOHN KELLY, HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY NOMINEE: A physical barrier, it and of itself, will not do the job. It has to be a layered defense.</s>ZELENY (voice-over): And secretary of state nominee, Rex Tillerson, contradicted the view of Trump on climate change this week, saying he believes it exists and requires a global response. Now, Donald Trump has said he wants members of his cabinet to have their own views. The question is, whose views, the cabinet or the president, become the policy of this new administration. Jeff Zeleny, CNN, Washington.</s>WHITFIELD: All right, I want to bring back Aaron David Miller to talk about the nomination hearings. So, Aaron, Rex Tillerson also going through his confirmation hearings this week on his nomination for secretary of state. And we saw there, you know, a real contrast, not surprisingly. He was asked about Russia, but here's how he summed up his views on what needs to be done.</s>REX TILLERSON, FORMER CEO, EXXONMOBIL & SECRETARY OF STATE NOMINEE: Russia is here, Russia matters, and they're a force to be dealt with, and that is a fairly predictable course of action they're taking. I think the important conversation that we have to have with them is, does Russia want to now and forever be an adversary of the United States, do you want this to get worse or does Russia desire a different relationship. We're not likely to ever be friends. I think, as others have noted, our value systems are starkly different, that we do not hold the same values.</s>WHITFIELD: All right, and so, we know Rex Tillerson and a lot of his business dealings with Russia, but at the same time, he says during confirmation hearings that Russia doesn't want to continue to be an adversary and he says Russia and the U.S. not necessarily considered friends. Do -- and then you hear from Donald Trump. Whether it be in the "Wall Street Journal" today, who says you've got to have a good relationship with Russia and leverage that. So, these mixed messages, these contrasting views, of a nominee versus the president-elect soon to be president, is that healthy?</s>MILLER: I've worked for "R"s and "D"s and voted for "R"s and "D"s but I've never quite seen anything like this, the degree of daylight that exists between the president-elect and at least three or four of the nominees. Look, Fred, you could read this one of two ways, either this is unorganized chaos, the right and left hand are not coordinated, or alternatively, you could look at this and say, you know, yeah, you have a president-elect who's out there, not schooled in foreign policy, said a lot of things, he's appointed nominees who are independent minded and have their own tough views and are prepared, over time, to educate the president. I prefer, because I believe and hope for success, that it's the second thing that is going on. That in Mattis and Tillerson, Mattis in particular, you have two men who are prepared to speak truth to power to the president-elect. And since -- you know, Crosby, Stills and Nash were right that life is about learning. And the president is going to have to get, particularly this one, is going to have to be educated, it seems to me, on some of these core issues. So, on balance, I think once he becomes the president and once decisions are made, he's going to have to seek the counsel of the secretary of state and secretary of defense, assuming they're both confirmed, and to make policy accordingly. At least that's what I'm hoping.</s>WHITFIELD: So, how worrisome, or is it worrisome at all, we heard Donald Trump on the campaign trail say and use election day as kind of that post of, well, if I'm elected, then this will change, and then during this transition period, it's well, once I'm sworn in, then this will change. I mean, why --</s>MILLER: I mean --</s>WHITFIELD: -- should this be comforting or why is it unsettling to hear this?</s>MILLER: The ultimate pivot is yet to occur. That's less than a week from now, at noon next Friday, when the nominee or the candidate, the nominee, the president-elect, will become the president. And that is an extraordinary set of responsibilities, both for ensuring domestic prosperity for Americans at home and for protecting the security of the United States abroad. That's an extraordinary responsibility. And that is going to demand accountability, where success and failure is going to be very clear, it seems to me, and very easy to measure. We haven't seen -- that pivot has not yet occurred. And I suspect, watching Tillerson, assuming he's confirmed, and Mattis, it seems to me that these two picks at least raise the prospects that the president-elect, soon to be president, would be at least getting the right advice with respect to how to look at these things in an organized disciplined fashion and then create a sensible policy. So, I willfully perhaps, hopefully, not naively, see on the national security side less difficulty than on the domestic.</s>WHITFIELD: And whether advice given will be advice respected or even used in decision making. Aaron David Miller, thank you so much. Appreciate it.</s>MILLER: Thank you, Fred.</s>WHITFIELD: Still ahead, why Donald Trump wants people to shop at L.L. Bean. We'll explain what's next.