Trump's Two Jobs: President & Producer
ALISON KOSIK, CNN ANCHOR: Now, overnight, Trump was in Iowa. He fired up the crowd at his latest "Thank You" rallies with promises to bring jobs back to the United States. CNN's Jeff Zeleny was there and has the latest.</s>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 of which was in Des Moines last night. He spoke to thousands of supporters. A bit of a nostalgic walkthrough his victory, particularly the 10- point 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 the vow to change the government. He is trying to make good on his vow to drain the swamp -- still more show boating and showmanship than specifics here. This is what he told voters last night in Des Moines.</s>DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENT-ELECT OF THE UNITED STATES: I actually love calling these companies. I say, give me a list of ten 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 are you doing?" "Oh, hello, Mr. President-elect. Congratulations." "Yes, congratulations. By the way, while we're on the phone, don't leave. Please, don't leave. Please?" And we had great success. You'll be seeing a lot more success.</s>ZELENY: The speech widely applauded by his supporters here, also briefly 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 are with us. They just don't know it yet." But, John and Alison, that is the challenge and burden for Donald Trump as he makes the pivot from campaigning to the governing realities. He is about finished naming his cabinet. I am told he is going to likely name the secretary of state choice early next week. The cabinet will nearly be complete. And a Supreme Court justice and then he'll break for the holidays and January is in when it all begins -- John and Alison.</s>JOHN BERMAN, CNN HOST: All right, Jeff Zeleny. Meanwhile, this NBC reality show brought to you by the commander-in- chief. New word this morning the President-elect Trump will remain as executive producer of NBC's "Celebrity Apprentice" while he is in the White House. Now, Trump hosted "The Apprentice" for 14 seasons, also "Celebrity Apprentice", where Arnold Schwarzenegger takes over next month. A spokeswoman tells CNN, quote, "Mr. Trump has a big stake in the show and conceived of it with Mark Burnett." Mark Burnett created the original "Apprentice", also a lot of reality shows. It is not clear how much Trump will make as executive producer, but it's not going to be nothing. They make some pretty good money. The arrangement raises serious questions about conflict of interest problems not just for Donald Trump, but also really for NBC. Think about this. It will air a Trump-produced show while its news division reports on him.</s>KOSIK: He just can't let go of that thing where he gets to say "You're fired", that creative liberty there.</s>BERMAN: He won't get to say it. Arnold Schwarzenegger will say it. Slightly differently.</s>KOSIK: Maybe four years after, to hold on to it.</s>BERMAN: Trump gets his name. It will say the executive producer. When the show airs in January. It could say Donald Trump.</s>KOSIK: You know, one thing to say. It is not illegal. It is questionable the optics of it. I don't think Donald Trump has ever been concerned about optics of, you know, he's running for president and how he'll look as president. One more thing to keep in mind: Ronald Reagan, as an actor, he continued to take in royalties even during the time when he was president. So, similar, but different. But he continued to --</s>BERMAN: "Bedtime for Bonzo." It was a very good movie.</s>KOSIK: All right.</s>BERMAN: It was a good film.</s>KOSIK: OK, Donald Trump -- moving on -- will nominate Andrew Puzder for labor secretary. A source close to the decision tells CNN. Puzder is the CEO of CKE Restaurants, which owns Hardee's and Carl's Jr. He opposes a $15 minimum wage but is OK with the smaller increase from the current federal rate of $7.25 an hour. He's been an outspoken critic of Obamacare. He blasted new overtime rules which would extend the pay to more workers. Puzder is credited with turning around the 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. The company has been criticized recently for commercials you see here featuring women in bikinis eating burgers. CNNMoney asked Puzder about the ads last year. Listen to this.</s>ANDREW PUZDER, CEO OF CKE RESTAURANTS: I don't think there is anything wrong with a beautiful woman in a bikini eating a burger and washing a Bentley or a pickup truck or being in a hot tub. I think there is probably nothing more American. I don't have a problem with our ads.</s>BERMAN: I'm not sure the ads will come up in the confirmation hearings. I do think --</s>KOSIK: I always grab a burger and wash my car, don't you?</s>BERMAN: I think his position on overtime pay and minimum wage is something the Democrats want to talk about. Let's break it all down. I want to bring in Tal Kopan. She is a CNN politics reporter and an outstanding individual to wake up early for us.</s>KOSIK: Good morning.</s>TAL KOPAN, CNN POLITICS REPORTER: Hi.</s>BERMAN: You know, Tal, it is interesting. You have labor secretary who is no fan of raising minimum wage. You have an incoming EPA chief who questions the climate change. You have an incoming secretary of education who wants to privatize parts of public education, or at least is very pro-voucher and pro-charter schools. It has people questioning whether Donald Trump is hiring people to run the government or to in some cases dismantle the government.</s>KOPAN: Yes. And keep in mind, that's not entirely surprising given what a lot of Republican thinking has been over the last several years. I mean, it's certainly shaping up to be a conservative cabinet we have here. It reflects the ideas of the people who've been advising Donald Trump's transition, folks like the Heritage Foundation, which is a think tank here in Washington. They really do believe it is important to remove a lot of the government regulations. They believe it will spur business and economy in that way. And businesses have been complaining for a while about the regulations coming out of places like the Labor Department, like EPA. So, what you see are secretaries who may be designed to not just run these departments and cabinet level offices like they want to rollback some of the regulations, but going forward. It is unclear what enforcement actions they might take and those types of actions along the way.</s>KOSIK: Tal, let's dig in deeper as labor secretary pick, Andy Puzder. He's a vocal critic of regulation. He opposes the $15 minimum wage. He opposes the broader overtime pay for workers. He is supposed to be an advocate for workers in the position of labor secretary. Keep in mind, he is also very wealthy. Is he really the right pick? Is that the way to go? How does he advocate for workers knowing his stance on these issues?</s>KOPAN: Well, that's going to be something you hear a lot in Senate confirmation hearings. There are going to be a lot of questions Democrats are going to be asking of this candidate and others. But keep in mind, you know, there are differing views of what the roles of the secretaries and certainly in the Obama administration, it was pro- worker and focused on rolling out many of the regulations that are designed to put more money in the pockets of workers. But there are Republicans who don't think that is the role of the Labor Department should be playing. You hear a lot from the Republican side of the aisle to allow free market forces to play out. That the government shouldn't be picking winners and losers. So, these types of ideas are not surprising and may reflect the Republican view of the Labor Department.</s>BERMAN: Lt's take a quick break from talk about a political moment on Capitol Hill yesterday when the former Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton was up there. Listen to what she said.</s>HILLARY CLINTON (D), FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: This is not exactly the speech at the Capitol I hoped to be giving after the election. After a few weeks of taking selfies in the woods, I thought this would be a good idea to come out.</s>BERMAN: This was at a good-bye to an outgoing Senate minority leader Harry Reid. You could hear the muted laughter there, Tal, as if Hillary Clinton should have said too soon? She is trying to come out and talk more after the election. It is interesting to see her up there. Democrats, though, are still coming to grips with this loss.</s>KOPAN: Yes, absolutely. Maybe she should have had you writing her jokes there. But, you know, it shows a little levity. It shows that she understands that, you know, really since the election, she has mostly been spotted on Instagram and selfies with people or pictures with people in the woods.</s>BERMAN: Which, by the way, is an awesome feed. Hillary in the wild is funny. The pictures being taken are very informative.</s>KOPAN: Yes, indeed. There's a big question. Where does Hillary Clinton and the Clintons go from here? The answer is not clear at the moment. And so, we have seen her in drips and drabs. She has to be recovering from a devastating loss and so are Democrats all over Washington and all over the country. And so, I think the speech reflected that, where she is trying to move forward and trying to make light of the situation. But there is a gravity there. Everyone knows it. She is still a bit in mourning for the loss of her presidential campaign.</s>KOSIK: All right. Tal, thanks so much. We're going to bring you back in a little bit to talk more.</s>KOPAN: Great.</s>BERMAN: All right. John Glenn this morning being remembered for all that he did for this country, you know, pushing the limits, bringing America into space and the future. Stay with us.