Feel your party, the Democratic Party does not Pay Attention to them any more you are more concerned with what bathroom people go into, to how they earn a living . What is the message. Very fair question. One, you give me credit. Its about 1 10. Its not a bad rate for me. Look, if we were going back in history to the 30s and 40s, and you asked the average working person, which party is the party of the Working Class in america . Overwhelmingly, people would have said it was the Democratic Party. Today people do not say that. And for good reason. No. When we talk about the greed on wall street, it wean the the republicans alone who did it, they did it with democrats. It was a democratic administration, not a republican
administration, that brought forth nafta, i think the democrats have got to make a fundamental choice, chris, that is which side are they on . You cannot be on the side of wall street, of the Drug Companies and the Insurance Companies and the big money and go to Working People and say, hey, im on your side, theyre smart enough, theyre not going to believe you. What we have got to do is come up with an agenda that speaks to the needs of Working People, that is creating millions of decent paying jobs, Making Public Colleges and universities tuition free. Raising minimum wage to 15 an hour. Creating jobs by addressing the crisis of climate change. Dealing with the need for immigration reform, et cetera, et cetera. I think the American People understand that theres something profoundly wrong in this country when you have a small number of billionaires that have so much power. And i believe they want to see a government which represents all of us, thats what the Democratic Party has goat to stand for. We get to the issues, was it a serious discussion about serious things . Our thanks to vermont senator, Bernie Sanders. Happy new year to you. For everyone who made this town hall possible, and its more than you may just be thinking about what you see up here on the stage. This is just the beginning of a special week at cnn. Tomorrow, we have president obamas farewell address, wednesday, you have President Elect donald trump, holding his first full scale News Conference in months. And later on wednesday night, van jones is going to host another edition of his town hall series, the messy truth. Thursday, you have my colleague here at the George Washington university with the republican speaker of the house, representative paul ryan. Our thanks to our host, to George Washington university, and to all of you in the audience tonight at home and watching. Don lemon picks up our coverage right now. Thank you very much. Very nice job, my friend. You and the senator both. You just saw our town hall with Bernie Sanders. And he his Senate Colleagues begin Confirmation Hearings tomorrow for Donald Trumps cabinet picks. Thanks for joining us. One president getting ready to move into the white house, the other getting ready to say goodbye. President barack obama hard at work tonight on his Farewell Address Set for tomorrow in chicago. As President Elect trump prepares to take the oath of office, his daughter and son in law have become d. C. s newest power couple. Jared kushner named a senior exec. The person asking to sit in the most respected seat in our country imitated a disabled reporter, someone he outranked in privilege, power and the capacity to fight back. We have so much to get to tonight. I want to begin with jim acosta. Emily jane fox, also here, richard painter, chief white house ethics lawyer under george w. Bush joins us. And jon meacham historian. Quite a fascinating hour, jon meacham. I want to get your reaction to Bernie Sanders town hall. Trum assembly his administration. Theyre regrouping to try to figure out what happens with the Democratic Party. You should be worried about the issues at hand instead of what happened. Every action produces a reaction. If trump is an answer to the obama years, theres going to be given the speed of the american pulse. Theres going to be a moment where the democrats are going to be rethinking. Its striking to me still that senator sanders, given his age,
elites, but who are the elites when you have so many billionaires in power. This is a Pivotal Moment for the campaign. Theyre making it official his son in law is going to be an adviser. What are you hearing. People have been comparing this to Hillary ClintonRunning Health care reform under bill clinton, i think Jared Kushner coulding more powerful than Hillary Clinton was in that white house. He was probably Donald Trumps most trusted adviser throughout the entirety of the 2016 campaign. And what theyre envisioning for Jared Kushner is sort of the Senior Adviser who overseas everything. He was down at the capitol today meeting with paul ryan to go over tax reform. Hes been meeting with donald trump and other foreign leaders. They looked at this, the legalities of all of this on a Conference Call one of jared
asked questions of lawyers who represent various people who are up for positions in the administration, and ive given my honest opinion on that. Its debatable. Whether it applies to an appointment by the president in the white house it certainly applies to the president making an appointment outside the white house. One point ive emphasized with all the lawyers representing anybody appointed in this add men stras, its critical to comply with a Financial Disclosure law and also the financial Conflict Of Interest statutes. These are criminal statutes that prohibit a Government Official from engaging in any official action that has a direct predictable effect on their financial holdings. This means for mr. Kushner, hes going to have to sell quite a lot of holdings, and if he holds on to some real estate, some bank loans, he may have to recuse from some important
issues, such as the regulation of the Financial Services industry. Its going to be very important that he follow the rules like Everybody Else. I hope he will persuade his fatherinlaw to divest conflict creating assets, to disclose his tax returns and follow the same rules that Everybody Else does. Richard we have a lot of billionaires in this administration, they are not they dont necessarily understand the needs of working americans, but at least they can zoo their jobs free of conflicts of interest. You were reading everyones mind on this panel, probably every viewer at home is saying, if Jared Kushner has to do this, what makes a President Elect so different . Why doesnt he have to do it if hes going to hold the top office in the land . Well, technically, the feenl Conflict Of Interest statute does not apply to the president , there are other provisions that do. Such as the constitution will
prohibit any foreign money coming into trust with the United States government. That applies to kushner and the president. They have to make sure theres no Foreign Government money coming into these businesses that are still owned by President Trump or by Jared Kushner or anybody else in the United States government. We need to look at wilbur ross, whos a billionaire going over to the congress department. Betsy devos going over to the education department. A lot of billionaires here, they need to file their Financial Disclosure reports and let the American People know whats going on. Those who expect senate confirmation, need to file those with the senate before they ask for hearings. I want to get jon meacham back in, the meacham team believes these antinepotism laws. Should they be able to get around this . Right. You know, the law was passed in 67. It was a rider to a bill thatPresident Johnson cheerfully signed, to say that President Johnson and senator kennedy, the former Attorney General were not close is something of an understatement. And so this was seen as pay back for years of rivalry between lbj and rfk. It began to some extent when bobby went down to sound johnson out in 59 about whether or not he was going to run for president. And johnson gave bobby a particularly harsh rifle that knocked him down. You know, son, have you to learn how to shoot a gun like a man. That was the beginning of that romance. When kennedy became Attorney General, he was harsh toward johnson. When the tragedy of dallas happened, that tension rose. So there are technicalities here that seems to me the courts, that there probably is a way, obviously for kushner to do this, i think one of the questions, if i were mr. Trump,
which is quite a sub junktive. How do you what if you dont like the advice youre getting . Can you fire your son in law . Can you move him out . It does raise an interesting question on both sides, both outside the ethical questions and on the inside, which in terms of the family dynamic. That will be interesting to watch, if it doesnt quite work out, what happens, speaking of that family dynamic, i think whats important, and a lot of people arent talking about, ivanka, who has a very robust business. Is she planning to divest, and whats going to happen with her business . Shes planning to she announced today that shes planning to take a step back from her role at the Trump Organization and her own brand of fashion, line accessories. Jewelry. Shes moving to washington, shes moving her whole family, shes going to settle her whole family there. Shes taking a step back. Its not to say shes not going to get paid by the Trump Organization. She wont be paid if her brothers decide to make a deal, she wont necessarily get a cut of that specific deal, but shell get a share of the overall Trump Organization revenue. She is going to be involved in that new d. C. Hotel built in the Old Post Office pavilion, Down The Street from the white house. And according to transition officials who are on this call today, if a matter comes before the white house, that is involving that hotel, Jared Kushner is going to have to recuse himself, there are going to be some cases here and there. Hes not divesting himself of all of his holdings and all of his investments neither is she. Jared kushner is going to have to step back. How do we know. We dont even know. Jared has said that hes going to comply with federal laws about what he has to disclose about his Financial Statements. We dont know what kind of holdings he has. We have no idea what kind of holdings she has, the president has, all of these things are steps in the right direction, but its still just so opaque. I dont know if its a step it sounds good. How do we know that Jared Kushner is recusing himself or ivanka trump is not getting a cut on some deal. How would the American People know that . Queer not going to know for sure. But were going to get a Financial Statement from him, hes going to be a senior white house employee, and hes going to be subject to a criminal Conflict Of Interest statute, which is a lot better than we are with carl icahn who they claim is not a government employee. Though he will be. At least we have the final disclosure forms, and the criminal Conflict Of Interest statute that apply. The Department Of Justice will enforce the criminal Conflict Of Interest statute, they have in the past, they have good prosecutors there, i expect him to comply. That hotel, they have to get rid of that hotel, they have Foreign Governments coming in there, Foreign Government money coming
into that hotel. No Person Holding a position of trust with the United States government can be receiving profits from dealing with Foreign Governments. We have lobbyists who stay in that hotel. Including the ncaa coaches, Athletic Directors want to go in there and lobby the president while staying in his hotel. That hotel is going to be an ethics nightmare for the next four years. If they dont get rid of that hotel, change the name, they have one place on Pennsylvania Avenue they ought to be focused on, and thats the white house. John, youll get the first word on the other side of the break. Please bear with me. Im a little snifflely, you may hear some of that during the show tonight. I apologize in advance. If youre gonna make an entrance. [car driving upon the water] knowing where you stand. Its never been easier. Except when it comes to your retirement plan. But at fidelity, were making Retirement Planning clearer. And it all starts with getting your Fidelity Retirement score. In 60 seconds, youll know where you stand. And together, well help you make decisions for your plan. To keep you on track. Time to think of your future its your retirement. Know where you stand. Time to think of your future oh, how waso good en house . Did you apply . Oh, ill do it later today. Your credit score must be amazing. My credit score . Credit karma. Its free. Thats great um hm. Just whip bam boom, its done. That apartment is mine credit karma. Give yourself some credit. Normal expectations, i think trump has every intention of making his own political rules. The interesting tension is going to be where the law trumps the politics. If the job numbers get strong, if in fact, people feel that the country is Getting Better under a President Trump. The political appetite for the raising the kinds of questions, and making these questions stick is going to be fairly minimal. Jar ed and ivanka are follows the rules. Why the double stand aud . I dont think theres a double standard. Theres a difference in ambition here. Jared and ivanka are 35. Theyre half donalds age and twice as ambitious. They want to have a long career in washington, or at least in
power. Theyre taking steps that look good and appear to comply with Ethics Standards and rules. Donald is 70 years old, do you think hes going to have a political future down the road. This is important to people who have been incredibly ambitious. Why do you think its tough for him ivanka and the two sons who are running the business. As it is already, why is it tough to have him untangleal of his en257k elments. We were supposed to have a Press Conference about all of this in december. Will that come wednesday. Nine days before the inning august ouration, is how were going to find out how trump is going to do all of this. He descended into the lobby of trump tower today and took a few questions from reporters, and dodged a few. One of the questions he took was about this Conflict Of Interest. He said, this is simple, i can
do this, its not going to be that tough. It sounds like a donald trump answer to a complex question. As mr. Painter was saying earlier, there are no conflicts of interest when youre president of the United States. Those Conflict Of Interest restrictions dont apply to you. The clause does apply to you. He is going to have to demonstrate how hes going to disentangle himself from all of these hotels, properties, All Over The World that have russian interests and chinese interests. And countries that are not friends of the United States. Hes going to have to make it Crystal Clear to the