Track . Very good conversation, and well see where it goes from here. Announcer well ask general David Petraeus should his mishandling of classified information take him out of the running . The country in transition. Were not going to be divided for long. Ive always brought people together. Announcer whats fact, whats fiction, and whats next . Mike pence, David Petraeus, both here live. From abc news, its this week. Here now chief anchor, George Stephanopoulos. Good morning. Lets get right to it. We are joined by the man leading the trump transition, Vice President elect mike pence. Congratulations on your victory. Thank you, george. And thank you for coming in. Lets get right to china, that call with the leader of taiwan. As far as we know, no president or president elect has spoken with taiwans leader in nearly four decades. Why did mr. Trump choose to break that precedent . Well, ill tell you what, from the morning after the election, weve seen the president elect engaging the world. Hes spoken to more than 50 World Leaders. Ive spoken to several dozen myself, and he received a Courtesy Call from the democratically elected president of taiwan. That was prearranged, wasnt it . To congratulate him. Theyve reached out as World Leaders have, and he took the call, accepted her congratulations and good wishes, and it was precisely that. Did he intend to send the kind of signal it sent because the Chinese Government has already complained about this. How did you guys respond to it . I understand some of the controversy in the media about this but not just the media. Its with the Chinese Government. Well, yes, of course, but i would tell you that i think i think the American People find it very refreshing, the energy that our president elect is bringing to this whole transition. Hes not only bringing together a cabinet at a historic pace for the last 40 years, hes not only assembling a legislative agenda to move forward this country at home and abroad, but hes also been engaging the world. I think during the course of the transition eight years ago president obama, its reported, spoke to 22 World Leaders. He did not speak to the leader of taiwan. Thats what im trying more than 50. And i think the American People want are encouraged, rather, george, to see that president elect trump is taking calls from the world speaking to the world. They know hes going to be out there advancing americas interests first with that broadshouldered leadership that has characterized his entire life, but i think it all begins with relationships, and that was nothing more than taking a Courtesy Call, a congratulations from the democratically elected leader of taiwan. So no implications for the one china policy . Well, well deal with policy after january the 20th. This was a Courtesy Call, and plus i have to tell you, george, its a little mystifying to me that president obama can reach out to a murdering dictator in cuba in the last year and be hailed as a hero for doing it and president elect donald trump takes a Courtesy Call from a democratically elected leader in taiwan and its become something of a controversy. I think the American People appreciate the fact that our president elect is taking calls from and reaching out to the world and preparing on day one to lead america on the world stage. On day one will he label china a currency manipulator . Well, he said that over the course of the campaign, and the truth of the matter is, a lot is American Free trade agreement, with regard to look, weve been americas been losing too much in jobs and Economic Growth on the world stage, and i think people can count on the fact that president elect donald trump, when he raises his right hand, is going to walk into the oval office, and hes going to become a champion for american values. So he will follow through on that promise. Well, hes going to fight for american jobs and were going to stop losing to china and other countries. Does that mean labeling them a currency manipulator . Itll be for the president elect to decide whether he implements that policy after inauguration. He spoke about that in the course of the campaign, but, look, its all about a process. He spoke to president xi in china two weeks ago. They had a great conversation and hes begun the relationship there. But after january 20th, our new president will make digs about what the policies of the United States will be but i promise you, americas going to start winning on the world stage again and winning economically and hell make the right decision. So, as john bolton said, he believes the relationship with china has to be shaken up . Well, i think i think the president elect was very clear during the course of the campaign that we just have been losing to china for too long economically, and its time the time has come, the American People have elected a president who not just with regard to china but with other countries around the world and even in our hemisphere well put American Workers and american jobs first and were going to have a president that makes sure we have trade deals and we advance policies, economic policies on the world stage that accomplish that. Lets talk about carrier. You guys got a nice thank you when you went to say thank you in indiana this week for saving those several hundred jobs in the carrier plant. Right. President elect trump has followed that up with a tweet about the Rexnord Corporation just a mile down the road from carrier and said, rexnord of indiana is moving to mexico and rather viciously firing all of its 300 workers. This is happening all over our country. No more. So are you now negotiating with rexnord . Well, what i can tell you is that we had a great day in indiana on thursday, and carrier is staying in the United States because donald trump was elected president , plain and simple. Well, several hundred jobs are staying but 1,300 are still going. Well, look, i understand the glass is half full mentality of some in the national media, george, but this was great news for over a thousand families in indiana who were going to see those jobs go south of the border. We got word in february, carrier Just Announced after being in indiana since the 1950s, they were pulling up stakes and going to mexico. They were literally going to follow a number of other companies in their industry that had gone to mexico years ago. I sat down with them in march and said, can we put together an incentive package, which states always do, indiana does on a routine basis, to encourage you to stay here. They said dont even bother. The avalanche with regulations coming out of washington, d. C. , taxation, they said we cant make it happen, but i was there in the office it wasnt even a week after the election that the president elect in the midst of talking to foreign leaders, assembling a cabinet, advancing a legislative agenda, pulling together a team at an historic pace, he picked up the phone and called the parent of the company and said well roll back regulation and repeal and replace obamacare and were going to make america more competitive for manufacturing, and were going to renegotiate trade deals does he to put American Workers back. He simply asked them would you reconsider leaving our country and they said, yes. So, does he now pick up the phone and call the head of rexnord and call all these other companies who are going to move overseas . Well, i think what youre going to see and the president elect will make those decisions on a daybyday basis in the course of the transition, in the course of the administration, but what youre seeing emerge here and i think its so exciting for millions of americans, you should have seen the emotion on peoples faces. We saw it. At the carrier plant, george. I mean, there was i mean, it was one of the most emotional experiences that ive had in my public career, the way people reached out, grabbed our president elect by the hand and just said, thank you, because they see in him someone who is going to fight for american jobs. Hes going to fight on the world stage in negotiating trade deals and hes going to come here to washington, d. C. And hes going to fight to reduce taxes, roll back regulations, repeal and replace obamacare and make americas manufacturing come back to life. You said hes making them on a daybyday basis. Isnt that picking winners and losers . Sarah palin calls it crony capitalism. I dont think its picking winners and losers at all. What the president elect did with carrier was simply reach out one american to another and just ask them to reconsider. He told them, were going to do exactly what we said we would do in this campaign. Were going to make the American Economy more competitive. Were going to get tougher and smarter on trade deals, and that was changed circumstances from when they made their decision to leave last february and asked them to reconsider and they did. And i think that the message that that sends across the American Economy to businesses that may be considering leaving our country is that things are really changing. We got a president that is going to fight for jobs and fight to bring back the American Economy. And the president elect is sending that message this morning. I think its the reason why he won the heartland so decisively. 30 out of 50 states in this historic mandate election. I mean won more counties than any candidate on our side since Ronald Reagan but particularly in the heartland. Weve seen one community after another decimated as jobs were shipped overseas because of more government, more taxes, more regulation. The question what is the position going forward. More incentives like carrier got or is it punishment and president elect trump on twitter this morning as well sending out about six or seven tweets. Heres the heart of what he was saying. He was saying that any business that leaves our country for another country, fires its employees, builds a new factory or plant in another country and thinks it will sell its products in the u. S. Without retribution or consequence is wrong. There will be a tax on our soon to be Strong Border of 35 for these companies wanting to sell their products, cars, airconditioning units, et cetera back across the border. Is it fair to say rexnord and ford moving the focus from michigan to mexico will face this 35 tariff . Well, what youre seeing here is a combination of policies. Number one is the president elect has already got our team working on capitol hill to make sure that were reducing taxes and were going to lower the corporate tax, repeal and replace obamacare and roll back starting on day one this avalanche of red tape and regulations thats crushing american jobs. But the other piece of that to your point, george, is that the president elect is committed to changing americas trade. Hes moving forward on that 35 tariff. Well renegotiate nafta. Hes already made that clear. Got an agreement from president pena nieto to do just that and hes going to put on the table all the tools that will take away advantages that have been for far too long pulling up stakes, leaving American Workers behind and then creating products, shipping them back into the country. How do you handle that as governor of indiana . Youve got the happy workers at carrier, those jobs were saved and a mile down the road 300 workers at rexnord losing their jobs and now that company will be subject to a tariff. I think the way you handle that is we advance policies that are going to apply to everybody equally. Were going to create trade policies that take away the advantages that these multinational corporations have had in moving jobs overseas now for decades, but were also going to improve the economic environment here in the United States. Were simply with this businessman whos become president will take that oath of office on january the 20th. Were going to work with the congress to lower taxes, roll back regulations, repeal and replace obamacare and simply make the kind of changes in a broad range of areas including education. The president elect is very passionate about Vocational Education across the country and make the kind of changes that will simply make it possible for American Manufacturing to come roaring back in the heartland and all across america. I want to talk about more of those changes. One final question on this, President Trump and his family, they sell good overseas. Should they lead by example and bring that manufacturing home . Well, you know, the president elect has been very candid about the fact that even in the course of his business hes seen that theres many products that you simply cant buy in the United States because theyre not made here anymore. And hes been very, very open about that. And i think the policies that youre going to see this administration advance are just going to be about bringing jobs back to the United States, and we do that, we do that by having smarter and tougher trade deals than weve had for a number of decades that are successive administrations but we also do that mostly by creating an environment where the free market can really thrive. I mean, the truth of the matter is high taxes, high regulation, mandates like the taxes in obamacare and the rest have been should those jobs come home . Should they bring those jobs home . I think wed like to see jobs of every kind come back to the United States. You saw the recent jobs report came out, and the low Unemployment Rate is in itself deceptive. We saw the Labor Participation rate drop again. Its the lowest since the year after i got out of high school. I mean, we have millions of americans that are simply out of the workforce, and im telling you what, president elect donald trump and i are going to work our hearts out with this congress to make america more attractive for jobs of every kind, and i think were going to see this economy come roaring back. Lets talk more about those promises. You said on wednesday youre planning the agenda to keep the promises president elect trump made. One of the most prominent is this wall on the border paid for by mexico. Its still prominent on the trump website. Mexico will pay for the wall. How will that happen . Well, what were laying out, a very ambitious agenda for the congress. I met again this week with the leaders of the house and the senate. The president elect and i were on capitol hill within about a week of the election and to do just that. It really will all begin with repealing obamacare and setting i want to get to that, but first about mexico paying for the wall. Well get to the process of ending illegal immigration and it all begins with Border Security, internal enforcement and building a wall and can you make mexico pay for it . I think theres a variety of ways, theres a variety of ways that we can accomplish that, and the president elect is going to choose the best way forward. Were going to work with the congress in that regard. Some of it will be negotiation. You know, president pena nieto and our president elect had a very good yeah, but i ruled out paying for the wall. I know about the tweet. But, you know, in the course of renegotiating nafta, there a or agreeing to renegotiate nafta, there was an agreement that Border Security is critical and important. Well have those conversations, but you think about the enormous amount of commerce that flows over that border. Theres a whole lot of ways and im absolutely confident that our president elect is going to keep his promise to the American People. Were going to secure the border. Were going to build the wall. Were going to end illegal immigration once and for all, and well find a neighbors pay for it. Obamacare, you mentioned that. The New York Times reporting that youre working with congressional leaders on the strategy to repeal immediately but then delay the replacement. In that 60 minutes interview right after the election, president elect trump said they were going to be done simultaneously. Why the change . Well, im not aware there is change. So this repeal and delay strategy is not what youre working on . Were working on president elect trumps commitment to repeal and replace obamacare. Its all going to begin right out of the gate by repealing this disastrous policy thats been killing jobs. I mean its on track next year to see americans see an average increase in premiums of 25 in states like arizona, 116 . We really believe itll be vitally important in the early days of the congress with Everything Else happening and confirming cabinet appointments that we keep that promise to the American People and at the very same time, through both executive action and working with congressional leaders and our new leadership at hhs that we lay out a framework for an orderly transition to replace it. Two or threeyear transition . Well, i think its going to be a discussion. The president elect will decide on whats acceptable to him. Well work with members of congress on that but as he said in that speech on obamacare in philadelphia, he wants the American People to know there will be an orderly transition away from this disastrous policy but the first thing we have to do is pry the enormous weight of obamacare off the national economy. We think that will create tremendous Economic Growth in businesses large and small and then setting an orderly transition process in place to capture the power of the free market. I mean, the president elect has been very clear, we want to give the American People more choices, the ability to buy Health Insurance across state lines, use Health Savings accounts, but doing that in a way that doesnt upset the apple cart or create anxiety among americans about their health care. Tied to that is what to do about medicare. President elect trump spoke about that continually through the campaign. Heres what he said. Every republican wants to do a big number on Social Security. They want to do it on medicare, they want to do it on medicaid and we cant do that. And its not fair to the people that have been paying in for years. But the president s nominee for Health Secretary and speaker of the house paul ryan in the past have voted for changing medicare from moving it from a defined payment to sub si dis to pay for private insurance. Is that on the table now . No, the people that are joining you are administration are stepping up for the president elects agenda. So no changes to medicare. Well, look, i think president elect trump made it very clear in the course of the campaign that as president well keep our promises in Social Security and medicare. With regard to medicaid, though, i will tell you theres a real opportunity, theres a real opportunity as we repeal and replace obamacare to do exactly what the president elect also said on the campaign, that is block granting medicaid back to the states. Allow states to do what indiana was able to do in part in the last couple of years and that is innovate. Weve actually got people on medicaid first time in the history of the program that actually have to make a Monthly Contribution to a Health Savings account to receive full benefits. We want to give states even greater flexibility in innovating and creating the kind of solutions that will work for their population. President elect trump has been quite active on twitter including this week the beginning of this week that tweet which i want to show right now about the popular vote and he said, in addition to winning the Electoral College in a landslide, i won the popular vote if you deduct the millions of people who voted illegally. That claim is groundless. Theres no evidence to back it up. Is it responsible for a president elect to make false statements like that . Well, look, i think four years ago the Pew Research Center found that there were millions of inaccurate voter registrations. Yeah, but the author of that study has said it is not any evidence about what happened in this election or any evidence of voter fraud. I think what, you know, what is what is historic here is that our president elect won 30 to 50 states. He won more counties than any candidate on our side since Ronald Reagan and the fact that some partisans who are frustrated with the outcome of the election and disappointed with the outcome of the election are pointing to the popular vote, i can assure you if this had been about the popular vote, donald trump and i would have been campaigning a whole lot more in illinois and california and new york. No one is questioning your victory, certainly im not questioning your victory. Im asking just about that tweet which i want to say that he said he would have won the popular vote if you deduct the millions of people who voted illegally. That statement is false. Why is it responsible to make it . Well, i think the president elect just wants to call to attention the fact that there has been evidence over many years of thats not what he said. And expressing that reality the Pew Research Center found evidence of that four years ago. Its not its certainly his right. But, you know its his right to make false statements . Well, its his right to express his opinion as president elect of the United States. I think one of the things thats refreshing about our president elect and its one of the reasons why i think he made such an Incredible Connection with people all across this country is because he tells you whats on his mind. But why is it refreshing to make false statements . Well, look, george, i dont know that that is a false statement, george, and neither do you. The simple fact is that i know theres no evidence for it. There is evidence, historic evidence from the Pew Research Center of voter fraud thats taken place. Were in the process of investigating irregularities in the state of indiana leading up to this election. The fact that voter fraud exists is but can you provide any evidence . Can you provide any evidence to back up that statement . Well, look, i think hes expressed his opinion on that and hes entitled to express his opinion on that, and i think the American People i think the American People find it very refreshing that they have a president who will tell them whats on his mind, and i think the connection that he made in the course whether its true or not. Reflective of that. Hes going to say what he believes to be true and i know that hes always going to speak in that way as president. General petraeus is coming up and as youve said, your Transition Team said hes being considered for secretary of state. The fbi director chose not to prosecute secretary clinton and told congress what general petraeus did was actually worse with classified information than what secretary clinton did. Lets take a look. Clearly intentional conduct. Knew what he was doing was a violation of the law, huge amounts of information that even if you couldnt prove he knew it it raises the inference that he did it, an effort to obstruct justice. How do you respond to that . Well, first i respond by saying that general David Petraeus is an american hero. I first met him down range in iraq when he was in command of the 101st airborne and i saw the way that he marshaled the resources and plan to develop the surge and achieved an american success at the end of the last administration in iraq. Hes a man of enormous talents, but, look, he made mistakes. And he paid the consequences of those mistakes. Clearance after this, so why isnt this disqualifying for secretary of state . I think the person who will make the decision about our next secretary of state is the president elect, and hell factor the totality of general petraeus career in making that decision, but i can assure you that the process of assembling this cabinet has truly been inspiring. What i think the American People are seeing is not only a record pace, this is the Fastest Assembly of a cabinet in the last 40 years, even a sitting Vice President , George Herbert walker bush, didnt assemble a cabinet as quickly as donald trump is, and whether it be general petraeus or mitt romney or Rudy Giuliani or senator bob corker or john bolton or others who may be added to the list, what people are seeing is an extraordinary capacity of an executive to bring the broadest range of people around him, to be in these meetings, george, to see the way he asked the incisive questions and he gets straight to the point, straight to the issue, im confident as hes done so far that our president elect is going to continue to assemble a cabinet, people that will be the best for that position, and itll be a team that will make america strong and prosperous against. Are you exhilarated to be in the middle of it . Its incredibly humbling and incredibly exciting for my Little Family to be a part of a history that i truly do believe is going to make America Great again. Mr. Vice president elect, thanks for coming in this morning. Thank you, george. Standing by live to respond general David Petraeus. Were back in just two minutes. Announcer this week with George Stephanopoulos brought to you by mcdonalds. David. Whats going on . Oh hey thats it . Yeah. Everybody two seconds dear sebastian, after careful consideration of your application, it is with great pleasure that we offer our congratulations on your acceptance. Through the Tuition Assistance program, every day mcdonalds helps more people go to college. Its part of our commitment to being americas best first job. One of many pieces in my i havlife. Hma. So when my asthma symptoms kept coming back on my longterm control medicine. I talked to my doctor and found a missing piece in my asthma treatment with breo. 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I have a big meeting when we land, but im so stuffed up, i cant rest. Nyquil cold and flu liquid gels dont unstuff your nose. They dont . Alkaseltzer plus night liquid gels fights your worst cold symptoms. Plus, unstuffs your nose. Oh, what a relief it is. How did the meeting go, sir . The meeting went very well. I was with him for about an hour. He basically walked us around the world, showed a great grasp of a variety of the challenges that are out there and some of the opportunities as well. So a very good conversation and well see where it goes from here. There is general David Petraeus after meeting with president elect trump this week in new york. They toured the world. General petraeus comes to us from germany this morning. Thank you for joining us, general petraeus, and you heard Vice President elect mike pence speaking about your service to this country and calling you an american hero. Talked about your possibility of getting confirmed, as well. It appears that this is not disqualifying that your security clearance problems are not disqualifying to president elect trump right now, but cnn is reporting that several republican senators are concerned about this confirmation battle. One said it is causing a high level of angst. What can you say to reassure them . First of all, good to be with you, george. What i would say to them is what i acknowledged for a number of years, five years ago i made a serious mistake. I acknowledged it and apologized for it and paid a very heavy price for it, and ive learned from it. And, again, theyll have to factor that in and also obviously 38 1 2 years of otherwise fairly in some cases unique service to our country in uniform and then at the cia and then some four years or so in the Business Community during which ive continued to travel the world, nearly 40 countries in that time, as well. Youll be pressed on whether you made false statements to the fbi. Director comey said you did, and you acknowledged that in your plea agreement, yet your attorney told the Washington Post this week that you simply forgot about the journal. So are you challenging the directors conclusion there . Well, no, look, i mean obviously i made a false statement. At the time i didnt think it was false and, frankly, i think they might have pursued that more. Id also like to add something he left out, which is that the fbi in the agreement acknowledged that nothing that was in my journals that i shared certainly improperly ended up in the biography or made it out to the public. I think thats a fairly significant point. In fact, the book is read by someone, a colonel at the time with me the whole year that i was in afghanistan and is now a Brigadier General retired, but, again, look, i made a mistake. I have again acknowledged it, folks will have to factor that in and determine whether that is indeed disqualifying or not. What was your impression of president elect trump . You worked with several president s, how does he stack up . Well, i think hes actually quite pragmatic. In our conversation what i enjoyed most frankly was the discussion of issues or, say, campaign rhetoric, if you will, and then placing that in a strategic context. As an example hes not antitrade. Hes against hes antiunfair trade. The wall, well, the wall would be an element in a comprehensive effort to shore up our security on the southern border which, by the way, as we discussed, would include more help to mexico for the problems that it has in the broader rule of law area and, indeed, perhaps with its southern border which is so challenged, as well. But, again, we talked about all of those kinds of issues. These are issues in which i have concern, needless to say, and it was good to discuss the strategic context in which each of those would be placed. If you were chosen as secretary of state, youd have the job of convincing mexico to pay for that wall. How would you do it . Well, im not sure what the scheme would be there for that. Again, the issue with mexico would be to determine together how we could improve the status of the security while not impeding the flow of commerce back and forth that is so important to both of our countries. Indeed, its notable that the president elect has already gained agreement from president pena and i believe with the canadian prime minister, as well, to sit down to examine issues in nafta. You may recall that together with bob zelleck former world bank chairman, i cochaired a council and on north america it identified a number of pages of issues that could be resolved on nafta to make it even more effective for citizens of all three of our nations. One of the things you called for in that report was comprehensive Immigration Reform which it doesnt appear that president elect trump is interested in and didnt mention anything about mexico paying for a wall on our border. Well, i think actually immigration issues will be among those that will be addressed. There will be a number of initiatives, i would think, based on the discussions during the campaign and our meeting about how to ensure that we are very carefully reviewing those who come to our country, particularly those in immigration, also shoring up our defenses just on those who come here on passports for tourism. And i want to move on to russia now. President putin of russia is giving an interview overnight where he called president elect trump a smart man, president elect trump has praised him as well, but one of the other contenders for secretary of state mitt romney famously called russia under putin our top strategic threat. Who is right about that, president elect trump or mitt romney . Well, russia certainly is one of the threats, one of the challenges to our security and that of our allies and partners around the world. But its also a feature of the landscape. There are issues in which we do have convergences, and i dont think you would rule out at all discussions at some point in time with russia about issues such as the defeat of the Islamic State such as the ultimate resolution in syria, obviously about the challenges of the russian supported separatists in southeastern ukraine, again, you can keep going around the world, and, again, strategic discussion i think is very much warranted with russia and, indeed, with china as well as our allies and partners around the world. Is a meeting of the minds possible with russia on syria . When you were in the government you were advocating arming and supporting the syrian rebels. President elect trump doesnt seem all that interested in that and russia has been decimating them in recent weeks. Well, look, lets, first of all, focus on the defeat of daesh, of the Islamic State and the al qaeda affiliate in syria, in some cases that will be pursued in support of some of the Opposition Forces that are on the ground in syria. That is the primary vehicle we have on the ground, and it is what is being enabled by our Intelligence Surveillance reconnaissance and strike assets overhead. The ultimate resolution of syria inevitably is going to involve all the different regional stakeholders, the sunni Opposition Forces, the syrian kurds and, indeed, the Regime Forces that are being supported by russia. And ultimately discussions with russia continuing what secretary kerry has been doing will be necessary, although i think you probably have got to take a very cold, hard look at the situation and ask whether the discussion, what is being sought now in diplomacy is actually realistic or not, but that time will come some months from now. Speaking about whats realistic or not, president elect trump has vowed to rip up the iran deal when he becomes president. If you were secretary of state, would you advise him to do that . Is it even possible . Well, first of all, we discussed this, and i think the issue here is to ask what is it that we really want to see happen in this case. And i think that the two overriding objectives are to ensure that iran lives up to its word that it doesnt ever seek to have a nuclear weapon, and you could do that by the white house and congress having a statement of National Purpose that iran will never be allowed to enrich uranium to weapons grade and then ensure that u. S. Central command, which i was privileged to command, as youll recall, maintains the capability to carry out the contingency plans that we developed back in that time as well, and then the other big objective is to counter the maligned iranian activity in the region, its activities in syria, in iraq, in yemen and elsewhere working with our regional partners and our ally israel in so doing. But our allies arent going to go along with ripping up the iran deal, are they . Well, again, a multilateral deal, have to sit down and really assess. This is a deal, ive publicly said, has some positives elements to it. Its also got some significantly negative elements including that it ends 10 to 15 years depending on the various elements of the agreement with no clear indication of what follows it. So, again, coming back to what our overriding strategic objectives are, then assessing whether this deal should be ripped up or not as part of achieving those objectives is i think going to be the task of the administration when it takes office in january. One of the other questions you might face if, indeed, you are chosen by president elect trump to be secretary of state is how to handle the fact that if youre chosen, youll have three generals, three former generals in the Top National Security positions, general flynn as National Security adviser, general mattis at the pentagon as well. What would you say to senators or americans who are concerned about the overreliance of the military in those spots . Well, you know, a general is not necessarily a general. Im not trying to sound insufficiently humble here, but i would contend that i carried out about as much statesmanship working as the commander of a theater of war in iraq as the great diplomat ryan crocker with a number of different coalition ambassadors as a regional Combatant Commander where youre working very closely with elements of the state department and the ambassadors on the ground in each country and then obviously as a cia director and even since in the Business World where ive travelled to some 40 countries or so over the course of the last four years for that and for academic endeavors. Indeed, its what im doing here in germany at an interNational Security conference right now. Did president elect trump ask you if you voted for him . I dont vote, so thats an easy answer, and i also did not support him nor did i oppose him nor did i support or oppose any other candidate. Ive truly tried to be apolitical, nonpolitical, george, as i think you know, and so that was a pretty easy question to answer. General petraeus, thanks for joining us this morning. Great to be with you, george. Auf wiedersehen. Weve heard from the Vice President elect and general petraeus and now the roundtable is next. President elect and now the round table is next. Can also lead to tooth decay and bad breath . Well, there is biotene, specially formulated with moisturizers and lubricants. Biotene can provide soothing relief and it helps keep your mouth healthy too. Biotene, for people who suffer from a dry mouth. Fifty years ago, humpback whales were nearly extinct. They rebounded because a decision was made to protect them. Making the right decisions today for your longterm financial future can protect you and your family, and preserve your legacy. Ask a Financial Advisor how retirement and Life Insurance solutions from pacific life can help you plan for your future. 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Just a few dabs of super poligrip free is clinically proven to seal out more food particles so youre more comfortable and confident while you eat. So its not about keeping my dentures in, its about keeping the food particles out. Try super poligrip free. Do you think i ran a campaign where a white supremacist has a platform . Youre going to look me in the face and tell me that . It did. Kellyanne, it did. Really. Thats how you lost . It did. Do you think you could have just had a decent message for the White Working Class voters. Do you think this woman who has nothing in common with anybody im not saying thats why you won but thats the kind of campaign that was run, yes. Over 200 how about its hillary clinton. She doesnt connect with people. How about they have nothing in common with her. A lot of raw feelings from the Campaign Teams up at harvard this week. We will talk about all the weeks politics with our roundtable including matthew dowd, republican strategist, alex castellanos, president obamas former strategist David Axelrod and republican strategist sara fagen. I think at least three of four of you have been at those forums before. Thats probably one of the most heated ones ever but lets talk more broadly about the transition. Matthew dowd, i think one of the things weve seen this week is president elect trump will continue to do things his way if this morning is any indication. Vice president elect mike pence going to come out and explain it and you see no apologies here, no apologies for the phone call to taiwan, mexico is going to pay for the wall. 35 tariffs are coming. Well, i think what weve learned is is that Campaign Trump who didnt Pay Attention to any rules and didnt abide by any sense of normalcy in the course of a Political Campaign at a president ial level is not going to do that as president elect and is probably not going to do that when he enters office on january 20th. I have to give mike pence some credit. The ability for him to maneuver around all the different tweets, the things that were said in a manner and tone that i think is very good for the administration, i would hope he can sort of use some of that on his boss who would be better off with more of that but one of the things i think fundamentally were learning is donald trump is going to only talk to the American Public through a rally or a tweet because hes not doing it any other kind of press way. Mike pence playing a powerful role behind the scenes as well. A very stabilizing force, i think engenders a lot of trust in a new administration, great relationships with the Republican House and senate, going to be very effective there. But, you know, we are seeing disruption, and its freaking out the news media and the old establishment in washington, guess what, thats why donald trump was elected to do exactly that. I feel like were watching Elvis Presley on the ed sullivan show. So, do you think the taiwan call was deliberate . Yes, i think actually it was. Apparently his aides were over there at some point and, you know, it was almost three months ago to the day that china snubbed the president of the United States, wouldnt give him steps to get off of air force one and so a little pushback here. You know, were learning a lot. Donald trump negotiates from strength. Well, first of all, i agree with matthew that if mike pence were a football player, he would be a candidate for the Heisman Trophy right now for the way he maneuvered around some of those questions, and i think hes very skillful at it and it is helpful to trump and what you took away from it was were going to do those things that are sort of what the republican agenda has been, were going to cut taxes, deregulate. Were going to repeal obamacare, though he was very unclear as to what comes next. And he sort of navigates around some of the more the tariffs and some of the more irksome questions as well. Thats his point of view. But heres the point, alex, on china. Hes not Elvis Presley on the ed sullivan show. Hes president of the United States, and so when he says something, it matters. When he says 35 tariffs on companies that move or when he says to taiwan or to china through his action, were changing the policy, these can have monumental impacts, and that is whats concerning to me. Youre right, david. Setting aside the process of this phone call and these phone calls, on the substance, lets not forget in his First National policy speech back in april, donald trump said america is too predictable. So i agree with alex. I dont think this was accidental. I think donald trump knew exactly what he was doing when he took that call from the taiwanese leader. I dont think though let me push back on david a second. One thing on the china thing for this. Is it may have been intentional, donald trump does some things intentional, some things visceral, but i dont think it was intentional for donald trump to sort of reset the china policy of the United States of america through one phone call. I think he got a phone call. It fed his ego. If the president of taiwan calls him up, i think the troubling thing its not so much he had a phone call, i think donald trump can talk to any leader he wants in the world. Go for it. I think the problem is is when you dont have a real fundamental strategy in place. What is your far eastern policy . Who are the staff surrounding it . Whats it going to do to your relationship with north korea that you need the chinese for and what is it going to do on Climate Change that you need the chinese for and whats it going to do on iran that you need the chinese for . Donald trump didnt think all those things through. But there is a growing i think thats quite a reach to say he didnt think all of those things through and that no one around him did as well. China he didnt meet with anybody from the state department or the Senate Security council. China has been running free now for decades. We have an illusionary policy here where there is no taiwan, yes, there is, and we agree not to that the emperor is closed whenever its convenient here. Meanwhile, china is much more assertive and aggressive in the south china sea. They have doubled the number of submarines in the Asian Pacific that we do. They will soon have nearly three times as many, and no one has pushed back, and i think donald trump [ all talking at once ] when you think three steps down the road, is this going to help get china on board with north korea or hurt . Before Donald Trumps election, there has been a growing chorus on in the Republican Party that we needed to be more aggressive with china, that we need to shift from a policy of appeasement to a policy of counterbalance. Projecting that china has not been a good actor on the world stage and its time for america to be more assertive in its relationship. One of the ways america could have been assertive, have approved the Transpacific Partnership which was something that china deeply feared and now doesnt have to worry about because this president said he wouldnt do it. But, alex, if there were a oneoff, you could say this was his china policy but calling speaking with the president of kazakhstan, the strong man there and praising him, talking to the president to the leader of pakistan and suggesting youll come there, you know, inviting the very odd leader of the philippines here, all of these things have impacts that go beyond simply a conversation between two men when youre president of the United States and it doesnt appear to be as matthew said any preparation for any of this. You talk about oneoffs and i want to take that opportunity to move on to the whole carrier deal, as well. Listening to mike pence this morning, matthew dowd, it sounds like the carrier negotiations are a oneoff as well and now were moving towards what president elect trump was talking about this morning in his tweet, that tariff. Listen, i think this is a complex thing. I think there is for donald trump and the voters that donald trump spoke for who felt like nobody had been talking about them, especially in the rust belt and Manufacturing Industry they think both pears forgot about them, didnt really deal with them. He says ill do something about this. Hes elected president and then something is done about this. You can argue about whether or not theres some grand Economic Policy there. I dont think it is. It seems like just a casebycase basis of what hes doing. I think the problem with donald trump, and i think mike pence faced this on your questioning today, i think paul ryan is going to face this as speaker and i think Mitch Mcconnell is going to face this, this is not a republican conservative strategy and its no part of any Economic Policy that any republican has bought into or been part of. But it is leadership to provide one Company Relief from an oppressive tax and Regulatory Regime. Is it the entire answer . I got a 7 million check excuse me. Is it the entire answer, no, but, you know, not a [ all talking at once ] i think more importantly you know, the most important thing excuse me. The most important thing that happened in that meeting is the carrier ceo opened Donald Trumps eyes. He said he would trade all those benefits for one thing, a more open economy with less regulation. Washington is crushing companies. I wonder if he told so, i think youre going to see a trump effort to open up the economy from regulation. That we are going to put a 35 tariff on those 1300 jobs that are going to mexico, because if you net it out i dont think thats a winner for them. I dont think he told them that. On this tariff issue, donald trump is going to run right into the republican congress. I do not believe that republicans in congress, those that were just elected a few weeks ago, are going to support any kind of tariff, any kind of Economic Policy that is counter to what has been part of the republican brand. But, sara, isnt it important for decades. Isnt it important for a republican leader to deal with the world, not say, hey, heres what wed like in an ideal world. Thats the opening bid in a negotiation. Isnt it important for a republican leader to start asking for more so that we end up getting something to work for us . [ all talking at once ] i think the democratic President Donald Trump is a free trader with teeth. Hes yeah, well see. Thats what were seeing. Matthew. The most important thing any leader can do is tell the truth to the American Public. Is tell the truth to the American Public about what it means to be in a Global Economy, what it means, how youre going to have to get retrading. What it means in this environment that were in, what it means that trade really isnt responsible for the loss of most of the jobs, its technology and innovation. Thats the truth and donald trump no, its not. By the way, Regulatory Regime is responsible for of course it is. For the loss of a ask anyone. We are in a Global Economy and the fact is americans have benefited through cheaper products. Now your question is so, why isnt germany, why doesnt germany have a trade deficit . Why do they have a trade surplus . Because globalization should be affecting them. We are oppressing american businesses its something hes allergic to. Alex, the democratic president had done what donald trump did in the last few days and said what he said this morning, you would be the first one who would be howling about it. I agree with matthew. Its good politics for that rust belt area where he ran, but in terms of policy, it is wrongheaded policy and what is needed is a real strategy for dealing with these revolutionary changes in our economy, and we have no idea whether he has one. Donald trump is going to have to navigate a very changing republican base. The base of the Republican Party is now against trade, yet the leaders in congress are protrade. He has to navigate what is going to be a very tricky, disparate group of people in his Broad Coalition if he is going to be effective. One offdeal in carrier, huge political win. He has a long way to go. We only have about 20 r 30 seconds left. I want to go quickly around the table. Who is the choice for secretary of state . I dont think anybody that weve really had on the shows or weve really focused on. I think its someone were unaware of next week. As far as i understand, everyone has been ruled out. Mitt romney, Rudy Giuliani, so i have no answer. Castellanos. Everybody is taking a pass. Im going to go with giuliani because i think hes going to ultimately go with the the person who is maybe arguably the most strongly for him. So, at the end come back to the lawyers. Very interesting. Well be right back. Well be right back. And now we honor our fellow americans who serve and sacrifice. In the month of november nine Service Members died overseas supporting operations in the middle east and afghanistan. Well be right back. Wel that is all for us today. Thanks for sharing part of your sunday with us. Check out world news tonight and ill see you tomorrow on gma. You tomorrow on gma. A deal has been offered to philadelphia teachers, but their Union Head Says hes not taking it to them to consider. Is that the right call . Lets get the inside story. Good morning, and welcome to inside story. Im tamala edwards. Lets introduce you to your panel. Lets start this morning with attorney ajay raju. Good morning. Good morning. Marketing exec brian tierney. Good morning. Good morning. A gentile odonnell. Good morning, tam. And radio host dom giordano. And executive. And executive. Everybodys an executive. Maybe one dai executive. Today i make you an executive. [ laughter ] im not sure what that means, but okay. All right. Lets get going, starting about the teachers contract. An interesting case. They have not had a contract since august of 2013. The district came to them and said, heres what you would get over the next four years. Yo