Bloomberg's John Heilemann played up President-Elect Donald Trump's "very monochromatic group" of Cabinet picks so far during a segment on Monday's CBS This Morning. Gayle King underlined how Vice President-Elect Mike Pence stated that Trump "will represent all of the people of the country," and added that "when you look at the picks so far, there are some troubling signs, some say, about lack of diversity there." Heilemann contended that "the current array of choices...[are] not just a monochromatic group, but a hardline group ideologically." [video below]
Anchor Charlie Rose first asked the Bloomberg Politics editor for his reaction so far the Trump transition so far. Heilemann replied with a common media talking point — that "they've, obviously, had some early stumbles, and it's been more chaotic....They have been moving...[in] somewhat of a herky-jerky way." Co-anchor Norah O'Donnell interrupted the guest mid-answer: "Why? Obama didn't announce any of his appointments til December 1...this is a transparent process. He's parading all of the people in front of the cameras — says, here's who I'm looking at."
Heilemann acknowledged O'Donnell's point, but still tried to further his spin:
JOHN HEILEMANN, BLOOMBERG POLITICS CO-MANAGING EDITOR: ...[T]he fact is, that on the levels of appointments at the Cabinet levels, he's not behind at all — and that's what I was going to say a second ago. But I think the reality is that for a lot of the agencies that were still waiting for the letters that allowed them to actually proceed with the transition, they still haven't actually sent — signed some of those letters of a number of the major government agencies. So, they're behind, in terms of the broad scale thing — filling four thousand jobs.
King then asked her question about the apparent "troubling signs" from the Trump transition team. After giving his "monochromatic" and "hardline" labels, the Bloomberg Politics editor underlined that this is "a group, in the past...Jeff Sessions, Steve Bannon, General [Michael] Flynn — where they have made comments that raise concerns, in addition to the color of their skin." He added that "it would be a smart thing for the Trump team to move to get some diversity, in order to, kind of, reassure the many millions of Americans who are a little worried."
The transcript of the relevant portion of the John Heilemann segment from CBS This Morning on November 21, 2016:
CHARLIE ROSE: What do you think of the transition so far?
[CBS News Graphic: "Cabinet Contenders: Heilemann On President-Elect's Picks For Top Posts"]
JOHN HEILEMANN, BLOOMBERG POLITICS CO-MANAGING EDITOR: Well, I think it's — they're — they've obviously, had some early stumbles, and it's been more chaotic. And I think every one has rightly observed that this is a president-elect and a team that did not expect to be president-elect — and having to do what they're — what they're doing at the level of trying to staff up this government — four thousand jobs to — to fill. They have been moving with some — somewhat of a herky-jerky way, and not — not really moving—
NORAH O'DONNELL: Why? Obama — Obama didn't announce any of his appointments til December 1—
HEILEMANN: Well, again—
O'DONNELL: He — this is a transparent process. He's parading all of the people in front of the cameras — says, here's who I'm looking at. Is that—
HEILEMANN: You're — I'm talking about — the fact is, that on the levels of appointments at the Cabinet levels, he's not behind at all — and that's what I was going to say a second ago. But I think the reality is that for a lot of the agencies that were still waiting for the letters that allowed them to actually proceed with the transition, they still haven't actually sent — signed some of those letters of a number of the major government agencies. So, they're behind, in terms of the broad scale thing — filling four thousand jobs. They're not behind in terms of the appointments to the Cabinet—
ROSE: But they also changed transition teams, you know—
HEILEMANN: Yes, in the middle — again, showing a little bit of, kind of, chaos along the way. But—
KING: But let's talk about the picks so far. We just heard our vice president-elect say that Donald Trump will — will represent all of the people of the country. But when you look at the picks so far, there are some troubling signs, some say, about lack of diversity there. Should people be concerned, or is this way too early to talk about that?
[CBS News Graphic: "Trump Cabinet Picks: U.S. Attorney General, Sen. Jeff Sessions, (R), Alabama; National Security Adviser, Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, U.S. Army (Ret.); CIA Director, Rep. Mike Pompeo, (R), Kansas; White House Chief Of Staff, Reince Priebus, RNC Chairman; White House Chief Strategist: Steve Bannon, Fmr. Breitbart News Exec. Chairman"]
HEILEMANN: Well, it's obviously early, in the sense there's still a lot of jobs to fill. I think it's — you know, if you were a non-white American — many non-white Americans have concerns about this administration from the get-go, in terms of the way the campaign was prosecuted and so on; and looking at the current array of choices, it is a very monochromatic group and — and not just a monochromatic group, but a hardline group ideologically; and a group, in the past, of some of those people — Jeff Sessions, Steve Bannon, General [Michael] Flynn — where they have made comments that raise concerns, in addition to the color of their skin. So, I think it would be a smart thing for the Trump team to move to get some diversity, in order to, kind of, reassure the many millions of Americans who are a little worried.
