Return to Transcripts main page

CNN News Central

Biden and Trump to Meet This Week; Wildfires Raging in NY, NY, and CA; Federal Workers Brace for Second Trump Term; Some Trump Critics May Leave the Country; Biden to Meet Trump in White House; Biden to Urge Trump to Stand by Ukraine; Trump Allies and Loyalist Jockey for Jobs; Americans "Doom Spending". Aired 9-9:30a ET

Aired November 11, 2024 - 09:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[09:00:00]

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: President-Elect Trump's transition team is in full throttle as allies jockey for jobs. They have picked up border czar and announced a nomination for the U.N. ambassador. We have new details from inside Mar-a-Lago. And Elon Musk may have outsized influence over who gets what job. He's been seen at the dinner table and on the golf course alongside the incoming president. Also, nearly 7,000 acres burn since early October from nearly 600 wildfires. No, this is not California. This is New Jersey and New York. What residents are being told to do in this unprecedentedly dry October.

I'm Sara Sidner with Kate Bolduan and John Berman. This is CNN New Central.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Happening now, just last hour, President-Elect Donald Trump announced that he will nominate New York Member of Congress Elise Stefanik to be the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. She has been one of his closest allies in Congress for years now. In a statement to CNN, Trump said, quote, I am honored to nominate Chairwoman Elise Stefanik to serve in my cabinet as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. Elise is an incredibly strong, tough, and smart America first fighter.

So, this is just one announcement, a sense of where he might be going in terms of foreign policy. Let's get right to CNN's Steve Contorno for where this fits and what else might be coming. Steve.

STEVE CONTORNO, CNN REPORTER: Yes, John. Stefanik is someone who has been increasingly close with Trump over the years. She was actually one of his -- not on the short list to be a potential running mate for Donald Trump. She campaigned pretty aggressively for that job. Ultimately, though, did not make his final three. And obviously was not the choice.

But she was always in line for a potential job in the Trump administration. And now, she takes the job of U.S. -- U.N. ambassador, assuming that she is confirmed. It's also a job that Nikki Haley once had, interestingly enough, someone who ultimately grew to become one of Donald Trump's biggest rivals in the Republican Party and who will not be part of his administration this go around. She joins Tom Homan as the two people who have already been named to positions in a new Trump administration. Homan will be a border czar. He was of course, Trump's ICE director in his first term as president. He is someone who has been intimately involved in shaping Trump's immigration policies. He actually wrote an entire chapter for the Project 2025 book on immigration and has -- was a contributor to that.

In the last couple of weeks, we have been trying to get a sense of how Homan views the efforts of trying to send, you know, this giant migrant movement out of the country, and here is what he said on Fox just moments ago about how he sees that taking place.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TOM HOMAN, FORMER ACTING ICE DIRECTOR: I've been clear, President Trump's been clear, public safety threats and national security threats will be the priority because they have to be, the most dangerous country. So, we're going to prioritize those groups, those who always have final words, those that have due process, a great taxpayer expense, and a federal judge says you must go home, and they didn't. They became a fugitive.

Words like operations have to happen? Here's why, Steve. Where do we find most victims of sex trafficking and forced labor trafficking? At work sites. And the Biden administration shut down work sites.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CONTORNO: Now, all these decisions are coming from Trump as he stays camped out at Mar-a-Lago in the week since his re-election, where he is under -- getting a lot of influence from many of the people who are critical -- key to his victory, including RFK Jr., Susie Wiles, who has gone from campaign manager to chief of staff and also, Elon Musk, who obviously was intensely involved in the effort to get Donald Trump elected.

He has had an outsized role in shaping the influence around Donald Trump's new administration. We always knew he was in line for some sort of role, potentially overseeing spending, but it has been far more expansive than that. And he has grown apparently close with the Trump family. Take some -- look at some of the pictures posted to social media by Trump's granddaughter with Elon Musk, with the Trump family. And clearly, is finding himself with an influential part of Trump's early sort of cabal of people who are -- or are helping set up his new government.

It's an interesting development given how much wealth he has, how much conflicts he has throughout the world, what he has already done in China, what he is doing with the war effort in Ukraine. And it will be interesting to see what role he has, official or otherwise, in the Trump administration going forward.

BERMAN: Yes. Fingerprints -- Elon Musk's fingerprints or Twitter prints all over the place right now during this transition. Steve Contorno, thank you very much for that. Kate.

[09:05:00]

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: And let's talk about that. Joining us right now is CNN contributor and long-time tech journalist Kara Swisher, and also the author of "Burn Book: A Tech Love Story." It's good to see you, Kara. Thanks for being here.

What do you think of this relationship and how it's developed between Elon Musk and Donald Trump? How much influence do you think Elon Musk could be having on Trump's views and agenda and policy?

KARA SWISHER, CNN CONTRIBUTOR AND HOST, "ON" AND "PIVOT" PODCASTS: Well, I don't know. I haven't covered Trump. I know Elon very well, but I'm told that whoever the last person in the room is for Trump often has control of him. And of course, Trump's attracted to the wealth and the -- you know, the glamour around Elon Musk. I guess it's glamour. I don't quite know what it is, nerd glamour.

And so, he's going to have some influence. He definitely inserts himself all the time, and that's his style. That's why he's just suddenly shown up there like the guest that wouldn't leave. And I've heard from Trump people calling me saying, oh, wow, this is odd. And I'm like, yes, it is. You'll see much more of it. But he's not going anywhere until Trump throws him out, which could happen because they're both really strong personalities who like to be at the center of attention.

BOLDUAN: I'd heard you said -- I wanted to ask you about that, and it's something I don't think a lot of people have appreciated or pointed out yet, is that they both have -- I mean, Elon Musk is a big personality and you think that this -- that that aspect of Elon, who you know, could really help him -- could really push him to kind of flame out in terms of being in favor with Donald Trump pretty quickly.

SWISHER: Well, you know, they're both narcissists, and there's -- there can be only one narcissist as head of the country, and that's Donald Trump, who just won the election. I think, you know, he owes things to Elon, but at some point, he's -- he -- you know, if he takes too much of the attention -- think about Steve Bannon, you remember he's on the cover of that magazine and how quickly he got out, even though he was critical to Trump's first campaign and he was right in the middle of the White House and then he wasn't. And so, Trump, you know, goes through people like tissues essentially.

And I think even if it's Elon Musk, and Elon has a lot of money and means and things like that, they're going to clash at some point. There's also a lot of people around Musk who are -- you know, they're going to get increasingly nervous. Again, as I said, I've heard from a number of them that, you know, they were like, oh, you're kind of right about this guy. And I was like, yes, I told you he's -- he wants influence. And since he can't run for president, because he comes from South Africa, he's going to try to exert as much influence as possible in the -- in these first critical days to get what he wants, which is that. It's always about what Elon Musk wants, just remember that.

BOLDUAN: And -- OK. So, on that note, I wanted to ask you, because Ukraine, one of the first things we heard after the Trump win was that Musk joined the phone call between Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Zelenskyy the day after the election. Elon Musk's Starlink internet service is critical to Ukraine's troops battling this Russian invasion. And it is not hard for people to put two and two together if they want and see that it's hard not to interpret that Musk's presence on the call could have something to do with Trump's potential leverage he could be looking for to have over Zelenskyy when he wants -- when he's vowed to end the war.

SWISHER: I think that's too much chess. These people play checkers. Musk plays chess. But, you know, you wouldn't have the head of the person who makes tanks in the room, it just -- and threaten Ukraine. This is just -- this is because he was probably just sitting there and he -- which Trump has done on occasion, and he just puts him on the phone.

I mean, this is not someone with any foreign policy expertise, even though he has a company -- companies that are around the world. And one of the reasons he bought Twitter is so he would have more impact with his other businesses, like Starlink, like Tesla so that, you know, when he walked in the room, he wasn't just the car guy, he was the Twitter/X guy. It's very important globally to -- especially with autocratic leaders, to have that power.

BOLDUAN: And how he -- if we take past as prologue or current as prologue in how Elon Musk runs his companies and his style and what that could mean going forward, I mean, cutting waste and inefficiency in federal government is something that many presidents have promised and many Americans would like to see, but what would Elon Musk's managerial style do in a federal government context?

SWISHER: Well, you know, a lot of it is jazz hands around him, you know, and some of it's chaotic, some of them are run well, but he's always got someone behind it. Like at SpaceX, it's a woman named Gwynne Shotwell or other executives.

And often, he comes in and he just, you know, overthrows trash cans and says, everybody, we're going to do everything differently. That's something he does a lot. I don't think you can do that in government. You know, at SpaceX, you know, they've blown up a lot of rockets to get to where they are. I'm not so sure you can blow up things in the federal government quite as easily without some impact. And so, it's not the same as running a company where you have fiat to do everything and I think (INAUDIBLE) distance help (INAUDIBLE) and that would be, that's just not true. It's just not accurate, but it sounds good.

[09:10:00]

BOLDUAN: That is true. And there could be a difference between what sounds good and what ends up being a good result. It's good to see you, Kara. Thanks for jumping on this morning.

SWISHER: Jazz. I call it jazz hands.

BOLDUAN: Jazz hands. I do like jazz hands. I don't know if I want jazz hands in federal government, but I will say fan of the jazz hands. We don't care if Swisher is a huge fan of jazz hands. It's great to see you, Kaya. Thank you. Sara.

SIDNER: I'm with you, Kate. All right. President Biden has invited President-Elect Trump to meet him at the White House on Wednesday, a courtesy trump did not extend when the roles were reversed. What that conversation might look like.

And this morning, wildfires are raging in New York and New Jersey and California. A look at the weather conditions that have caused this up ahead.

And have an unusually high number of packages arrived at your door? You may be doom spending. What is that? We'll talk about it coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:15:00]

SIDNER: Warm and extremely dry conditions are fueling raging wildfires throughout the Northeast. Officials say nearly 600 wildfires have burned 7,000 acres in New Jersey and New York since October 1st. Nearly 12 million people are now under red flag warnings in Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Rhode Island today, CNN's Elisa Raffa is with us right now. Give us some sense of what the conditions are. I mean, this is drier than we've seen it in some

ELISA RAFFA, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes. I mean, we had record dry streaks that were only broke today. Jennings Creek Fire in Northern New Jersey has burned 3,000 anchors and it is 10 percent contained. We had some light rain moved through overnight. You can see it's already exiting offshore, but again, it was very light. We did have some of those showers come over that fire in Northern New Jersey, but not really amounting to much rain. Well, less than an inch. You know, only getting a few tenths of an inch of rain out of that, which is better than nothing, but it's really not enough.

You have strong winds that can spread those fires. It takes those embers, puts them somewhere out. Again, about a half an inch of rain can stop the spread of fires, but you really need more than two inches to really start to extinguish those fires when you have drought conditions.

And the drought conditions have really been gripping a lot of the Northeast since the beginning of fall. More than half of the Northeast, from Maine all the way down to D.C., West Virginia, is under drought conditions, some extreme drought conditions for parts of New Jersey. And it's because we really haven't gotten rain since the beginning of fall on September 1st.

Look at the rainfall deficit for fall. We're talking more than seven inches in Philadelphia, more than eight inches in New York, 6.5 inches in Boston. So, again, really haven't gotten much rain at all. In fact, Philadelphia just this morning broke its record for the longest streak without measurable rain at 42 days. The previous record was 29 days. So, breaking that record by almost two weeks. And that record was extremely old, set back in 1874. Now, we do know that wildfire days are increasing, especially in the southwest, where wildfires are a huge concern. But even for parts of the east where you might not expect it, wildfire danger is increasing. In Northern New Jersey, where we have that fire right now, wildfire days have increased by 10 days since the 1970s. So, we're adding more dry, warm, and windy days throughout the year. Sara.

SIDNER: Yes, it's definitely been unusually warm here in the New York, New Jersey area. I do want to ask you about what's happening in the west, because we're so used to seeing wildfires there, but these are particularly terrible. What can you tell us about the conditions there?

RAFFA: Yes, we still have the Mountain Fire that's burning. Not much containment. 20,000 acres have already burned. Now, we had some better conditions over the weekend where they were able to get more of it under control. But we have a front that came through that's kicking in those winds again. We have a wind advisory in effect from Santa Barbara, parts of Northern Los Angeles where we have those fire concerns and that could get those gusts back up to 50 to 60 miles per hour.

So, the winds will kick again as that front comes through across parts of Southern California, which, again, could be a problem when you're fighting that extreme fire. The extreme fire weather danger also comes back going into tomorrow as well, as you have those winds that keep picking up, the very dry air and the ongoing drought, all of these issues continuing. Sara.

SIDNER: So, many people have lost their homes. It's heartbreaking to watch. Thank you so much, Elisa Raffa, for that update. John.

BERMAN: All right. Quote, "there is a general feeling of dread." New reporting about the mood inside government agencies as workers prepare for the huge cuts that Donald Trump has promised.

And this morning, one private attorney counseling his clients to leave the country until after Trump is sworn in amid fears they could be targets for a wave of retribution.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:20:00]

BOLDUAN: Federal workforce on edge. Federal employees telling CNN in a new report that they are preparing for what could be major changes and a potential purge when Donald Trump returns to the White House. Some describing a growing sense of dread of what's to come for the civil servants who keep the government working. CNN's Rene Marsh has this new reporting and she's joining us now. Rene, tell us more about what you're learning.

RENE MARSH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kate, we are in a new dystopian hellscape. That is from a federal employee via text message just last night. And this is the mindset of many of the 2 million federal workers anticipating Donald Trump's return to office. Now, to be very clear, what Donald Trump is promising for federal workers is unlike anything we've seen in our lifetimes. He's proposing reverting to a structure of government that existed 141 years ago, when political parties gave government jobs to their supporters and that's what federal workers who I'm speaking with are so anxious and so scared about.

Now, Trump's plan, we know it as Schedule F, it would give him the power to start these mass firings of nonpartisan career employees perceived as disloyal, who might get in the way of his policy actions at these agencies.

[09:25:00]

Now, Trump's plan for the federal workforce, not a surprise. He repeated this plan to voters on the campaign trail and called federal workers agents of the deep state working against him and his agenda. Some employees who lived through his first presidency say right now they're experiencing PTSD. One of them telling me, we are absolutely having conversations amongst ourselves about whether we can stomach a second term or a round two, as they put it.

But it's not just these mass firings, we're also expecting a second Trump presidency will mean mass transfers of senior executives and relocation of agency offices, something we saw during Trump's first presidency that led to lots of these federal employees deciding to retire or resign.

BOLDUAN: And Elon Musk is also potentially involved in this aspect of the Trump administration as well. I mean, what does Elon Musk and his influence, what does it mean for these workforce reductions?

MARSH: It certainly appears that Elon Musk has the air of the president on this issue. I mean, Trump's proposal for a government efficiency commission would be, as we understand it, headed by or be some involvement by Elon Musk, the billionaire who has pushed for a task force. And he has promised that this task force could slash some $2 trillion in government spending. So, that is just another layer of uncertainty that these federal workers are aware of. And it's just creating this heightened level of anxiety. Kate.

BOLDUAN: Rene Marsh, thanks for the reporting, Rene. John.

BERMAN: All right. With us now is national security attorney Mark Zaid. Counselor, thanks so much for being with us. And this is kind of a little bit of a separate subject, although tangentially related what Kate was just talking about there, but you are advising clients who are worried about retribution from the incoming Trump administration, revenge. And I was reading an article where you said you were counseling some people to leave the country. Why?

MARK ZAID, NATIONAL SECURITY ATTORNEY: Well, look, Donald Trump and those in his inner circle have been very clear, over the period of time and especially during the campaign, that they do intend to retaliate. And they do intend to retaliate swiftly. They've made those promises. He said that he intends to have his second administration one that fulfills promises. So, it would be naive and foolish for us not to take any of this seriously. And we're preparing.

Now, I've represented a lot of clients who have been specific targets of President Trump and those around him. We're not just talking about my federal employee workers in different agencies who are uncomfortable like you've just heard in this last segment, we're talking about people who have been specifically called out by the former president of the United States.

And I'm -- we're not rushing to it. I'm not saying sell your home, move overseas, never come back, become an expat. I'm telling certain clients, a small number, that, you know what, take a vacation for inauguration and let's see what happens in the days or week or two afterwards.

BERMAN: What do you think he could do? What form would retribution, retaliation, revenge take in your mind?

ZAID: Well, it can vary depending on, obviously, the individuals. It could be as harsh as criminal prosecution. I mean, you yourself and your network are potentially vulnerable. How many times have you done a story on classified information and it being leaked? Well, under the Espionage Act, that's prosecutable. The only reason why it hasn't happened previously is that the norm of the Justice Department has been not to prosecute journalists. There will be no norms that are in the second Trump administration. So, we're preparing for all this.

It could be tax audits like we saw back in the Nixon administration. It could be terminations like your last discussion was about. It could take the form of civil penalties. I mean, there is a whole host of usage of laws, not even abuse of laws, but the use of laws in a way that hasn't been typical or perhaps extreme that people could fall victim to. Again, it's just preparation.

BERMAN: And is it Donald Trump exclusively that you're concerned about?

ZAID: No, actually, in many ways, it's more about the people who will be among him. In the first administration, and I represented quite a number of them who were in the White House with Donald Trump. There were people, for example, who would take documents off his desk so that he wouldn't sign them, and he would forget about it. That we saw in the Nixon administration as well, in fact.

[09:30:00]