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Trump Picks Members of Congress; Trump Nominates Rep. Stefanik as U.N. Ambassador; Trump Names Tom Homan as New "Border Czar"; Elon Musk's Influence on Who Gets What Job; 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 9:30-10a ET

Aired November 11, 2024 - 09:30   ET

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

[09:30:00]

MARK ZAID, NATIONAL SECURITY ATTORNEY: We're concerned this time around with the extremists, some of them who will be around him, that they will bring the documents to the president to sign. I mean, we've got people like Steve Bannon and others who have made it very clear where they stand on seeking political retribution against their perceived enemies using what is called lawfare which they have been doing for the last four years when he's been out of office, ensuing perceived enemies.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: I just want to ask more. You're a lawyer, a good lawyer, a very active lawyer. Do you feel like you have recourse to fight this in the courts in the coming months if this were to happen?

ZAID: Well, that's a good question. I mean, look, the judicial system is still intact. You know, there are a lot more judges appointed by the president, but I -- former president, but I've been before many of them. And oftentimes, if not all the time, you know, they're not swayed by political aspects of it. There are jurisdictions where that's been a problem for sure. The biggest problem with challenging this in court based on what the administration might do come January 20th is the length of time that it takes.

If someone is prosecuted or sued, I mean, Trump threatened to sue me for treason, it doesn't exist, but he did it. But you know, if something like that happens, it takes time to go through federal court. We just saw that with the special counsel prosecutions. The reason why they failed was not substantively, it was procedurally. They took too long. So, that -- you know, I'd hate for any of my clients to be facing whether criminal or civil prosecutions in certain way and they are victimized for that for two, three years. That's still not obviously a lot of fun.

BERMAN: Mark Zain, a lot on your plate right now. Appreciate your time this morning. Keep us posted on all this. Thank you. Sara. SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Just ahead, President Biden plans to urge Donald Trump to stick by Ukraine when they meet at the White House this week. Details on the high stakes meeting that is set for Wednesday.

And four people on a sinking catamaran stranded at sea. They -- hey, along came a Disney cruise ship. And then guess what happened? We'll tell you all about it, coming up.

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[09:35:00]

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: This week, President Biden will be welcoming Donald Trump to the White House, their first face-to-face meeting since they met on the CNN debate stage in June. That meeting changed the course of political history. Biden this time is expected to reaffirm his commitment to a peaceful transfer of power, while also leaving Trump with important parting words on U.S. foreign policy.

CNN's Arlette Saenz is at the White House tracking this one for us. Arlette, what is the White House expecting from this meeting?

ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kate, for President Biden, his meeting with President-Elect Trump is really a key step and a symbolic part of his commitment that there will be a peaceful transition of power.

Of course, Trump had completely shunned this typical meeting between two presidents and a president-elect back in 2020 when Biden beat him in that election. Trump never invited Biden to the White House or even conceded the race to Biden during that time.

But as the two men are preparing to meet, they are former competitors and now will be sitting down to talk about some of the most pressing domestic and foreign policy issues at hand. One area where Biden is really hoping to exert some influence in the coming weeks of his presidency is trying to explain to the Trump transition why he believes it's important that aid for Ukraine continue beyond the Biden presidency.

Biden has charged his team with deploying as much approved money and weaponry to Ukraine before leaving office, and it comes at a time when Trump has really cast doubt about what future U.S. support for Ukraine will look like. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan yesterday said that the president in his arguments plans to argue that not furthering aid for Ukraine would -- could lead to instability, not just in Europe, but also for Asian allies as well. So, this is one of the major topics that could come up in this meeting tomorrow.

Of course, Biden is now facing this new reality that the man that he had beat in 2020, who he has painted as a direct threat to democracy, will now be returning to the White House in January, and they will go through this transition of having that meeting in the Oval Office on Wednesday.

BOLDUAN: And today is Veterans Day, Arlette. Well, how is the President planning to mark today?

SAENZ: Well, President Biden and First Lady Jill Biden right now are hosting a breakfast here at the White House for veterans, their families and survivors. They then will travel to Arlington National Cemetery. Biden will lay a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, which is celebrating its centennial anniversary, and then he will deliver some remarks.

Biden will also be joined here by Vice President Kamala Harris. This is the first time she's publicly appearing since she gave that concession speech on Wednesday and the first time that she's appearing with Biden for weeks now. So, we will see what those interactions can be like.

[09:40:00]

But for President Biden, he has long argued that one of the country's most sacred obligations is not just preparing men and women when they go to war, but also caring for them and their families when they return. The White House this morning is touting a host of initiatives that they have said is aiding veterans. They've argued they've provided more benefits and health care at a faster rate than ever before to veterans. They are also trying to expand support for those who have had toxic exposure, including for burn pits, classifying more cancers that could qualify for disability benefits. They've also talked about efforts to lower homelessness among veterans in this country.

So, for President Biden, it's a very solemn day and he'll have a chance to speak to that in just the coming hours at Arlington National Cemetery.

BOLDUAN: Arlette, thank you very much. Sara.

SIDNER: All right. Joining me now are our political commentators Scott Jennings and Karen Finney. Thank you both for being here. Let's talk a little bit about the jockeying for position in the Trump administration. Trump made very clear with this tweet that he expects those that want to be the Senate majority leader to -- and here's what he said, any Republican Senator seeking the coveted leadership position in the United States Senate must agree to recess appointments in the Senate, without which we will not be able to get people confirmed in a timely manner.

Scott, judging from the response of Senators Thune, Scott, and Cornyn all vying for this job, how do you see this shaken out?

SCOTT JENNINGS, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR AND FORMER SPECIAL ASSISTANT TO PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH: Well, look, they want to make Donald Trump happy and they wanted Donald Trump to get what he deserves here, which is a chance to build his administration and staff it with people who are going to execute on his agenda. So, I'm not surprised to see them coming out to support Trump's viewpoint on this.

Although, I would say in the early going with 53 senators, I would suspect Trump will have no trouble, hopefully, getting most people confirmed right out of the gate. And obviously, the most important positions, the cabinet level positions, you know, they'll be sent up and they do need to be confirmed quickly so Trump can get about the business of executing on his agenda.

So, I think what he wants is ultimately just the best possible working relationship with the Republicans in the Senate. Because, you know, people are policy, and getting your people in means you can execute, and when you don't have them in, it slows things down.

SIDNER: Karen, when you think about this, and we were hearing some reporting that, you know, he was also going to try to push through a whole bunch of people. When you think about this as a Democrat, what is your worry?

KAREN FINNEY, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, my friend Scott did a lovely job spinning that. It's not about having a -- just about having a good working relationship. Of course, any president wants that, but it's about, A, getting what you want. And by that, I mean, B, making sure that you are setting from the beginning a relationship where Congress understands he -- what Trump wants, Trump expects to get, and he expects total loyalty. He's made that very clear throughout the campaign that he will expect loyalty from all the people that he puts in the administration.

And frankly, the way he's moving to consolidate power makes it clear, he expects full loyalty also from the legislative branch, because, in some ways, he views that as basically an extension of his administration.

The thing that would concern me is that these recess appointments may mean that we don't have the regular scrutiny of who these people are, or even just the basic background information to know the level of qualifications about some of these individuals he may try to put in place because, again, he has said the number one qualification is loyalty, not necessarily competency in a given issue area.

But you know what, the American people, those who turned out, decided they don't care. And so, America is about to get the government it voted for.

SIDNER: All right. I do want to ask you, speaking of that, about the immigration, which was sometimes the first and then became sort of the second most important issue to Americans. And we just heard announced that Tom Homan, the former head of ICE, is going to be Trump's border czar. He had a conversation on 60 Minutes. I want to play a little bit of that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Is there a way to carry out mass deportation without separating families?

TOM HOMAN, FORMER ICE DIRECTOR: Of course there is. Families can be deported together. It's not going to be a mass sweep of neighborhoods, it's not going to be building concentration camps. I've read it all. It's ridiculous. (END VIDEO CLIP)

SIDNER: So, Scott, how do you see this being -- Trump's policy sort of being meted out?

JENNINGS: Well, first of all, I think Mr. Homan is the exact right choice and I'm glad the president has moved on that so quickly because it was such a big part of his campaign. Number two, look, there's a whole bunch of people in this country that don't need to be here. In fact, there's I think 1.3 million people who've already received deportation orders from federal courts. They've already had due process. They need to leave. And so, there's a good place to start.

[09:45:00]

There's a whole another bunch of people who are here that we know have committed violent crimes either where they were or since they've been here. They need to be sent away as well. So, there are large numbers of people that need to be taken out of this country. And I think Mr. Homan is going to be the person who's most capable of getting that done.

And for those who think that this is somehow unusual, it's not. Every administration deports people. Barack Obama deported all kinds of people. Lots of people, in fact. And so, it's something that the executive branch can and should do when due process has occurred, or when we know there are people in the country who wish harm on American citizens. This should not be controversial, and in fact, in the campaign, it wasn't. Polling repeatedly showed that people supported Trump's viewpoint on this issue.

SIDNER: Karen, what is your view after what you heard from Tom Homan?

FINNEY: Look, I think, let's just stipulate, I think everyone agrees that if you are a criminal, a violent criminal in particular, that should be the priority in terms of deportation. And so, I don't think there's disagreement on that. And again, with regard to others, I think the questions -- and we'll have to see, frankly, how it unfolds, because we really weren't given details during the campaign. What we just heard from Mr. Homan, that's actually more detailed than we got largely during the campaign about how this would work.

How do you determine who are the individuals that are going to be deported and will -- again, when we talk about separating families. So, if -- what we're saying then potentially is if a child is an American citizen, in order not to separate that family, you could be deporting an American citizen with a parent who may not be here legally. So, I think that's one of the questions. We'll have to see how that shakes out.

And the second question is just the impact on the economy. We know that many of the people who are here illegally work in industries and corporations where they are paying Social Security taxes, where they are, you know, part of the labor force. And when you start to deport and remove that from the labor force, what does that mean in terms of costs, in terms of the ability to fill those jobs? So, again, we'll have to see how all of that shakes out.

SIDNER: Karen Finney, Scott Jennings, thank you both so much. Appreciate your time. John.

BERMAN: All right. How some Americans unsettled by the election results are coping. Doom spending is apparently all the rage.

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[09:50:00]

BOLDUAN: In a dramatic ocean rescue, a Disney cruises helped -- Disney cruise ship rather, hello, rescued four stranded boaters about 265 miles off the Coast of Bermuda. This happened yesterday when the Coast Guard responded to a distress call from a boat that was taking on water. The Coast Guard says it then coordinated with the cruise ship because it was the closest vessel to the boat. The cruise ship called the Disney Treasure was on its way to Port Canaveral for its maiden voyage when it was called in to help.

In a statement, the captain of the cruise ship said, we are pleased that the Disney Treasure was able to provide aid to the boat passengers in peril. No medical issues were reported after this.

BERMAN: Disney Treasure. All right. This morning, some anxious Americans are easing their election stress with retail therapy. What is called doom spending is on the rise as some seek to cope with their anxiety about politics and global issues. CNN's Vanessa Yurkevich is here with us now. Is this, you know, sound fiscal planning?

VANESSA YURKEVICH, CNN BUSINESS AND POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: We've been doing it for, you know, generations. People have done this forever. This is just really trendy now because people are talking about it online and it now has this term. But essentially, it's when you're feeling doomy and gloomy about things.

So, maybe it's the economy, right? You can't afford the house that you really want, so you're spending on a pair of shoes, or you're feeling not great about the results of the presidential election, you want to make yourself feel a little bit better, so you are doing a little bit of spending. The problem is that if you're spending a little bit over days, weeks, months, that starts to add up, right?

So, you have -- Americans say that they are carrying debt on their credit cards, 50 percent of Americans report that. And also, the U.S. right now has over a trillion dollars in credit card debt. That is a record. So, if you can budget it correctly, where you're spending to make yourself feel good in that moment, that little dopamine hit, OK. But if this is something that you're running into issues with and you're putting a lot on your credit card just to feel good, that's obviously not good.

BERMAN: Any ideas how you can stop yourself once you start?

YURKEVICH: Re-evaluate your relationship with money and spending. Figure out if use it for emotional coping. Also, stop doom scrolling, get off the phone. If you really need to be on your phone, call your friend, talk about something else. And there are other ways to get that dopamine hit, right. Maybe go for a walk, join an exercise class, hug a dog, or better yet, volunteer at an animal shelter. A lot of pets might make you feel good. That's a different kind of emotional therapy.

But the bottom line is to try to figure out if you're doing this regularly when anything is doomy and gloomy, or you're just doing it every so often, which I think we're all really guilty of.

SIDNER: I wasn't paying attention because I was --

BERMAN: Were you shopping?

YURKEVICH: Hitting purchase in your cart?

SIDNER: Hitting -- yes, yes.

BOLDUAN: I mean, I'll just say as a woman who clearly doesn't like to shop at all, there's a different bit of a dopamine hit taking a walk than when I get a new piece.

SIDNER: Correct.

YURKEVICH: So, you can walk and maybe do that one purchase.

BOLDUAN: Oh, I'm very capable.

YURKEVICH: And then put in your pocket. And don't do it for the rest of the walk.

SIDNER: Petting dogs I recommend though.

[09:55:00]

BERMAN: You can hug it -- we could also hug a new purchase, like you can hug that box. Oh, I love it so much. You know, caress it.

BOLDUAN: I will tell you --

SIDNER: It's all good. Yes.

BOLDUAN: -- designer goods, they do keep me going. They do. They do. They do.

SIDNER: Thank you so much for that. No more doom scrolling, you all. This is CNN New Central. I'm Sara Sidner with John Berman and Kate Bolduan. Newsroom up next.

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