Return to Transcripts main page

CNN News Central

Trump Expected To Name New Deputy Chiefs Of Staff; Trump Announces Mike Huckabee As Next U.S. Ambassador To Israel; Trump Looms Large As Congress Faces Critical To-Do List; Trump's Cabinet Taking Shape As He Taps Loyalists For Key Positions; Amsterdam Police Brace For More Violent Protests. Aired 3-3:30p ET

Aired November 12, 2024 - 15:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:01:15]

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: Cabinet Contenders: Donald Trump building an administration in his own image, choosing the top members of his team. What that tells us about his agenda as the President-elect travels to Washington tomorrow for meetings at the White House and on Capitol Hill.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: And a judge blocks Louisiana from requiring schools to post the Ten Commandments in classrooms. But the fight over the state law isn't over. Could the legal battle over the Commandments in classrooms go all the way to the Supreme Court again?

And some online pharmacies are reporting surging sales, why? They say women are bracing for a second Trump term by stockpiling emergency contraceptives.

We're following these major developing stories and many more all coming in right here to CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

SANCHEZ: This hour, the picks are coming in fast. President-elect Donald Trump continues to build his foreign policy team, announcing key players in his new administration. He just appointed Florida Congressman, Mike Waltz, as his new national security advisor. A staunch Trump ally, Walz is a combat-decorated Green Beret and a vocal critic of the Biden administration's withdrawal from Afghanistan.

Trump also announced he's nominating former Arkansas governor, Mike Huckabee, as U.S. ambassador to Israel. And we're learning that Trump is expected to name some of his top campaign advisors as his new deputy chiefs of staff. CNN's Kristen Holmes has been furiously working the phones to find out all the new picks. Tell us about what we should expect.

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: So we did just get another one that is going to be announced in the coming hours. Taylor Budowich, who served as a deputy campaign manager, who was also in charge of Donald Trump's super PAC, MAGA, Inc. And before that was a spokesperson for Donald Trump in the kind of years after he left the office, is going to serve as a deputy chief of staff personnel, so presidential personnel and communications.

Now, he will join a slate of individuals who are going to serve in those roles. We also know Dan Scavino, somebody who's been with Donald Trump since long before 2015. He was his golf caddy. He turned into a social media manager. Now he's going to be deputy chief of staff. All of these are going to be announced again in the coming days.

We also know James Blair, who served as the head of his, like, political operation for the campaign, also going to serve as a deputy chief of staff. And as we reported yesterday, Stephen Miller is going to be the deputy chief of staff on policy.

All of these people are loyalists to the former president. All of these people were with him in the time after he left the White House. And one of the things to keep in mind here is that Donald Trump, we know that he rewards loyalty, but he's also now rewarding loyalty with actual jobs. And none of these people have to be approved, by the way, by Congress in order to hold these jobs. But they'll have an enormous amount of power.

SANCHEZ: Yes, still a lot of open positions out there. Please keep us posted on what you're hearing. Kristen Holmes, thank you so much. Brianna?

KEILAR: Let's take a closer look now at these latest picks with CNN's Tom Foreman. And Tom, as we'd mentioned, Trump has announced his pick for ambassador to Israel, which is former Arkansas governor, Mike Huckabee. Take us through who he is and also what his stance has been on Israel's war against Hamas.

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: He's been around a while, a guy who really wanted to be president for a while. Served as governor of Arkansas from 1996 to 2007. Father of former Trump White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee - Sarah Sanders - Sarah Huckabee Sanders.

Last year, he led a mission of evangelical leaders to Israel after the October 7th attacks. Important, important to remember the evangelical church, huge supporters of Donald Trump. This is a big issue for their - and for them. And he's been very unequivocal about this. Here's a quote for him about what happened after that. "Well, there's no valid reason to have a ceasefire with Hamas. They're not capable of having an honorable negotiation. You defeat them. You eradicate them."

[15:05:05]

Very much in keeping with what Trump has said. And before this was said, he said things about the West Bank a few years ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MIKE HUCKABEE, (R) FORMER ARKANSAS GOVERNOR: My feeling personally and I'm speaking only as a person. I think Israel would only be acting on the property it already owns. I think Israel has title deed to Judea and Samaria. There are certain words I refuse to use. There is no such thing as a West Bank. It's Judea and Samaria. There's no such thing as a settlement. They're communities, they're neighborhoods, they're cities. There's no such thing as an occupation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOREMAN: Totally in keeping with white evangelicals and their belief about this whole situation.

KEILAR: Yes, and does not see the West Bank as occupied and doesn't even like to say that as a phrase. It's really interesting.

Let's talk a little bit now about Florida senator, Marco Rubio, because he - as appearing to be the pick for Secretary of State - has had quite the, let's call it a journey in his relationship with Trump.

FOREMAN: Yes, a journey. That's one thing you could call it. Yes, he was one of the guys really trying to knock Trump out of this back when he thought he might be president. In 2016, Trump called him Little Marco, called him that all the time. Rubio called Trump a con artist all the time. He eventually backed Trump in all these years here, endorsing him and he was a finalist for Trump's VP this cycle around. And he had some very interesting things to say in this contest. If you watch the evolution between him and Trump, it's really quite a tale of change.

KEILAR: And what about Congressman Mike Waltz?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. MARCO RUBIO (R-FL): They're like this. And you know what they say about men with small hands.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT-ELECT OF THE UNITED STATES: When Little Marco spews his crap about the size of my hands, which are big ...

RUBIO: Donald Trump is a con artist.

After a long and spirited primary, the time for fighting each other is over.

For leading us in this fight will be a man who, although wounded and facing danger, he stood up and raised his fist and reminded us that our people and our country are always worth fighting for.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOREMAN: Again, that is the kind of flip flop that just drives ...

KEILAR: Wow.

FOREMAN: ... I hate to say it, normal people crazy when they see politicians do that, because like do I believe you then? Do I believe you now? Can I believe you? But nonetheless, they're together now.

KEILAR: Yes, at what point were you telling the truth, then or now, as you said before?

FOREMAN: Yes. KEILAR: And then there's Michael Waltz.

FOREMAN: Mm-hmm.

KEILAR: The Florida congressman who is, it appears, the pick for national security advisor. Yes, a Trump loyalist, the first combat decorated Green Beret in this position. He served in Afghanistan, the Middle East and Africa, former Bush White House policy staffer. A real hawk on all these things. Big, big push out there to say we've got to be strong, we have to stand strong. He might help Trump some with his military vote, a lot of support there because he certainly fits into that mold.

And then if we jump beyond that to his pick for DHS secretary, Kristi Noem, governor of South Dakota, former congresswoman. She's a Trump loyalist, very, very strong. And also on the short list for vice president. And she would oversee Customs and Border Patrol, ICE, FEMA and the Secret Service, so a big role for her there.

KEILAR: Yes, it certainly is. And then, what does all of this paint in terms of a big picture about the incoming administration as we expect it?

FOREMAN: I mean, I don't think you find here the - you know, people have talked about the need for some kind of guardrails. I don't see any guardrails here. But maybe you see some people who have a little more experience than just being immediate ideologues in Trump's circle right now.

Waltz, Noem and Rubio, they all agree there is a China threat, that's how they see it. In fact, Rubio was sanctioned by China for his stance on Hong Kong some years ago. They question open-ended support of war in Ukraine. So if you're the Ukrainians right now, this worries you. Rubio has basically said Ukraine should just give up that 20 percent that Russia has. Let's negotiate a deal here where Russia gets to keep it, which would be the same as if Mexico invaded us and we said, okay, keep Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and part of California because we don't want to fight anymore. Nonetheless, that's what they're sorting out.

And they're hardliners on Iran. And, of course, they all agree with the idea that there is a border crisis. So Trump's looking for loyalty. These people fit that box.

KEILAR: Yes. Tom, thank you so much. Really interesting. Boris?

SANCHEZ: Pivoting our focus to Capitol Hill now. Lawmakers are returning today after their extended election recess. And they've got several critical legislature items on their to-do list. And it's clear that Donald Trump wants to have his fingerprints over every piece of this lame duck session of Congress. And they will hear from him directly as he heads to the Capitol tomorrow. CNN Chief Congressional Correspondent Manu Raju is there for us.

Manu, what are you hearing about the majority leader's race in the Senate? Because Trump, at least publicly, has not weighed in. [15:09:59]

MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. And it is a wide-open race really between two men, Senators John Thune and Senator John Cornyn.

Rick Scott who actually support of a lot of Trump allies, but the former president has not weighed in on this yet. But Cornyn and Thune are seen as the clear favorites here. Some people in the Senate believe that Thune may have the slight edge being the current Republican whip. Cornyn used to be the Republican whip. That is the number two position in the Senate Republican conference.

Both of those men have served for a long time. They have deep relationships. They've raised tons of money for their colleagues, especially Cornyn, over the years. And that really goes a long way, as well as the promises that they have made privately, assurances about giving them committee assignments and the like.

And at the end of the day, a lot of these members vote simply on self- interest, not about the public pressure campaign that they may hear, not about how the President-elect may want him or her to vote, but ultimately what may help them at the end of the day, which is why these secret ballot elections, which will take place tomorrow, are really hard to handicap and why people believe it's really up to Thune - is really between Thune and Cornyn. It's unclear how that will play out, but such a consequential vote for a key position in Washington.

SANCHEZ: Yes. Manu, Democratic lawmakers are also meeting tomorrow. What are you hearing about that?

RAJU: Yes, this is really their first time that they'll gather behind closed doors as a full House Democratic caucus and also a Senate Democratic caucus. They'll meet separately and talk about everything that happened and what went wrong.

And I'm already hearing concerns about Democrats, not just about their performance last week, but about some of Donald Trump's early picks, one of them being Stephen Miller, his deputy chief of staff. Miller, of course, an immigration hardliner.

I put the question to some Democrats about that today. Here's what Senator Ben Ray Lujan said about that pick.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. BEN RAY LUJAN (D-NM): I'm praying for President Trump, and I certainly hope that he surrounds himself with people to do good for the American people. Stephen Miller's policies are some of the ugliest policies that I've ever seen and I think that this country has ever seen. I certainly hope that he'll have a change in his perspective. If President Trump is going to move policy that he campaigned on, that's one thing, versus mistreating people and turning children away from their families as well.

(END VIDEO CLIP) RAJU: And one of the big debates internally right now among Democrats is how to react to being in the minority in the Senate and potentially being the minority in the House. Are they the resistance that they were oftentimes in the first Trump year term or do they work in a more compromised, trying to cut some deals with the President-elect and his team, all big questions for the minority party on Capitol Hill, Boris.

SANCHEZ: A huge day on the Hill tomorrow. Manu Raju, thank you so much for that update.

We've got so much to discuss, so let's get right to it with CNN Political Commentator and Republican Strategist, Shermichael Singleton. Also with us is Kevin Walling, he's Democratic campaign strategist and former surrogate for the 2020 Biden-Harris campaign.

Shermichael, first to you, obviously Trump has these meetings on Capitol Hill tomorrow.

SHERMICHAEL SINGLETON, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Mm-hmm, yes.

SANCHEZ: But I think the one that folks are going to be most focused on is his meeting with President Biden. What are you going to be watching?

SINGLETON: I'm looking for three things in particular all surrounding foreign policy, the status of things in the Middle East. I'm looking at some information pertaining to Russia and Ukraine and that conflict, and also China and the potential of them potentially invading Taiwan. Where does that stand? Have they made any incursions that we're not aware of in the public, but that the President may be aware of?

I think the incoming president needs to have a standing on each of those three fronts, so once he takes office, he's prepared to act immediately.

KEILAR: How do you think this meeting is going to go? What are you looking for? What do you think President Biden's going to say?

KEVIN WALLING, DEMOCRATIC CAMPAIGN STRATEGIST: Well, it's certainly going to be a little awkward based on what they've said to each other and about one another. Of course, this is something that didn't happen in 2020. There was no handoff. President-elect Biden was not invited to the Trump White House for that meeting. Barack Obama had that meeting with Donald Trump, 90 minutes.

Going through to Shermichael's point, a lot of National Security issues, that's where he really zeroed in on North Korea. I think Shermichael's absolutely right. That's going to be heavy on foreign policy. Donald Trump hasn't had an intelligence briefing since February of 2021. That's something that has been afforded former presidents. That practice stopped. Joe Biden cut that off to the former president after some issues with classified documents.

So Joe - so Donald Trump has likely been out of the loop on a lot of these breaking, behind-the-scenes national security issues. KEILAR: Shermichael, what do you think about that - that this is a courtesy that Trump has been totally willing to take advantage of twice now, but he did not extended - he did not extend himself?

SINGLETON: Look, it's a bridge under water at this point. I don't think there's a whole lot you can take from it.

KEILAR: Water under the bridge.

SINGLETON: Water under the bridge - I'm so terrible with those (INAUDIBLE) ...

KEILAR: It might be a bridge. It actually might be a bridge under the water.

SINGLETON: But all things considered, it might be, right?

KEILAR: I think that was a slip there. It seems like it's something that's sunk in the water and it's a shipwreck, yes.

SINGLETON: Well, you know, at the Kevin's point, maybe it is something that's sunk in the water. Look, I'm more concerned about to what you've mentioned, to what I mentioned at the top, foreign policy. That's all I'm really worried about, Kevin. I think on the economic front, Trump isn't going to really want to hear from Biden there, and I think a lot of the polling will suggest the American people don't want the incoming president to take any advice from him on that issue.

[15:15:06]

But on foreign policy, we've had months and months and months, years at this point, of him not getting any intelligence briefings at all. There's a litany of conflicts across the globe right now that the United States needs to be at the forefront of handling, and so my expectation of whatever issues they may have had in the past, he needs to catch the incoming president up on all of those fronts as quickly as he possibly can.

SANCHEZ: It'll be interesting to see how they frame some of those conflicts ...

SINGLETON: Yes.

SANCHEZ: ... both in Ukraine and the Middle East and elsewhere.

SINGLETON: Because they view them differently, Boris, by the way.

SANCHEZ: Right.

SINGLETON: Particularly Russia and Ukraine.

SANCHEZ: Yes, not breaking news. We should know. Though I appreciate you pointing that out, Shermichael.

Kevin, I wonder - a two-part question.

WALLING: Sure.

SANCHEZ: I wonder, as Democrats regroup on Capitol Hill, what you think that conversation is going to be like. Manu brought up the point. Is it going to be like the resistance of the first Trump administration? Is it going to be something new? And then also, what you think the approach might be to confirming some of Trump's nominees?

WALLING: It's a really good question, Boris, on two fronts. Listen, in 2016, Democrats had 194 seats. We've got a much larger minority of seats. We've got 205 right now. Republicans have 214. So, Hakeem Jeffries is in a little bit better of a position than, obviously, Nancy Pelosi heading into the next Trump administration. Leader Jeffries has described this as a family conversation that's going to take place tomorrow.

To your point, Boris, there's a lot of warring factions. We need to work with Donald Trump or we need to button down the hatches and be that resistance module. We'll see what comes out of that conversation. It will be also interesting to see what Leader Schumer does coming out of that conversation. Obviously, there's going to be Senate and House conversations happening at the same time tomorrow on Capitol Hill.

SINGLETON: Can I add to that? I mean, I think it will be a catastrophic mistake for Democrats to not work with the incoming president wherever they can. I mean, the guy has been given a significant mandate. He won the popular vote. The last time we saw that was in 2004 with George W. Bush. Republican presidents don't typically win the popular vote at all. You guys beat us there.

WALLING: Back to 1998 was the last time we saw that.

SINGLETON: And SO my hope would be for Democrats to figure out what's going on internally in 2012. Remember, Kevin, they did that autopsy report after Romney lost with Obama. It gave us the opportunity to sort of reset. Where have we gone wrong? Where do we need to shift in terms of certain policy positions? You guys have that opportunity. Obviously, there are going to be ideological differences. You know, stand firm where you disagree, but certainly try to work with them where you can.

KEILAR: Kevin, what do you think about these picks so far for those in Trump's orbit? I mean, could it have been worse so far?

WALLING: I mean, knock on plexiglass ...

KEILAR: Well, from your perspective ...

WALLING: ... it certainly could have been worse.

KEILAR: ... from your perspective, I mean.

WALLING: I mean, you've got some institutionalists. I mean, you've got a Marco Rubio leader on the Intelligence Committee in the Senate Armed Services. Obviously, Elise Stefanik, also somewhat of an institutionalist. Kind of start in the George W. Bush administration, obviously, now they've all, you know, devoted their fealty towards Donald Trump now back in office.

But I'm holding my breath on the attorney general, right? This is a guy who said, I want to prosecute my political enemies, right? That pick is going to be super important. That's something that Vice President-elect JD Vance has said he's very interested in now, back down at Mar-a-Lago beginning yesterday following the election.

So I'm still holding my breath on some of those appointments. Stephen Miller, obviously, is not my favorite guy to be heading up White House policy, but the President has won this election and can surround himself with the people he chooses.

SINGLETON: But you know what's so fascinating to me about this guy is, you know, I've mentioned foreign policy twice. Look at who he's appointed, Elise Stefanik, Marco Rubio, Mike, a Green Beret, worked for Donald Rumsfeld, worked for Robert Gates ...

WALLING: Mike Waltz, yes, yes, yes.

SINGLETON: Right. And so that sends a signal to the American people, and I would even argue to Democrats, that the President expects to take foreign policy head on. I mean, these are very serious people who are respected across the aisle. And so that tells me when Donald Trump gets into office, he's going to look at some of these really hot issues across the globe and try to figure out what does a Trump administration's policies look like to bring some relief and some resolution to some of them.

WALLING: And to your point, not just foreign policy, but immigration as to ...

SINGLETON: Immigration as well.

WALLING: ... key kind of cabinet positions.

KEILAR: We'll see who his defense secretary pick is ...

SINGLETON: Yes.

KEILAR: ... CIA director and of course AG, these will be very ...

WALLING: And they're coming quick, Brianna.

SINGLETON: Yeah.

KEILAR: ... very telling. Yes, they are. Stay tuned. Kevin, Shermichael, thank you so much to both of you.

SINGLETON: Good to see you, man.

WALLING: Good to see you.

KEILAR: Still to come, a key decision in the President-elect's hush money case delayed. How prosecutors, Trump's attorneys and the judge all agree the circumstances have changed since Election Day. SANCHEZ: Plus, President Biden reaffirming his commitment to Israel during White House talks with President Isaac Herzog. This as aid groups say a U.S. deadline for Israel will be missed with terrible consequences for Gaza.

And anti-Semitic violence in Amsterdam, the Dutch capital still dealing with protests after last week's violent clashes between locals and Israeli soccer fans. Stay with CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:24:05]

KEILAR: Right now, police in Amsterdam are on high alert. They are bracing for what could be another turbulent night of unrest and protests over the war in Gaza. Today, officers have already been seen detaining some demonstrators. Last night, violence broke out. A tram was set on fire over the weekend. More than four dozen people were also arrested.

And this is turmoil that began late last week after a soccer match when Israeli fans were attacked. The offenders hurled anti-Semitic slurs. They chased down some of these Israeli fans on scooters, and they beat them. Let's turn now to CNN's Nic Robertson.

And Nic, Amsterdam has been under emergency measures because of this. Tell us more on what it's like as night is falling there.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Yes, those emergency measures were in place last night when that tram was set on fire by rioters who were hurling anti-Semitic slurs as well as setting fire to that tram.

[15:25:04]

So these - even these emergency measures are not working in the way that the police would hope that they would work. So tonight, again, it's an anxious night in Amsterdam for the authorities there. The police chief earlier today was saying that they were picking up messages that were being circulated from early this morning indicating that there would be more violence this evening, just like last night.

And they was even - there were even getting an understanding from whoever was planning this that there were warnings going out, not police warnings, but warnings coming out from - by the potential attackers that women and children should stay off the streets. So the police have had this concern going into the evening.

As of right now, we're not seeing anything yet on the scale of last night. But this is so worrying the Dutch authorities. At the end of this week, they're now considering even stronger emergency measures that they want to take to stop this anti-Semitism that's going on, on the streets of Amsterdam.

Now, some of those people out protesting, they're potentially out because they're angry with the Dutch government for putting these measures in the first place. There's been criticism come from some quarters in the city there that said the Israeli soccer fans and Maccabi Tel Aviv fans last week before the match have been chanting anti-Arab slurs, tearing down Palestinian flags.

But the mood of Dutch officials, the prime minister speaking, the mayor of Amsterdam speaking, all making it very clear this is anti- Semitism. The police will not stand back when there is intolerance on the streets. They say they won't tolerate it. Tonight so far, nothing quite as violent as last night yet.

KEILAR: All right. Good, we hope that continues. Nic Robertson, thank you so much for the report. Boris?

SANCHEZ: So today is the deadline for Israel to show the U.S. it's helping improve humanitarian conditions in Gaza. But the State Department now says an assessment of Israel's commitment has not been made, despite Secretary of State Antony Blinken reviewing details with a top Israeli official on Monday.

Now, a short time ago, President Biden hosted Israeli President Isaac Herzog at the White House. Some aid groups are accusing Israel of failing to live up to U.S. demands while actively making the situation in Gaza worse. CNN's Kylie Atwood joins us now.

So, Kylie, what more are you hearing from U.S. officials about this?

KYLIE ATWOOD, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, listen, what the State Department just told reporters is that the U.S. has not made an assessment that Israel is violating U.S. law. Effectively, even though not enough humanitarian support is getting into Gaza, the U.S. hasn't assessed that it's to the point where Israel is actually impeding that aid from getting there.

And that was the whole point of this letter, was to compel Israel to take more action to get more humanitarian aid into Gaza. Humanitarian aid organizations are saying today that Israel failed that test, that they didn't meet any of the criteria that the State Department laid out. The State Department is saying that Israel has made some progress. Listen to how the spokesperson put it today when he was speaking with reporters.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VEDANT PATEL, PRINCIPAL DEPUTY STATE DEPT. SPOKESPERSON: We at this time have not made an assessment that there - that the Israelis are in violation of U.S. law. But most importantly, we are going to continue to watch how these steps that they've taken, how they are being implemented, how they can be continued to be expanded on. And through that, we're going to continue to assess their compliance with U.S. law.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ATWOOD: Boris, this sounds a lot like what we have heard from U.S. officials with regard to this deepening crisis in Gaza over the last few months, begging the question, why send this letter and pressure Israel to take these actions if they aren't going to take all these actions and the U.S. government also isn't going to impose any cost.

Spokesperson said that the reason the letter was sent is because the Secretary of State, the Secretary of Defense, saw the dire situation in Gaza. They wanted to pressure Israel to make it better. They do believe that some actions that Israel has taken over the last month wouldn't have been taken if the U.S. hadn't sent this letter.

But humanitarian organizations, and we should also note U.S. officials who resigned from the U.S. government, resigned from the Biden administration in protest of Biden's Israel policy following October 7th, are incredibly frustrated by this because they believe that Israel has been impeding humanitarian aid from getting into Gaza for quite some time now and that should trigger a U.S. policy response that would, of course, impact the flow of U.S. weapons to Israel.

SANCHEZ: Kylie Atwood, thank you so much for an important update.

Still plenty more news to come on NEWS CENTRAL. The judge in Trump's hush money trial is delaying his decision on the future of the President-elect's felony convictions. What's next for that case, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)