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Hezbollah-Israel Cease-Fire Holding; Trump Names More Administration Picks; Record Travel. Aired 1-1:30p ET

Aired November 27, 2024 - 13:00   ET

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

[13:00:32]

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: The holiday travel rush is on.

Right now, millions of Americans are heading to the airports and highways for a record Thanksgiving travel season. We're tracking it all for you.

Plus, after months of full-scale war and just hours after a cease-fire kicked in, thousands of displaced civilians return home in Lebanon. But for many, home looks very different.

RAHEL SOLOMON, CNN HOST: And talk about a disturbing twist. A Colorado dentist accused of murdering his wife with poisoned protein shakes is facing new charges. Who he was allegedly targeting from behind bars.

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

SANCHEZ: Thank you so much for joining us this afternoon. I'm Boris Sanchez, alongside with Rahel Solomon, in the nation's capital.

Great to have you, Rahel.

SOLOMON: Good to be here.

SANCHEZ: Yes, Brianna has the rest of the week off. She's getting to enjoy Thanksgiving, as so many other Americans are too.

Are you ready for a record-breaker, forecast to be the busiest Thanksgiving travel season ever? Nearly 80 million heading out for the holiday, most of them driving, nearly 72 million people hitting the roads.

SOLOMON: And how about this? Lower gas prices are helping. AAA says that the national average is down to $3.07 a gallon. And some more good news for travelers, weather conditions seem to be improving.

We have got a team of reporters standing by. We have CNN meteorologist Elisa Raffa. She is tracking the cold front that's coming in.

But, first, let's go to CNN's Whitney Wild. She's at O'Hare Airport in Chicago.

Whitney, I feel like O'Hare is busy on a good day. How are things looking today for fliers?

WHITNEY WILD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, it comes and goes.

So there are big crowds and then it sort of things out, and then there are big crowds again. But the good news is that the wait times at security are pretty quick. So let me just walk you over here, because, when you're talking about travel numbers, these are the ones that matter, right?

TSA Pre 10 minutes, Premier Access five minutes, economy 20 minutes. So, even if you didn't get here super early before your flight, you still are probably in very good shape. When you consider the numbers here, 18 million people traveling over this holiday weekend, that's a 6 percent increase over last year, 1.5 million people at least coming through the Chicago area airports, plus this good weather system.

And this is, like, the perfect combination for a very busy holiday travel weekend. When you look at the FlightAware MiseryMap, just 29 cancellations today across the United States. So you really can't ask for anything better over this very busy few days.

Looking ahead, looks like Monday -- or -- excuse me -- Sunday is going to be the busiest day, 254,000 passengers coming through O'Hare alone. Yesterday, guys, TSA processed 2.7 million people. Mostly, everybody here is happy, calm. I have seen couples holding hands, families smiling.

This is a very good scene here at O'Hare. I talked to a couple people to get some of their tips for traveling with families. Here's what they said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WILD: So what are your tips? I mean, I have got four kids. You have got three. What are your tips for other moms and dads who are coming through the airport? This is a really busy travel season. What are your tips?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Good snacks, good shows and treats.

WILD: Treats for good behavior.

What are your travel tips for other kids?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I feel like you should bring, like, a lot of books, because, like, if you're first traveling and you feel like, oh, it's going to be great, I'm not staying that long, I don't need things to entertain me well, most likely, you're going to need something to entertain yourself.

WILD: What's your favorite part of flying?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Getting the food and stuff.

WILD: Getting the snacks on the plane, always a treat. (END VIDEO CLIP)

WILD: Oh, the snacks are way better on the plane.

Airport snacks, pretzels in the sky way better than regular pretzels, guys. Everybody knows that. I think the trick is to give kids something new every five to seven minutes, keep them occupied, because it can end up being a long trip. But, fortunately, again, part of that long trip is not the holdup in the crowds here at O'Hare. So we are doing very, very well -- back to you.

SOLOMON: Good advice, Whitney, but also not just give the kids treats every five to seven minutes. Give the adults treats.

SANCHEZ: Give it to yourself too, yes, yes. It's important to focus on snacks and treats, yes.

[13:05:05]

SOLOMON: Yes.

Whitney Wild, thank you.

All right, let's turn down to Elisa at the CNN Weather Center.

Elisa, as Whitney sort of alluded to there, it looks like conditions are improving ahead of Thanksgiving. What can we expect to see in the days ahead?

ELISA RAFFA, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, I think that today is going to be the best day for travel.

We have a storm system developing, but it's not really packing its punch yet. You could see a lot of these green airplanes across the country. We still have some rain and snow. That could be a problem on the roads from Denver through Kansas City, St. Louis, into Cincinnati. But, again, it's not packing its punch yet.

It has dumped so much snow in Colorado. Steamboat is loving it. The ski resorts are really getting some of that good white stuff for the ski season and for the holiday weekend here. But if you look at, again, that storm developing, you have got I-70 here from Denver through Kansas to Kansas City with some of that rain and snow that could be slick at times, and then it stretches all the way over towards Cincinnati.

By the time we get to Thanksgiving is where we think we will find more of those problems because this storm will really start to pack a punch. And look at the rain and snow that stretches from the Northeast down to the Southeast, and cold air really comes in behind it to, that, by Thursday, we could be looking at some major impacts across New England as we really start to see some snow in parts of interior New England and some heavy rain at times as well.

Thursday looks like to be the biggest headache if you're doing any last-minute traveling. So here's that same storm again. It really starts to flourish going to Thursday. Look at all of that snow again, parts of interior New England, Upstate New York, Vermont, New Hampshire.

The rain stretches down through New York City, Philadelphia, pretty wet parades going into Thursday morning, and then stretches down to Atlanta. Then all that cold air pumps that lake-effect snow machine. We will have some problems in the Great Lakes through the weekend because the snow doesn't stop.

So, at the airports, again, today, mostly all right, but then we really start to find problems on the East Coast going into Thursday. Could have some problems in D.C., New York in the morning, and then really pumping up into New England as we go into the afternoon as that snow cranks and it cranks.

We're talking feet all weekend off the Great Lakes, yes.

SOLOMON: OK, we will be thankful for today.

Elisa Raffa, thank you.

All right, right now, the FBI says that it is aware of multiple bomb threats and swatting incidents targeting members of Donald Trump's incoming administration.

CNN's Steve Contorno in West Palm Beach for us near Mar-a-Lago.

Steve, what are you hearing? What are you learning?

STEVE CONTORNO, CNN REPORTER: Rahel and Boris, so far, we have confirmed one person involved in Donald Trump's administration was the target of these bomb threats/swatting incidents.

And that is U.N. ambassador nominee Elise Stefanik, the congresswoman from New York. We do know, though, that the Trump campaign said it was several people involved in his incoming Cabinet and new administration who were the subject of these threats.

And, as you said, we have reached out to law enforcement and the FBI for further comment. So far, they have confirmed only that they are investigating several incidents, but have not specified what other individuals were targeted.

The Trump campaign -- or -- excuse me -- the Trump transition in a statement saying -- quote -- "President Trump and the transition are focused on doing the work of uniting our nation by ensuring a safe and prosperous future with President Trump as our example. Dangerous acts of intimidation and violence will not deter us."

And I should point out that, unfortunately, these types of threats have become increasingly common targeting politicians in recent years. In fact, several of Donald Trump's perceived political enemies have been the on the receiving end of bomb threats and swatting attacks, such as some of the people involved in the legal cases against him and others who had testified in cases about his attempts to overthrow the election. So it has traversed both sides of the political spectrum. Obviously,

it's also a dangerous situation to have someone calling police saying that there's a police activity or some sort of suspicious activity at a residence and have them show up with their guns drawn.

And so that is why the FBI is taking these sorts of threats very carefully.

SANCHEZ: Yes, sadly, no shortage of threats over the last few years, and, as you noted, Steve, they come in a bipartisan fashion.

You do have some new reporting, Steve, on the Trump transition and why the president-elect is moving so quickly to fill some key roles in his incoming administration. What are you learning?

CONTORNO: Well, aides and allies to Trump say that he is clearly more emboldened this time around because of the size of his Electoral College victory, and he's more confident because he has experience under his belt. He knows how Washington works this time.

But he is also acutely aware of the time frame that he has to act. And that's not just because he is going to be a one-term president, but also because of the narrow window that they know they will have a majority in both the House and the Senate.

[13:10:02]

And that explains the speed at which he is putting together this Cabinet, with the hope that many of these individuals will be confirmed before even takes office or at least by day one, but also so that he can hit the ground running and will be governing with the same speed and intensity that we have seen from him so far in this transition, which is light years ahead of the transition eight years ago, when by this point he had only nominated four Cabinet members.

Now he has his entire Cabinet already picked out -- Boris and Rahel.

SANCHEZ: Yes, in 2016, they essentially started from scratch and threw out all the plans they had made right up until he won.

Steve Contorno, thank you so much for the update from West Palm Beach Florida.

Let's discuss the Trump transition with Peter Hamby, a founding partner of Puck News and host of Snapchat's "Good Luck America." Also with us, Brian Morgenstern. He was the White House deputy communications director in the first Trump administration.

Thank you both for being with us.

Peter, first to you.

Steve was clarifying -- excuse me -- hate it when that happens. Steve was clarifying that Trump is ready to hit the ground running on day one. One of the things that the president-elect has talked about was getting tariffs put on Mexico on Canada, threatening also to expand tariffs that are already in place on China.

How much of that do you think are actual plans that Trump has to install on day one, and how much of that is the beginning of an open negotiation that he plans with these nations?

PETER HAMBY, FOUNDING PARTNER, PUCK NEWS: I think, ideologically, Boris, this is -- I mean, the plan has been out there the entire time. Americans voted for Donald Trump while he was openly saying, I'm going to enact tariffs on China and other nations.

Now, do most voters understand the details of how tariffs work, what they are, how they're implemented, how it might come back on them in the economy? Some do. Some don't. Most probably don't.

But I don't think this is something that's like tucked into page 215 of Project 2025. Now, the details of how he's going to implement it remain to be seen, but it does feel like he's moving very quickly and assembling a team of advisers and appointees who are very much saying they're going to enact tariffs.

Trump himself said it, obviously, but Trump says a lot. The question is, who are his people? He appointed Jamieson Greer as his us trade representative yesterday. He worked with Robert Lighthizer on the tariffs in the first Trump administration. Scott Bessent, hedge fund guy, market friendly, but also is saying he's going to go along with this tariff idea.

It is going to have to be worked out. What I do find interesting, Boris -- and I talked to Steve Bannon about this yesterday, who's not making policy in the White House, of course, but he does sort of represent the id of MAGAnomics, if you will. He basically said that tariffs can be a carrot and a stick against countries like Mexico when it comes to figuring out how to deal with deportations and other countries in Central America.

So that's a detail I hadn't really heard before, that Trump might be flexible with different countries and using tariffs as a stick as it relates to other policy agenda items that the Trump administration wants to carry out.

SOLOMON: Brian, your thoughts, I mean, sticking with tariffs. I mean, you have worked in the prior Trump administration. We just talked about Scott Bessent for Treasury secretary. When that was announced, you saw the markets applaud. He was seen as a moderate choice, someone who would be a steady hand.

Based on your experience, how much do you think Trump will be relying on his economic picks when it comes to policy, tariffs or otherwise?

BRIAN MORGENSTERN, FORMER WHITE HOUSE DEPUTY COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR: Very much so.

I mean, I worked at the Treasury Department for three years in the first Trump administration with Secretary Mnuchin, where we dealt with not only tariffs, but revising trade deals, with implementing the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, sanctions and other very high-priority issues for President Trump.

So the economic team is key. His focus during the campaign was empowering the American work force, bringing jobs back here, bringing economic activity back to our shores. And tariffs can be very helpful in those goals.

In addition to the economic issues, bringing manufacturing back, he's also discussed helping to secure the border and stemming the flow of fentanyl and other things. So I think the speed with which tariffs are enacted will in part be dictated on the results that he's seeing in his negotiations with other countries.

Just as one example, during the China trade deal negotiations, if you recall, he would put out a notice saying, unless we make progress on this issue, say, soybean exports, for example, then I will be increasing the tariffs by this much over this period of time, every 30 days or 60 days and so on, to try to put some pressure on our negotiating partners to really make progress, so that we can get these issues resolved for the American people.

[13:15:10]

So he's used them very effectively in the past. It hasn't been very inflationary in the past. At least, at the end of his administration, recall, inflation was very low. So he was using them effectively to achieve policy goals in the first term. So the American people know what that's like. And I think they voted for him again because it was effective and it made their lives better.

So that's what I will look for is what timelines he lays out, what the policy goals are that he lays out, and what progress are we making with our negotiating partners.

SANCHEZ: And yes, Brian, you pointed out soybeans. During the Trump administration, they had to essentially subsidize a large part of soybean farming in this country because so many farmers suffered as a result of tariffs that had been put on by other nations on things like soybeans.

Do you don't have any concerns about this tariff promise creating a tariff war and then coming to bite consumers and farmers, producers in the behind?

MORGENSTERN: Well, it's about winning the tariff war, so to speak, and getting those negotiations moving expeditiously, getting the results that we need. We ended up making a very favorable deal.

I think the Biden administration wasn't very good at enforcing it, but President Trump's credible threats I think really add weight to these things so that we will get the results that we need. And he was willing to follow through and help those farmers make it through. I think he would do the same thing.

He also had an exception or exclusion process where (AUDIO GAP) work with the administration to talk to them about what their experience is. We don't want to harm American companies. The whole point of this is to empower American work force -- the American work force and American companies, so that they will be better off tomorrow than they are today.

So that's what it's all about. But I think his credible threats will really make sure that our negotiating partners are active and that we can get the results we need very quickly.

SOLOMON: Peter, I want to circle back to something you mentioned just a short moment ago. You said that you did this interview with Steve Bannon. It was wide-ranging. You talked about Elon Musk. You talked about Trump 2.0.

What stood out the most to you based on that conversation?

HAMBY: You know, it's interesting.

Again, as I mentioned, Bannon is off and on within Trump's circle of advisers. He's not necessarily going to be in the U.S. Trade Office with Jamieson Greer making these decisions. But he does represent -- he's sort of like a Rasputin figure. And you can kind of follow -- you can follow what he says to certain outcomes that Trump talks about and carries out as president.

But I think one thing that jumped out was he is very adamant about recess appointments being a possibility. He was upset about the Matt Gaetz pick being basically derailed in the U.S. Senate. Steve Bannon firmly believes that John Thune, the new Senate majority leader, is a puppet and a creation of Mitch McConnell.

And if, he said, with Robert F. Kennedy Jr., for example, Senate Republicans are queasy about confirming him, he firmly believes and says it is constitutionally possible that Donald Trump could adjourn the Senate and make whatever appointment he wants.

So he very much wants to, as he said, hit Washington with -- quote -- "muzzle velocity." He wants to throw punches. After the first Trump term, they didn't get certain things done. He says now there's (AUDIO GAP). As Brian mentioned, there's a whole team being assembled. It's very clear that Trump is coming into this with intentionality, versus the first time, when it felt like an accidental presidency.

So Bannon is basically saying, hit them, hit them now, hit them while we're strong. We have a mandate. That's his words, not mine. So that's basically the whole -- that's not a surprise coming from Steve Bannon. There's a lot of bluster with him sometimes.

One thing he did say, though, that was interesting, Rahel, is he said there can't be too many -- quote -- "crazies" running around the White House this time. I will leave it to the viewers aside whether Bannon is one of those people or not. But there are a lot of pros coming into this administration, unlike last time, when it felt like Trump just hired the fry cook at Burger King.

And Bannon says that's a good thing, that Trump is going to get things done this time versus last time.

SANCHEZ: It doesn't hurt anybody to have some good fries every now and then.

(LAUGHTER)

SANCHEZ: Peter Hamby, Brian Morgenstern, appreciate you both. Thanks so much.

Just make sure you drink some tea before you eat the fries and then go on TV and have to cough them up almost, like I did there. Thank you both so much.

(CROSSTALK)

SOLOMON: Your co-worker will save you. Don't worry.

(CROSSTALK)

MORGENSTERN: ... hired the fry cook at McDonald's to be the president.

SANCHEZ: This guy. Of course. Of course.

(CROSSTALK)

SANCHEZ: Thank you both. And happy Thanksgiving. Appreciate you.

HAMBY: You too. Thanks, guys.

MORGENSTERN: Happy Thanksgiving. Thank you.

[13:20:00]

SANCHEZ: Still ahead this hour on CNN NEWS CENTRAL: Hours into the cease-fire between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah, it seems to be holding, and now Biden administration officials are hoping it could be a potential game changer in a renewed push for a deal in Gaza.

We will take you live for the region for the latest. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SOLOMON: A cease-fire between Israel and Hezbollah appears to be holding hours after both sides accepted the deal.

It calls for a 60-day pause in fighting, during which Hezbollah militants are expected to retreat from Israel's border, while Israeli forces will withdraw from Lebanese territory.

SANCHEZ: Yes, thousands displaced by the conflict have now begun the journey back home to Southern Lebanon, with many returning to find their villages unrecognizable, damaged or destroyed after months of full-scale war.

The Israeli military is warning Lebanese citizens to stay put for now, because its troops are still operating in some of those areas.

[13:25:03] Let's take you now live to Northern Israel with CNN's Jeremy Diamond.

Jeremy, what's next as this cease-fire seems to be holding?

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: Well, a lot, Boris.

I mean, this cease-fire, the initial 60 days of it are going to involve a lot of implementation by both parties and monitoring by the international community, as well as the Lebanese military. That's because right now, on day one of this cease-fire, the Israeli military is still very much in Southern Lebanon.

And over the course of the next 60 days, they will indeed withdraw from those front-line villages, which they have been occupying for the better part of the last two months. Hezbollah is also meant to withdraw from some 25 miles of territory north of the Israeli-Lebanon border.

And we're also monitoring as the Lebanese military is itself moving south into those positions previously held by the Israeli military, areas where Hezbollah had previously built strongholds, and they will play a larger role going forward in monitoring any cease-fire violations.

But the real question is how quickly will people return to their homes and will this cease-fire indeed be enduring? In Southern Lebanon, we have already watched as many Lebanese civilians have begun to try and return to their homes or certainly at least beginning to make the journey back south, scenes of jubilation playing out across Southern Lebanon and also in the southern suburbs of Beirut.

In Northern Israel, where we were today along the Lebanese border, it was a very different situation, with people very skeptical of this agreement, believing that this deal will not actually make Northern Israel safer, and many of them still waiting to see whether or not the cease-fire holds before they decide to return to their homes.

Some 60,000 Israeli civilians have been displaced from their homes in Northern Israel -- Boris, Rahel.

SANCHEZ: Jeremy Diamond live for us from Northern Israel.

Thank you so much, Jeremy.

Let's dig deeper on this with former NATO Supreme Allied Commander retired General Wesley Clark.

General, thank you so much for sharing part of your afternoon with us.

Israel has vowed that if Hezbollah breaches this agreement, they would respond immediately. Obviously, this truce was sort of designed around some of the same parameters that we saw that 2006 cease-fire between Hezbollah and Israel that ultimately fractured.

Do you expect that this truce is going to hold for the 60 days?

WESLEY CLARK, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Really depends on what comes next with Iran.

Iran is in a weakened position right now, and Iran is the guiding hand of Hezbollah. So, if Iran is pushed, if it really falters in its hegemonic aspirations, maybe Hezbollah will become just a political party in Lebanon and stay 20 miles north of the Israeli border.

But, right now, based on 50 years of experience, what's going to happen is, Hezbollah is coming back. It'll infiltrate slowly, step by step. The Lebanese army won't be effective in stopping it, because Hezbollah is a powerful force in Lebanon, and the Lebanese army doesn't want a civil war with Hezbollah.

U.N. will be there. They will report on some things, and, ultimately, Israeli forces will have to go back in and clean it up. That's the pattern. So what's going to change that pattern? Only the fact that Iran says enough's enough. We're not going to continue to push on Israel. We will accept the existence of Israel, and let's have peace in the region.

That's what this is going to take to make this cease-fire viable over a period of months and years.

SANCHEZ: We have seen zero indication thus far from Tehran that they are poised to take a new track in that direction diplomatically with Israel.

I'm curious, given your view of Iran's influence on this, how you read the comments yesterday from Prime Minister Netanyahu, who said that, now that war with Hezbollah is coming to at least a pause, part of his focus is going to be on Iran. And, though he refused to get into detail and expand on it, in his words, he did say that he would do anything to prevent Iran from having a nuclear weapon.

What does that tell you not only about the future of Israeli-Iranian relations, but how the incoming Trump administration might influence that relationship?

CLARK: I think the incoming Trump administration is going to be cautious, honestly.

I mean, the pattern of President Trump over his previous time in office was he was not reckless. He does not want to start wars. He likes trade, he likes deals, but not wars. At least, that's been the pattern thus far.

On the other hand, Iran is weak now. Its air defense has been largely destroyed. Russia is obviously going to go in there and try to fix it up. So there's a window of vulnerability here in Iran that wasn't present in the past.