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Trump Names Susie Wiles As White House Chief Of Staff; Advisers: Trump Emboldened By Winning Popular Vote; Russian President Signals Willingness To Talk To Trump; Trump Names Susie Wiles White House Chief of Staff; Latinos in Arizona about Trump's Win; Future U.S. Middle East Policy; Breaking Down New Climate Data; Officials Investigating Cause of Fast-Moving Mountain Fire; Three Face Preliminary Charges in Death of Liam Payne; Roman Holiday: three Coins in the --- Bathtub?. Aired 1-2a ET
Aired November 08, 2024 - 01:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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[01:00:30]
MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: Hello. And welcome everyone. I'm Michael Holmes. Appreciate your company. Coming up here on CNN Newsroom, Donald Trump makes history again, this time with his first appointment in his second administration.
We'll have a look at how Trump's foreign policy may be different during his second term. And why some Latino voters say Trump won them over on the issues they care most about.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Live from Atlanta, this is CNN Newsroom with Michael Holmes.
M. HOLMES: The rush is on for the top jobs in the incoming Trump administration. And according to CNN's Kaitlan Collins, some discussions have morphed into all out battled at his Mar-a-Lago resort. Sources and aides say winning the popular vote has Trump feeling emboldened, believing he now has a mandate from the American people, or most of them, to enact his policies.
Among his top priorities, the mass detention and deportation of migrants. Officials at the Department of Homeland Security is said to be bracing for a seismic shift in immigration policy. Meanwhile, the once and future president has selected his campaign manager, Susie Wiles, as his White House chief of staff. CNN's Kristen Holmes with more on that.
KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN U.S. NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: President-elect Donald Trump on Thursday named his first White House position and potentially the most important one, naming Susie Wiles the chief -- the chief of staff to the White House. She's actually going to be the first female chief of staff in the history of the country. She is somebody who has been loyal to him for years, somebody who served as his co-chair of his campaign and somebody who was really there next to the former president. And when he was -- saw Republicans across the party try to distance themselves from the former president. Now I do want to read you the statement that Donald Trump put out on his naming of Susie Wiles. He said Susie Wiles just helped me achieve one of the greatest political victories in American history and it was an integral part of both my 2016 and 2020 successful campaigns.
President Trump said Susie is tough, smart, innovative and is universally admired and respected. Susie will continue to work tirelessly to make America great again. It is a well-deserved honor to have Susie as the first-ever female chief of staff in United States history. I have no doubt that she will make our country proud.
The one thing to keep in mind about Susie Wiles is that we have learned from sources that she did have some stipulations in taking this job, essentially saying that she wasn't -- she wanted to make sure she had control of the clown car, that they wouldn't have access to the White House at all times. And that is something that we saw in the first administration, that these controversial outside figures who caused problems for Donald Trump had free reign at the White House.
And something Susie did during the campaign was essentially try and stop that kind of chaos around former President Donald Trump. She always had said to sources that she knew she couldn't control candidate Trump. However, she felt she could control some of the people and circumstances around him. This really sets the tone for what the administration is going to look like.
Susie is well respected across the political spectrum. We'll obviously see how the rest of these namings of appointments of putting forward candidates goes in the next several days.
Kristen Holmes, CNN, West Palm Beach, Florida.
M. HOLMES: The current U.S. President Joe Biden, meanwhile preparing to welcome Donald Trump to the White House. He addressed the nation on Thursday trying to ease concerns about the Democratic process that will give Trump his second term. CNN's MJ Lee reports.
MJ LEE, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Over the years, we've heard President Joe Biden frequently use this following line when talking about former President Donald Trump, quote, you can't love your country only when you win. This was always a reference to Donald Trump's refusal to accept his loss in 2020 and questioning the integrity of the American election system.
But on Thursday, when we heard President Biden saying this line in the Rose Garden here at the White House, the audience was clearly not Donald Trump this time, but the millions of Americans across the country disappointed by this week's election results. And the President said, look, I know that a lot of people are feeling disappointed and they're upset.
But despite those feelings being valid, the President said, everybody has to accept the results of this week's election. This is what he said. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Campaigns are contest of competing visions. A country chooses one or the other. We accept the choice the country made. Remember, a defeat does not mean we are defeated. We lost this battle. America of your dreams is calling for you to get back up.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[01:05:20]
LEE: Now over the course of the last few days, we have spoken with a number of Democrats who are fully blaming President Biden for Kamala Harris' defeat to Donald Trump, saying that Democrats would not be in this position had President Biden decided not to seek a second term and really held to his promise initially of being a transition and a bridge president.
There has been anger particularly directed at the President and some of the close advisers around him for having questioned and really not tolerated any kind of criticism or questions about his health and his age. This is what one senior Harris campaign official told me. They said the lack of a competitive process for a replacement, that he didn't allow for that to happen, people are still angry about the shunning that they took for speaking out earlier about him. As Democrats are clearly starting this soul searching process, the President's role in all of this is clearly going to be a big part of that.
MJ Lee, CNN at the White House.
M. HOLMES: I spoke earlier to Ron Brownstein, CNN senior political analyst and senior editor at the Atlantic and asked him how Donald Trump won the election and what he will be looking for during Trump's first few months in office.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: I think pretty clearly what happened in the electorate was that people favored an unpredictable future over what they viewed as an unacceptable present, you know. It wasn't, Michael, as if they did not hear the arguments against Trump. If you look at the exit polls and the vote cast, which is the other survey that's done of voters, you had a majority agree that he was going to steer the country in an authoritarian direction.
You had a majority agree that he was too extreme. A majority opposed mass deportation. A majority, a big majority supported legal abortion. And a majority said government should be doing more to provide people with healthcare. The problem for Democrats was that a significant slice of people in each case who held those views voted for him anyway --
M. HOLMES: Yes. BROWNSTEIN: -- out of the belief that he would improve the economy and he might not do all of those things that they didn't like. Meanwhile, Trump is telling us on day one he is going to start deportation.
M. HOLMES: Yes.
BROWNSTEIN: Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is kind of swaggering around about his influence over federal healthcare agencies. There might be a lot more breaking of windows than even the last few points of voters who voted for Trump expected.
M. HOLMES: Yes, yes. Listen to what he says. I think is the -- is the lesson.
BROWNSTEIN: Yes.
M. HOLMES: And then we'll see what's going to happen. The first time around, and I was just talking about this with -- with a professor, that -- that -- that there were those around him who tempered his worst instincts. That's not going to happen this time. He's bringing the loyalists and the faithful and some say the extremists. Do guardrails still exist to safeguard Democratic and other institutions to -- to stop the worst of what he's promised to do?
BROWNSTEIN: Well, I -- I think they are almost completely eliminated. I mean, on -- on every front. You know, most importantly, this Supreme Court has, with the six Republican appointees have told him that he is essentially immune from criminal prosecution for anything that he does in office. And in doing so, they also sent him a signal that they are probably not going to be reversing him very often on policy.
Obviously you don't have Mitch McConnell and Paul Ryan, who were the Republican leaders when he came in, who were resistant to many of his more extreme ideas. And he doesn't feel in making appointments that he has to make concessions to other power centers in the Republican Party, which -- which resulted in the appointment of some of those folks you mentioned, like John Kelly and Jim Mattis, who resisted many of his more extreme ideas in every possible way.
He comes into office unbound. And -- and I mean, look at it even politically. I mean, he ran his central domestic policy proposal was mass deportation of undocumented migrants. One quarter of Latinos exist, are -- are in mixed status families where at least some portion of the family is undocumented. And yet his vote among Latinos increased notably from 20 to 2024. One quarter of Latinos who said they opposed mass deportation voted for him.
M. HOLMES: Wow.
BROWNSTEIN: He doesn't feel a lot of political constraint either is my point. Not only is there not institutional constraint, there's less political constraint. So in a lot of different ways, we could see a much more aggressive Trump term, especially even right out of the gate.
[01:10:05] M. HOLMES: Yes. And he's not even going to -- and he does -- he -- he doesn't get to run again. So, well, he -- he -- theoretically, he doesn't get to run again. I mean, this is the man --
BROWNSTEIN: Let's -- let's see. Yes. Let's see.
M. HOLMES: -- yes, on the campaign trail. He also said, don't worry, you won't have to vote again if you reelect me. In terms of the presidency, it's changed hands for the third time in eight years now. I think that's the biggest period of White House instability since the 70s. How would you assess the political landscape in the U.S. right now, and where you think it's headed or could be headed over the next four years?
BROWNSTEIN: Yes, I'm so glad you -- you asked that, because we don't talk about it very much. We don't even really think about it very much. But I believe we are living in the longest period in American political history where neither party has been able to establish a durable advantage over the other. It's not only how -- how frequently the White House has been changing hands, the Senate, neither party has controlled the Senate for more than eight consecutive years since 1980. That's never happened in American history.
We've never gone 44 years when neither party has been able to control the Senate for more than eight consecutive years. The last five times a president went into unified control of government, which Republicans might have again after this election, voters revoked it.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
M. HOLMES: Our thanks to senior political analyst, Ron Brownstein, there for his perspective. We were talking to him last hour. And as Ron just discussed, Donald Trump made border security a key centerpiece of his campaign. And on Thursday night, he told "NBC News" that when it comes to his plan to carry out what he describes as the largest deportation effort in American history, there, quote, is no price tag. As our Priscilla Alvarez now reports, Trump allies are already starting to lay the groundwork.
PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Donald Trump has been clear that his first order of business is mass deportation. And now we are learning that quietly behind the scenes, Trump allies and some in the private sector have been preparing for exactly that, essentially detaining and deporting migrants on a large scale.
Now, a key component of that is detention space. Of course, if their federal authorities arrest someone, they would also have to detain them before repatriating them to their home country. And the private sector is involved because the federal government often relies on contractors to manage these detention spaces. And that is part of the quiet preparations that are happening behind the scenes. And they are expected to ramp up in the days and weeks to come.
But current and former officials, I've spoken with say that their -- the challenge here is also the money and the resources. That is why the federal government has not been able to do mass deportations in recent memory, in addition to other concerns, for example, the impact it would have on the economy.
But practically speaking, the amount that it costs to apprehend, detain, process and remove an undocumented immigrant, according to some analysis, is nearly $11,000. That's for one individual. Now, a former official I spoke with said that to do something at a big scale the way that Donald Trump has said he wants to do would cost millions, if not billions of dollars and therefore would be difficult to execute on in addition to the need for example, for more personnel.
Now, the Department of Homeland Security has reprogrammed funds before, essentially moving funds around to try to bolster their immigration enforcement. But again, doing something as big as mass deportation is costly. All the same, though, preparations sources say, are underway to try to execute on this part of the discussion being to focus on those undocumented immigrants who have committed crimes in the U.S.
Another part of the discussion is whether to also include those undocumented immigrants who were brought to the United States as children, known as DREAMers. Now, that segment of the undocumented population has typically had bipartisan support and some are protected, temporarily protected under an Obama-era program. But certainly a lot of discussion underway as to how this first order of business would look like one that Donald Trump has repeatedly talked about and has indicated that he intends on doing.
Priscilla Alvarez, CNN, Washington.
M. HOLMES: Joining me now, Peter Feaver, professor of political science at Duke University. Professor, thanks for being here. When it comes to foreign policy issues, what are America's allies most concerned about under Trump 2.0 after having lived through Trump 1.0?
PETER FEAVER, PROF. OF POLITICAL SCIENCE, DUKE UNIVERSITY: Well, Trump 1.0 was the bell that could not be unrung. And -- and Trump 2.0 is the gray rhino that can't be avoided. Our allies are worried about American disengagement and isolationism, particularly late in the campaign. Trump and the people around him were making pretty naked isolationist appeals to the electorate. And that didn't seem to hurt him, may have even helped him. And so our allies are afraid that that's what they're going to see, an America that turns inward.
[01:15:22]
M. HOLMES: The -- the -- the -- the storied historian and author, Timothy Snyder, said, America's allies hear Donald Trump and they're terrified. And America's historical foes hear him and are delighted. And -- and I was listening to Katrina Burgess, a professor of political economy at Tufts University, and she said, quote, American democracy is no longer perceived as a standard bearer. Would you agree with those takes?
FEAVER: Well, I think that our adversaries definitely see a lot of opportunities. President Trump likes to cut deals. Those deals tend to have sort of short term benefits for the United States at the cost of long term benefits for our allies. I mean, I'm sorry for our adversaries. And -- and so I could well imagine Xi Jinping and Putin putting together deals that would look good in the short run, but actually hurt American interests in the long run.
And -- and they'll see if Trump will go -- go for it. It is interesting that the rest of the world sees this election as a sign of American decline. That's the opposite of the message that President Trump emphasized on the campaign trail. He sold this as a return to American greatness. The rest of the world looks it as a con -- confirmation that America's in decline. And we'll soon find out which is right.
M. HOLMES: We -- we shall. In -- in Trump 1.0, there were those around him to temper his worst instincts most of the time. I mean, you wrote a terrific piece in foreign affairs that people should read about that, about how it's unlikely this time that that will happen. You said, quote, the more extreme factions will have the upper hand and they will press their advantage to ice out more moderate voices. What are the risks there of -- of those that not being this time, if you will, adults in the room when it comes to foreign policy?
FEAVER: Well, it's important to remember Trump has not changed. So he's the same president. He's likely to be the same president in the next term that he was in his first term. But what has changed is the composition of people around him. And in the first term, he had quite a few people who would say to him, boss, are you sure you want to do that? If we do that, then this and this will happen, and that will be adverse. And they talked the president out. They didn't block the president from doing it. But they warned him of consequences and then he had second thoughts.
It's likely that in the second -- in his second term, he's not going to have those kind of truth tellers around him. He's going to have people around him who say, great idea, boss. Let's implement it. And they will not warn him of the negative consequences that could attend. And so that's -- that's the challenge is finding the people who will warn the boss if what he wants to do is a mistake.
M. HOLMES: And playing into all of that, you -- you also wrote in Foreign Affairs that the world is today a far more dangerous place than it was during his first term. How does that play into what the next four years of Trump might bring?
FEAVER: Well, there was more resilience in the international system in his first term. So the pre -- president could have an erratic policy. Consider, for instance, his approach to North Korea, which swung wildly from extreme hawkishness in 2017, his first year, to extreme dovishness. They were embracing and sending love letters in 2018.
And that flip flop was not as disruptive in the first term because there was a certain amount of resilience in the system. We're in a much more dangerous world with the war in Ukraine, a much more assertive China. And so that kind of erratic policy is likely to produce disasters and crises that will be much harder for the president to manage.
M. HOLMES: Yes, unintended consequence. I want to squeeze one more in because when it comes to being ready for the next few years and we talk about allies, the Eur -- the European Union diplomat there told CNN this week. And I'll just read it quick. The -- the feeling is now more than ever that the Union, the European Union, is a respectable lady in her 70's and no longer the fragile little sister of the United States. Do -- do -- do you think European and other allies, perhaps post Trump's first time, reduce their reliance on the U.S. Perhaps even reduce their trust in the U.S.?
FEAVER: I think they will. But whether that will produce positive benefits for European security is doubtful. The -- the historical record is pretty clear. The rest of the world does more when the U.S. joins them and does more, and the rest of the world does not fill a vacuum well, when the U.S. leaves. And Europe is in a very challenging situation of its own -- its own domestic problems, its own economic problems. And so absent American leadership that's effective and leading the right direction, I don't think it augurs well for European security.
[01:20:25]
M. HOLMES: Fascinating analysis. Professor Peter Feaver, thank you so much.
FEAVER: Thank you for having me.
M. HOLMES: Israel's government says Israeli football fans were attacked after a match in Amsterdam late on Thursday. The Israeli government says hundreds of fans of the squad Maccabi Tel Aviv were, quote, ambushed and attacked overnight after a Europa League match against Dutch side Ajax. This is social media video shared by the Israeli embassy to the U.S. That CNN has not been able to verify.
There is also unconfirmed video on social media of the Maccabi fans chanting anti-Arab slogans before the match. Israel's foreign minister says 10 nationals were injured and police arrested about 30 people. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordering two rescue planes to help evacuate those affected.
Coming here -- up here on the program, Vladimir Putin's first public remarks about the U.S. Election and possible talks with Donald Trump.
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M. HOLMES: Some Israelis are celebrating Donald Trump's return to the White House because of what it could mean for Israel's war in Gaza. But for many Palestinians, they say they have no hope for a change or any kind of improvement. CNN's chief global affairs correspondent, Matthew Chance, has our report from Jerusalem.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: On the occasion of Donald Trump's presidency, God bless America. God bless Israel.
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CHIEF GLOBAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Some Israelis are feeling unleash like this soldier in Gaza who the Israeli military says will be disciplined for this. On Israeli T.V., a pro government news show celebrates with song, for anchor toasts the U.S. President-elect. We congratulate Donald Trump. The success of Israel is his success, he says. For many here, it is a new era free of Biden administration restraints on the Jewish state.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think it's good for Israel. Yes, no doubt. It's better than Kamala Harris.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think it's going to be a new era for the world, for the Middle East, for Israel. Things going to be -- things going to change.
CHANCE (voice-over): In Gaza. That change couldn't come quick enough. This, the chaotic aftermath of an Israeli strike on the Nuseirat refugee camp. Israel says it targets Hamas fighters, but the civilian cost continues to climb. Trump has called on Netanyahu to end the conflict quickly. Arguing Israel was losing the PR war. But few Gazans believe a Trump presidency will save them.
[01:25:20]
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If Trump will not be different than Biden. It's the same. Policy, the same mentality.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): I hope he will better and the war will stop and reach a truce. We're already exhausted.
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT-ELECT OF THE UNITED STATES: We had no wars. They said he will start a war. I'm not going to start a war. I'm going to stop wars.
CHANCE (voice-over): And it's that promise to stop war that may prove Trump's biggest challenge, region where conflict shows little sign of easing.
Matthew Chance, CNN, Jerusalem.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
M. HOLMES: Russia's president says a new world order is taking shape. Vladimir Putin claiming the Western-led pro-Cold War era is giving way to a complex world of multilateral cooperation. During a forum in Sochi, President Putin also said he'd be willing to talk to Donald Trump because his comments on the Russia's war in Ukraine, quote, deserve attention. However, the Kremlin downplayed earlier claims by Trump that under his leadership the war could be resolved quickly.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DMITRY PESKOV, KREMLIN SPOKESPERSON: Propose something in order to solve the Ukrainian crisis, even before his inauguration. Of course there was a little bit over exaggeration that you would be able to do it overnight. Certainly there -- there's nothing that can heal this problem overnight.
(END VIDEO CLIP) M. HOLMES: During the forum, President Putin said Russia is willing to work with any head of state who can, quote, garner the trust of the American people. CNN's Fred Pleitgen picks up the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): After launching a massive attack aimed at the heart of Kyiv, Russian leader, Vladimir Putin, praising President-elect Donald Trump.
I would like to take this opportunity to offer my congratulations on his election as President of the United States, Putin says. So you're willing to talk to Trump? The moderator asks. Yes, we're ready, Putin says. Indeed, President-elect Trump seems willing to talk to Putin as well. Legendary journalist Bob Woodward writing in a recent book that the two men have had a number of phone calls up to seven since Trump left office.
Trump reportedly gifting Putin, COVID tests in the early days of the pandemic, when those tests were scarce. And Trump himself has often praised his relations with the Russian president, even siding with Vladimir Putin over the U.S.'s own intelligence services after Russia's interference in the 2016 presidential election.
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT-ELECT: My people came to me. Dan Coats came to me and some others. They said they think it's Russia. I have President Putin. He just said it's not Russia. I will say this. I don't see any reason why it would be?
PLEITGEN (voice-over): As Russia continues its full on invasion of Ukraine, gaining ground especially on the eastern front, the President-elect still saying he'd be able to end the war fast.
TRUMP: They're dying, Russians and Ukrainians. I wanted to stop dying. And I'll have that done -- I'll have that done in 24 hours.
If we had a real president, the president that knew that was respected by Putin, he would have never -- he would have never invaded Ukraine.
PLEITGEN (voice-over): But the Ukrainians fear Trump might cut off military aid to Ukraine altogether, forcing the country into a de facto surrender and loss of territory.
TRUMP: Every time Zelenskyy comes to the United States, he walks away with $100 billion. I think he's the greatest salesman on earth. But we're stuck in that war unless I'm president.
PLEITGEN (voice-over): And when pressed to answer whether he even wants Ukraine to win the war, Trump simply won't say.
TRUMP: I want the war to stop. I want to save lives.
PLEITGEN (voice-over): Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Berlin.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
[01:29:15]
M. HOLMES: When we come back on the program, we'll take a closer look at some Latino voters supporting Donald Trump despite his anti- immigration rhetoric. We'll be right back.
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[01:31:49]
MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM with me Michael Holmes.
Well, Donald Trump has made his first big staffing announcement. His campaign manager Susie Wiles will serve as his White House chief of staff, the first woman to ever serve in that position.
A source says Wiles had some conditions for taking the job, including control over access to Trump in the Oval Office, saying she wanted to keep what she called the clown car from coming into the White House at will.
Brian Todd reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT-ELECT OF THE UNITED STATES: I love loyalty.
BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Donald Trump's first pick for his new administration is a testament to his value of true loyalty.
TRUMP: Susie likes to stay in the background. She's not in the background.
TODD: Susie Wiles, Trump's co-campaign manager for 2024 who's just been named White House chief of staff, is called, quote, "tough, smart and innovative" by her boss and has been praised for running an efficient campaign.
LARRY SABATO, DIRECTOR, CENTER FOR POLITICS, UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA: You want somebody ideally who knows you, who understands you, who can give you good advice but who can also implement well, who can carry out directions. And she seems to be that type of person.
TODD: A source says wiles told Trump she would only take the job if she could have more control over who could reach him in the Oval Office.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hello everybody. Hello.
TODD: As for the public face of the Trump administration, Karoline Leavitt who was Trump's campaign spokeswoman, is said to be in strong consideration for the significant job of White House press secretary.
For the position of attorney general, one of the most sensitive, important jobs in any administration and one that Trump might use to go after his enemies, a name being floated is Ken Paxton, Texas' attorney general.
SABATO: I'd like to open a betting pool as to how many days, not weeks, months or years it will take for Ken Paxton to start doing very controversial things that even Trump won't like.
TODD: Like Trump, Paxton has been both indicted and impeached. Paxton was acquitted by the Texas State Senate for alleged retribution against whistleblowers, interference in federal investigations, and inappropriate favors done for donors.
For secretary of state, a key national security position, Trump's reportedly thinking of Florida Senator Marco Rubio who's hawkish toward China and was a finalist to be Trump's running mate.
SABATO: I think most people think that would be a responsible choice. It would be somebody who does know international relations, who has been around these issues now ever since he got into the Senate.
TODD: But what to do with Robert Kennedy Jr.? Trump's promised him a top public health position, but Trump advisers tell CNN Kennedy's already caused headaches for the Trump team. Like an interview he did with MSNBC just hours after Trump's victory speech.
ROBERT KENNEDY JR., FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Their entire departments, like the nutrition departments at FDA that are -- that have to go.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: RFK Jr., if he has the presidents ear, could put in place anti-vaxxers, anti-fluoride people above scientists.
[01:34:44]
TODD: CNN is reporting that inside Trump's camp, questions have been raised about whether Robert Kennedy Jr. could get confirmed or could get a security clearance if Trump wants to tap him for a cabinet level position. And some doubt whether Kennedy would want to go through those processes.
One former Trump official briefed on the discussions tells CNN, if you dump a bear in Central Park and you think you're above the law, you don't want to go through that gauntlet.
Brian Todd, CNN -- Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: Latinos embraced Donald Trump at the ballot box despite his anti-immigrant rhetoric and campaign promises of mass deportation.
CNN's Ed Lavandera spoke with Latino and immigrant voters in Arizona about why they support the president-elect.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ED LAVANDERA, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: In 2016, this happened at a Donald Trump rally in Arizona. TRUMP: Look at that sign. Latinos support Trump.
I love you. I love you.
LAVANDERA: Next thing Betty Rivas knew, she was on stage with the future president.
TRUMP: I love her. I've fallen in love. Melania, I've fallen in love with her.
LAVANDERA: Eight years later, Rivas remains fully enamored with the president-elect
Betty Rivas told us she felt a connection with Trump on that stage when they looked into each other's eyes. Betty and her husband, Jorge, owned Sammy's Mexican Grill near Tucson. In this temple to Trump, they serve tacos and enchiladas and the popular MAGA burger.
If someone were to come up to you and say, you're a Latino immigrant, how can you support Donald Trump?
JORGE RIVAS, TRUMP-THEMED RESTAURANT OWNER: I will tell him that the man loves this country.
LAVANDERA: He says Trump speaks about the things he cares about -- faith, family and the economy.
RIVAS: I know he's not perfect. I know he is not like the pope. We believe in, you know, teaching our kids about God, our Christian values, family values. And the Democratic Party is embracing all the woke left-leaning ideas that it doesn't go with our values.
LAVANDERA: I think there's going to be a lot of people who have a hard time hearing you say, I like Trump because of family values.
RIVAS: I don't go by his lifestyle. I don't go by what he has done.
LAVANDERA: Do you think it's the Democrats pushing Latinos to Trump, or is it Trump bringing in Latinos?
RIVAS: I think more Democrats are pushing Latinos to Trump.
LAVANDERA: Tony Arias and Idelfonso Armenta are the hosts of a radio show called Los Chavorrucos which loosely translates to "Young Geezers" on La Campesina Radio Network, which airs in five states.
They take dozens of calls a day on a radio station founded by the iconic labor organizer Cesar Chavez. And they've sensed Trump winning over Latinos in the last few years.
"Democrats do not impress people," said the caller. "Donald Trump spoke well and stole their hearts."
Another caller said "I fought with my oldest son. He told me Trump is better than Kamala. I said, I cannot accept that."
Are you seeing that it's a generational divide.
TONY ARIAS, RADIO HOST: I see a lot of young people voting for Trump because they're thinking about the economy.
RAQUEL TERAN, FORMER DEMOCRATIC LEGISLATOR IN ARIZONA: We need to do a better job of engaging our community.
LAVANDERA: Raquel Teran is a former Democratic legislator in Arizona. She recently ran for Congress and spent months knocking on doors trying to turn out Latino voters.
TERAN: What they're hearing from Trump is that there's going to be a better economy under his administration.
LAVANDERA: The night after Donald Trump won re-election Jorge Rivas told us about their path to becoming U.S. citizens. He was born in El Salvador, granted asylum in the U.S. at age 17.
Betty immigrated from Mexico. Now she thinks many migrants are lying and trying to take advantage of the asylum process. They want the immigration crisis fixed.
RIVAS: If they let in hundreds or thousands of people who already have criminal records, if deporting them creates a mass deportation, I'm all for it.
LAVANDERA: But what if rounded up in all of that are people who work on a farm doing the jobs that Americans don't want to do? Does that -- does that worry you?
RIVAS: That wouldn't be fair. Of course you know they need to make sure that they don't throw away, they don't kick out. They don't deport people that are -- that are family oriented.
LAVANDERA: The question that persists is why Donald Trump's history of offensive comments hasn't fully turned off Latino voters. Some pointed out to us that younger Latino voters in particular don't know much about Trump, that they simply see him as a celebrity businessman.
And others also pointed out that many Latino immigrants come from countries with truly dangerous and evil political leaders, and they view Trump as much more harmless.
Ed Lavandera, CNN -- Phoenix.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: In the Middle East, Trump's victory was met with praise from Israel and some gulf states but a dismissal from Iran.
Earlier, CNN's Becky Anderson spoke with former Trump adviser Brian Hook. Sources say he's expected to lead the transition team at the U.S. State Department. And she pressed him to spell out how Trump will deal with the region.
[01:39:48] (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BECKY ANDERSON, CNN ANCHOR: Let's talk about policy on the Middle East, very specifically then because this is a different place to a degree than it was back in 2020, when you were successful in bringing about the Abraham Accords with four Arab states and were looking towards normalization with the key sort of trophy, as it were, Saudi Arabia.
Since then, of course, we have had the conflict roiling since the terror attack on Israel back on October the 7th; two wars raging in region -- one on Gaza, one in Lebanon; attacks between Israel and Iran; and a gulf which frankly, is getting extremely tired with conflict, wants to see de-escalation, economic integration and to move on from this cycle of wars, conflict this cycle of containment.
So what is Donald Trump's policy on the Middle East? Can you be clear at this point?
All we've heard at this point is there won't be any wars. There will be peace in the Middle East. That sounds very basic to many people here. So what is his policy?
BRIAN HOOK, FORMER U.S. ASSISTAN SECRETARY OF STATE: Becky, everything that you just described about today's Middle East, you could have said in 2020 when President Trump came into office.
You had a terrorist caliphate in the heart of the Middle East. You had our gulf partners feeling betrayed by the Iran nuclear deal and you had increased attacks by Iranian proxies.
President Trump came to the Middle East in Riyadh at that Arab Muslim summit. 55 nations were there, and he laid out a very coherent strategy for how we are going to focus on shared interests.
We're going to combat ideologies that are killing, not only American troops in the region, but also citizens of Arab and Muslim nations. And we're going to do that in the spirit of friendship and partnership.
And so over the course of those four years, he executed against that strategy, defeated ISIS, put Iran in a political financial crisis, deepened his ties with Israel, deepened his ties with our gulf partners, got out of the Iran nuclear deal and did four peace treaties in five months.
I would be very happy to put President Trump's record in the Middle East against any other president.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Hook also said Trump's first foreign policy trip as a president was to the Middle East in 2017, and he still has close ties with leaders in the region.
Quick break here. When we come back, new data showing the world is smashing through the global warming thresholds of the Paris Climate Agreement, just as the U.S. reelects the climate denier-in-chief. We'll break down what that might mean.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[01:44:49]
HOLMES: Climate scientists say new data confirms 2024 will be the hottest year on record, and it will be the first calendar year to surpass the warming threshold that scientists said would prevent the worsening impacts of severe heat waves, droughts and rising sea levels. This news coming as the U.S. reelects Donald Trump, a noted climate denier.
More now from CNN's Bill Weir.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BILL WEIR, CNN CHIEF CLIMATE CORRESPONDENT: This new data just in from the Copernicus European Space Agency. The weather agency says that 2024 is virtually certain to be the first year to smash past the 1.5 degrees Celsius goal that was set in the Paris Climate Accords. Anything beyond 1.5, the worry was back then that humanity would not be able to adapt in time.
Well, here we are. We're at 1.5. We certainly covered all the breaking months, but now it would add up to this. We'll expect confirmation from the U.S. NOAA and NASA space agencies in a few weeks.
But the irony of this happening right after the United States elects the most notorious climate denier in modern history in Donald Trump, is a double blow to those climate diplomats who are meeting in Azerbaijan for COP29 next week.
It's a blow for climate scientists, earth scientists, activists, entrepreneurs in the United States who were riding this new clean energy wave since the Inflation Reduction passed a couple of years ago under Joe Biden.
Hundreds of millions of dollars even private dollars have followed this funding, many of it into Republican states. About 80 percent of the IRA money has broken ground in Republican districts.
The hope was that the public would then come to appreciate that and congressmen would fight to defend them.
We'll see if Donald Trump intends to claw any of that back. He has promised to roll back as much of the Biden new rules on power plants and tailpipe emissions on those clean energy incentives for families to buy electric vehicles or heat pumps for their homes.
With a total control of the House and Senate, that would be much easier for him to do. But the energy transformation, the trajectory is already very much in play around the world. And it's just way more expensive to run a fossil fuel power plant these days; sun and wind with storage is a cheaper option. So that will create some interesting politics as Trump tries to dismantle as much as he can of the Joe Biden environmental legacy.
Bill Weir, CNN -- New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: Now, one of the byproducts of the climate crisis, longer and more dangerous fire seasons like what's happening right now in California.
Fire officials say they're still trying to determine what caused the so-called Mountain Fire that's raging out of control near Los Angeles.
More now from CNN's Nick Watt.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NICK WATT, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Millions of Californians facing extreme and life-threatening fire behavior. At the Mountain Fire just northwest of L.A., nearly 20,000 acres burned, more than 14,000 people under evacuation orders, schools closed, a major highway closed, still no count on just how many homes have been lost.
Another blaze burning in Malibu, firefighters have somehow kept that contained. Power intentionally cut to nearly 70,000 customers for fear of sparking even more blazes in bone-dry vegetation.
RICHARD GALANTE, LOST HOME IN MOUNTAIN FIRE: You can't even pick it up.
WATT: Richard Galante smelled smoke when he woke up Wednesday.
GALANTE: The wind was so fierce. It was unbelievable. I lived here all my life and we're always used to winds, but lately, last five years --
WATT: It got worse.
GALANTE: It got worse.
WATT: By lunch time, his house was gone.
GALANTE: There was no getting anything. My wife got one handbag. She doesn't have any shoes.
WATT: We were around here yesterday when wind-whipped flames ripped through this neighborhood.
This is not a backcountry wildfire. We are in a city right now, the city of Camarillo, population around 70,000. These firefighters right now are trying to contain this blaze.
This is a satellite image of the fire within an hour of ignition and this a time lapse showing how fast the blaze spread, scorching a football field's worth of land every three or four seconds for seven hours. Embers on the wind can burn one house to the ground, while others
around sit untouched. On his street, Richard Galante just happened to be the unlucky one.
Are you going to try to rebuild here?
GALANTE: I am going to rebuild.
WATT: You are?
GALANTE: Where the (EXPLETIVE DELETED) am I going to go? Where am I going to -- the view's incredible. I knew it would happen someday. We pay for certain things. Unbelievable.
[01:49:53]
WATT: These fires are exceptionally hard to fight because of the wind. So embers can travel three miles on that wind, land and set another blaze.
There are other neighborhoods like this where look, I mean the wall of flames just barreled through here, destroying everything on this side of the street.
There are ten teams out right now, trying to figure out just how many homes have been lost. The wind has dropped, the wind will drop over the weekend.
The problem, the Santa Ana winds are forecast to pick up again at the beginning of next week. The people are anxious here and elsewhere in southern California that there may be more of this to come.
Nick Watt, CNN -- Camarillo, California.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: Investigators in Argentina have laid preliminary charges in connection with the tragic death of pop star Liam Payne. That story after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Three people are facing preliminary but so far not formal charges in the death of the singer, Liam Payne. They're being investigated for abandonment before death and supplying narcotics.
CNN's Julia Vargas Jones with the details.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JULIA VARGAS JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: A hotel employee, a suspected drug dealer and a person authorities describe as having spent time with Liam Payne on a daily basis during his visit to Buenos Aires are all facing these preliminary charges in relation to his death on October 16 after he fell from the third floor of a hotel in Buenos Aires. That first individual is being charged with abandonment of a person
before a death, and the supply and facilitation of narcotics. That is punishable to up to 15 years in prison. Other charges include supplying cocaine and supplying narcotics.
Now Liam Payne, authorities say, was found with both alcohol, antidepressants, and a significant amount of cocaine in his system after that fall that led to his death.
They say that they've reviewed over 800 hours of video and also looked over his cell phone that went through a forensic extraction. They analyzed calls, text messages and posts on social media that he then made in the days leading up to his death.
They also said that they ruled out self-inflicted injuries or the intervention of other people, which paints a picture that, despite the company of these other people who were now preliminarily charged that he was alone at the time of his fall.
They say also that the injuries were compatible with those that would come from a fall. So he wasn't injured before he fell and also that based on his posture and the positioning of his body, that it looks like he was already in a state of semi or total unconsciousness by the time that he fell.
Of course his death has caused so much grief to fans of one direction and of his solo career. Across the world, we saw an outpouring of love from fans in Argentina. His father had traveled to Buenos Aires to retrieve his body, which should arrive in the U.K. soon. And more details are to come on a possible funeral.
Julia Vargas Jones, CNN -- Los Angeles.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: Now a slice of the cake served at the 1947 wedding of Britain's Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip has just been sold at auction.
[01:54:51]
HOLMES: The very rare 77-year-old slice, which is, well, probably not edible -- you wouldn't want to try, would you? It went for $2,800 this week, neatly packaged in a small box which kept it safe.
The Queen sent the slice as a gift, along with a letter from Buckingham Palace to a housekeeper in Scotland. The royal couple's wedding cake was almost 3 meters or 9 feet tall and weighed 500 pounds.
Now one of Rome's most cherished landmarks will forever be linked of course with that song, "Three Coins in a Fountain" and the movie about women seeking love by making a wish.
But now the Trevi Fountain is getting a makeover and mixed reactions from tourists. CNN's Barbie Latza Nadeau reports from the Eternal City.
BARBIE LATZA NADEAU, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: The Trevi Fountain here in Central Rome normally conjures up images of romance, couples throwing coins in the fountain for luck and love.
But lately, it looks more like a breakup zone. The city is refurbishing this 18th century baroque masterpiece so they've set up what has been described as a swimming pool or bathtub to collect the coins. But as you can see, it's not as easy as it looks.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well we're a little disappointed. We've come all this way, but it's just to get into the vibe of everything. It's good. It's good.
NADEAU: Legend says that if you throw one coin over your shoulder into the fountain, you'll come back to the Eternal City. Two coins means you'll fall in love with an attractive Italian. And three coins ensure you'll marry them.
No one knows what it means when you miss the water altogether.
The bathtub will be here until the 300,000-euro renovation is done and the real Trevi fountain is filled with water once more.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're disappointed. We love it anyway. I don't think we'll come back another time on this trip. But we'll probably come back another time maybe after the big jubilee in 2025, when everything's not under construction.
NADEAU: Until then tourists can only hope they get lucky.
Barbie Latza Nadeau, CNN -- Rome.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: Well thanks for watching and spending part of your day with me.
I'm Michael Holmes.
CNN NEWSROOM continues with my friend and colleague, Kim Brunhuber after a short break.
He's right there.
[01:57:08]
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