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Donald Trump Ready for His Second Term; Democrats Blaming Biden After Trump Wins; Putin Praising Trump's Second Win at the Presidency; Israeli Football Team Attacked in Amsterdam; Federal Reserve Lowers Interest Rates; NBC News: Trump Says "No Price Tag" On His Mass Deportation Plan; Israeli Strike On Gaza City Refugee Shelter; California's Fast-Moving Mountain Fire. Aired 2-3a ET
Aired November 08, 2024 - 02:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[02:00:00]
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KIM BRUNHUBER, CNN HOST: Well, welcome to all you watching us around the world. I'm Kim Brunhuber. This is "CNN Newsroom." Donald Trump ready to take on the presidency from Joe Biden, begins his transition process for his second term.
Another interest rate cut boosts U.S. markets, but economists warn a second Trump presidency won't ease rising prices.
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And powerful winds fuel destructive wildfires in Southern California scorching dozens of homes from their path.
We begin here in the U.S. where we can finally project Donald Trump will win the battleground state of Nevada. Now that, of course, doesn't change the election outcome as Trump is reportedly reveling in his victory, feeling emboldened by winning the popular vote. Sources and aides tell CNN Trump feels he now has a mandate that most Americans want his policies.
Meanwhile, 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 battles at his Mar-a-Lago resort. Other sources say Trump wants a staff that's competent but loyal.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, JR. DONALD TRUMP'S SON: I'm gonna be heavily involved on the transition. I want to make sure now that we know who the real players are, the people who will actually deliver on the president's message, the people who don't think, that they know better than the duly elected president of the United States.
(END VIDEO CLIP) BRUNHUBER: Now first and perhaps most important of those jobs has already been decided. Trump has named his campaign co-chair, Susie Wiles, as White House chief of staff. The president-elect thanked her during his victory speech early Wednesday.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT-ELECT: Let me also express my tremendous appreciation for Susie and Chris, the job you did. Susie. Come, Susie. Come here. Come here, Susie. Chris. Come here, Chris. Susie likes to stay sort of in the back, let me tell you. The ice maiden. We call her the ice maiden.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER: More now from CNN's Kristen Holmes.
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 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 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 cause 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, appointments, of putting forward candidates goes in the next several days. Kristen Holmes, CNN, West Palm Beach, Florida.
BRUNHUBER: Now the current U.S. president, Joe Biden, is trying to calm fears about the democratic process as he prepares for a visit from president-elect Trump. The pair expected to have lunch at the White House very shortly, according to Trump. Biden addressed the nation from the Rose Garden on Thursday, saying Americans must accept the choice the country has made in the election. Here he is.
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JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: I've said many times, you can't love your country only when you win. I also hope we can lay to rest the question about the integrity of the American electoral system. It is honest, it is fair, and it is transparent.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER: More now from CNN's MJ Lee.
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 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.
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BIDEN: Campaigns are contest of competing visions. The 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. The America of your dreams is calling for you to get back up.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
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's 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.
BRUNHUBER: Now many Democrats are struggling to understand why they lost so badly in Tuesday's election and many are, as we heard, pointing the finger at President Biden's decision to run for re- election. Take a listen to CNN's senior political commentator Van Jones and former presidential candidate Andrew Yang.
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VAN JONES, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: They spent a billion dollars and elected Donald Trump. That's not a blame game. That's called accountability. And the people at the top of the campaign, at the top of the party have a lot of people pissed off at them because there were people who had suggestions. There were people who were saying, why are we doing this? Why this? It was like, hey, we've got it, we've got it, we've got it.
We've got this special, magical computer formulation. We've tested every ad. Shut up and sit down and go back to work. And so people say, okay. Well, yeah, I guess you're right. And then we got clobbered, clocked, knocked down, beat up, drugged down. And so people are mad, and they should be mad. And the people at the top are gonna have to listen. There is a grassroots rebellion happening in this in this party, and it's coming to knock on the door the people who were in charge of the party. That's not blame game. That's accountability.
ERIN BURNETT, CNN ANCHOR, ERIN BURNETT OUTFRONT: Accountability. I mean, and you know, I know you're -- for a billion dollars.
JONES: A billion dollars --
BURNETT: And I believe they technically, you know, blew a few $100 million of that in the recent weeks, Andrew Yang, and now ended up technically maybe in debt, and -- a little bit? They did door knocking. They did traditional ads, but you heard what Van saying. They weren't listening to other ideas that people maybe like Van had.
JONES: For instance.
BURNETT: For instance.
ANDREW YANG, FORMER U.S. DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Yeah. Well, I mean, there should be accountability, and Joe Biden should not have run for a second term. There should have been a competitive primary in January. He should have dropped out in January and not July. And by the way, J.B. Pritzker, Gavin Newsom, they should have challenged him in January.
We all know that they had campaigns in waiting, but instead everyone said, oh, Joe's gonna be fine. Joe's gonna be fine. He has a disastrous debate against Donald Trump, and then he drops out in July, and then everything is under the gun and in hurry up mode. The party lost a crucial period where they could have introduced the next generation of leaders to the American people, vetted and chosen a ticket that could have taken the fight to Donald Trump instead of Joe Biden fumbling the ball to Kamala down the stretch.
BURNETT: Look at this full screen.
JONES: Yeah, I did.
BURNETT: Harris lost 3,339,004 votes.
JONES: Yes.
BURNETT: That's what stands out there.
JONES: Well, you know, Bakari Sellers said over and over again, it's either Kamala Harris or Donald Trump or the couch.
[02:09:59]
And Bakari was always worried about the couch, people just not feeling inspired enough to go out and vote. He wasn't worried that people were gonna not vote for Kamala and go vote for Trump. He was afraid they weren't gonna vote at all.
And here's how we got beat. We got beat because the Republicans and conservatives built a different media system that had to do with online, had to do with podcasts, had to do with streaming platforms, and they were spending their money there. We were laughing at them and knocking on doors in Philadelphia and Detroit. I was like, there's no Trump people. They're not dropping literature. They're not dropping -- knocking on doors. Ha, ha, ha.
BURNETT: Well, in fact, it was -- it was laughing, like, oh, Elon Musk and Charlie Kirk --
JONES: Yeah. We were --
BURNETT: -- with their PACs, don't know what they're doing. They're wrong. In fact --
JONES: We were making -- we were making fun of Donald Trump for having thrown away his ground game and doing some weird stuff online. We thought that they were idiots. It turned out we were the idiots. We woke up in a body bag because while we were knocking on doors, they were making these phones into 24-hour a day political weapon for themselves. And so we got outflanked, outplayed, out-beat by people who told us the whole time that they knew what they were doing, and people are mad.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BRUNHUBER: So with the presidency and Senate now in Republican hands, all eyes are on the House races that have yet to be called. So as, of the latest count, Republicans will have 212 seats in the new Congress. Democrats will have 200. Two hundred eighteen seats are needed for a majority.
Vladimir Putin is among the latest leaders to applaud Donald Trump on his return to power. The Russian president said Trump's desire to rebuild relations with Russia to help end the war in Ukraine, quote, "deserves tension." CNN's Frederik Pleitgen has the details.
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FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: 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.
TRUMP: 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: 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 want them 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: 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 Zelensky comes to the United States, he walks away with a $100 billion. I think he's the greatest salesman on earth, but we're stuck in that war unless I'm president.
PLEITGEN: 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: Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Berlin.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BRUNHUBER: Global Affairs analyst Michael Bociurkiw is a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council and a former spokesperson for the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. Thank you so much for joining us here again. So you're in Kyiv, as if on cue right after Trump's win, there were -- all those drone attacks in your city. I just want to play the early morning sound that you sent us from where you were. Here it is.
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So with Trump's victory, what is the mood there in Ukraine?
MICHAEL BOCIURKIW, FORMER SPOKESPERSON, ORGANIZATION FOR SECURITY AND COOPERATION IN EUROPE: Sure. Good to be with you, Kim. Well, yeah, those chilling sounds are very reflective of how a lot of Ukrainians feel right now. They're scared. They're anxious. And if there was any, hope that peace would miraculously emerge after the announcement of Donald Trump becoming president, again, well that has vanished. In fact, I think it's becoming more violent. Many, injured and dead across Ukraine in the past few hours and we're under an alert right now.
[02:14:56]
So, most of the Ukrainians I've spoken to over the past weeks have basically shrugged their shoulders when I asked them what do you think? Is Biden or Trump better for Ukraine? I think what they feel is that unless Mr. Putin is pushed back, unless there's a huge show of strength, to stop his territorial adventurism, nothing much is going to change here.
BRUNHUBER: Yeah. It seems, maybe surprising given all that Trump has said about cutting aid, as well as his pro-Kremlin attitudes, but we've been told many and Ukraine actually welcomed Trump winning. Why might that be?
BOCIURKIW: Well, I think they remember that Mr. Trump, who followed Mr. Obama into the White House, was the one who approved Javelin missiles to Ukraine, and that make it a big, big, big difference, at the start of the war, and, also, he imposed sanctions on Russia. So, that eventually followed with the Biden administration drip feed approach of -- into Ukraine.
But I think what you're seeing right now, for example, European leaders are meeting in Budapest right now. Mr. Zelensky is there. The European leaders huddling and saying we have to be prepared to defend Ukraine ourselves. We have to step up our defense production, source from others, but all the signals point to United States not wanting to be the main supporter of Ukraine or the world's policeman for that matter. BRUNHUBER: Alright. So as we heard in that report, Trump has boasted
about getting a deal done in 24 hours. Obviously, Moscow, poured cold water on that idea. But what do you do you expect Trump to do to try to get a deal done? What might it involve and how much leverage might he have on Ukraine to force them to accept a deal that might be tilted perhaps in Russia's favor?
BOCIURKIW: Yeah. If it goes the way, J.D. Vance has described it where Russia gets to hold on to territory it's already seized, a demilitarized zone, and Ukraine not going into NATO, that will never float here anywhere in Ukraine. I think a couple of things happening on the sidelines.
As you know, Saudi Arabia is taking a much bigger role in the region, in the war in Ukraine. They're expected, actually, to hold a peace summit, the next peace summit in Saudi Arabia, for the first time with Russia and China and Ukraine there. So that could yield results, in whatever happens in Washington.
The other, Kim, the other thing that gives me a bit of hope is, believe it or not, there are still a few grown-ups left in the room that Mr. Trump could tap and I'm thinking of people like Mike Pompeo, the former CIA director, former Secretary of State, former U.S. ambassador to NATO under George W., Mike -- sorry, Kurt Volker, and Richard Grenell, former US ambassador to Germany and a former Fox News contributor.
So if you have, people like that advising him, maybe it'll bring a sense of sobriety and that, you know -- they will hopefully, hopefully convince him that if Mr. Putin is not pushed back, he will go further into Europe. It will become more expensive and eventually that will trickle down to the pocketbooks of average Americans.
BRUNHUBER: Yeah. We'll see with those appointments. Certainly, Trump, prizes loyalty above perhaps being challenged or hearing opposing viewpoints. But, turning to Russia, Putin has said that Trump's win could hail, in his words, a new world order and could mean the end of unipolarity. Presumably, he's celebrating the win. So, specifically, what could it mean, do you think, for his war on Ukraine?
BOCIURKIW: Yeah. Well, I think in the wider picture what we're seeing is an axis of autocrats really forming, increasing, solidifying autocrats meaning in Russia, Iran, North Korea, and China. I think, however, is, China is the senior partner in the room. We saw that, for example, the BRICS summit calling the shots this year and last year.
And I do think that if Chinese pragmatism is allowed to enter into this story, they're very, very keen to tap Ukrainian natural resources, to resume trade with Ukraine, and they do have a lot of sway over, Mr.
Putin. I have always said if Mr. Xi Jinping called Mr. Putin today or tomorrow and said end the war in Ukraine, it will happen.
So, hopefully, with the geopolitical kind of landscape shifting right now, it's not only going to be to a Mr. Trump to decide what goes on, but Trump, again, has to show that America is strong because blurred lines are the worst thing that you could present to a dictator, when it comes to Putin in Ukraine or Xi Jinping in in Taiwan.
BRUNHUBER: Yeah. We'll end on that note. Always appreciate getting your analysis. Michael Bociurkiw, thank you so much for joining us. Really appreciate it.
BOCIURKIW: My pleasure.
BRUNHUBER: Authorities say Israeli football fans were attacked after a match in Amsterdam late Thursday.
[02:19:58]
Israeli officials say fans of the squad, Maccabi Tel Aviv, were, quote, "ambushed and attacked overnight after Europa League match against Dutch side Ajax." Now this is social media video shared by the Israeli embassy to the U.S. that CNN hasn't been able to verify.
The Dutch prime minister says he's in touch with Israeli authorities and that the perpetrators will be tracked down and prosecuted. Local tensions have been rising in the lead up to the match. Unconfirmed social media videos show Maccabi fans chanting slogans about the conflict in the Middle East.
Now CNN hasn't been able to verify these videos. Israel's foreign minister says 10 nationals were injured. Police detained 57 people after the game. Two rescue planes have been ordered to help evacuate those affected.
All right, after the break, the U.S. Federal Reserve issues another interest rate cut with -- while its leader defends its position days after Trump's reelection. We'll have more on that next.
Plus, Donald Trump made border security the focal point of his campaign. Now his allies are quietly laying the groundwork for a mass deportation of illegal migrants. So I'll have details on that coming up. Please stay with us.
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BRUNHUBER: U.S. markets are enjoying strong numbers after another decision by the U.S. Federal Reserve. The Fed is now cutting interest rates by a quarter of a percentage point, putting the mean rate between 4.5 and 4.75 percent. Those comes as the Federal Reserve chair says he will serve the rest of his term even if the president-elect has other plans. CNN's Julia Chatterley has more.
JULIA CHATTERLEY, CNN ANCHOR, FIRST MOVE: Good news for American borrowers once again. As expected, the Federal Reserve unanimously deciding to reduce interest rates by a quarter of a percentage point. That was the easy part of today. The harder part was the press conference and the questions that the Fed chief was asked about the impact of the president-elect and what his future policies would look like. And he made his response pretty clear and I can give it to you here.
He said, "I'm not going to talk about anything that relates directly or indirectly to the election. Non-political power we'll call him but of course this is gonna be the challenge going forward because the rate path of future cuts got more uncertain. At its worst, if we do see huge limits to immigration, if we see a blanket wave of global tariffs, the expectation is that could weaken growth, it could also raise prices for American consumers.
The consensus among economists is it could raise inflation by around 1 percentage point in 2025. That will slow the Federal Reserve down and we're already seeing the market adjusting to that in some way, but I reiterate again, Jay Powell not touching that with a barge poll today.
[02:24:57]
What he did decide to focus on was a solid economy, that they do appear to have engineered this soft landing, raising interest rates without creating a recession. And they're bringing inflation very close to target now and they have more room to cut. The question is how much and when they can do it and that remains an open question. The other thing is will he remain in the seat as Fed chair? He was asked that question. Listen to this.
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UNKNOWN: Some of the president's-elect advisers have suggested that you should resign. If he asked you to leave, would you go?
JEROME POWELL, CHAIR, FEDERAL RESERVE: No.
UNKNOWN: Can you follow-up on -- is it -- do you think that legally he did -- you're not required to leave?
POWELL: No.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHATERLEY: Not pulling his punches. It is a legal gray area. I will say that, and they did have a really contentious relationship in the first iteration of the Trump administration. But the irony this time around, of course, is that they're kind of on the same team. The former president, the president-elect wants to see interest rates lower and that's what the Fed chair in the Federal Reserve are trying to do. They're trying to cut rates.
And one of the real big issues that could interfere with that is the future president's policies like tariffs, for example, like tax cuts too and potential immigration limits. So I'll say it, ball in your court, Mr. President-elect. Back to you.
BRUNHUBER: And joining us now from San Francisco is Eric Swanson. He's an economics professor at the University of California Irvine. Thank you so much for being here with us. So, a second smaller rate cuts, from what I was reading, you're against it. Why is that? ERIC SWANSON, PROFESSOR OF ECONOMICS, UC IRVINE: I'm not strongly
opposed to it, but I do -- I was a little surprised. The economy has generally been moderately strong. The recent monthly inflation numbers have not been very low. These are normally things where the Fed would hold off on cutting rates, you know, with the strong economy and inflation, still being above the Fed's target.
The stock market's booming, with the new, you know, with the new Republican control of Congress and the presidency, there's likely to be a lot of fiscal stimulus early next year. All these things argue that, the economy is gonna be pretty strong next year and you wouldn't normally be cutting rates into that kind of an environment.
BRUNHUBER: All right. So speaking of the presidency, Donald Trump, president-elect, was very critical of the Fed. He has called it, the enemy. It's independent but we know that Donald Trump wants more of a say, so what could he do actually?
SWANSON: Well, by himself, there's not a lot he can do. I mean, the law about the Federal Reserve is the Federal Reserve Act, that specifies pretty clearly that the Fed is independent from presidential and treasury secretary control.
But he can -- he could -- the main thing he can do is appoint the next Fed chair. The next Fed chair, their term will begin in January 2026. If he's able to appoint and get confirmed somebody who's very close to him, then he would have more, informal say, over the Fed's decision making through the next Fed chair.
BRUNHUBER: And now the current Fed chair, Jerome Powell, as we've heard in that report, clashed with Trump during their -- during his first term. Powell said he wouldn't go if Trump asked him to resign, that Trump can't fire him. I mean, do you think we'll be headed for a showdown here?
SWANSON: I don't think so. I think there's only a year until Powell's, term is up. So the you know, and I think the Republicans will have a lot on their plate in the year up to that point. So I think they'll be fine with Powell staying long until the end of his term. And then they can pick, you know, whoever they want within reason because it has to be confirmed by the Senate, but then they can pick somebody who is a little closer to the administration.
BRUNHUBER: Yeah. And there has been on that idea some creative ideas floated like Trump naming a new Fed chair early, essentially creating a shadow Fed which could potentially move markets in ways favorable to the president. I mean, what effect do you think that might have? How likely do you think that might be?
SWANSON: Well, so all presidents name the Fed chair, a couple months in advance. You don't want to surprise the markets at the last minute. You want to try to get this laid out, you know, your ducks in a row ahead of time. I suppose you're talking about maybe even earlier than normal and that would be interesting.
You know, you have somebody who could talk, but wouldn't really have any actual power for months to come. So I guess the markets would have to sort of trade off the current policy versus what they see coming down the road, but it would be interesting to see what happened.
BRUNHUBER: Yeah. You talked about, you know, more stimulus potentially from a Republican controlled government.
[02:29:54]
More broadly economically, Trump has made a slew of promises that many economists have said would negatively impact the economy, like tariffs, mass deportations, which might end up creating more inflation, which means we might go through this whole cycle all over again.
What are you expecting? Sort of in the longer term here?
ERIC SWANSON, PROFESSOR OF ECONOMICS, UC IRVINE: I expect that the Fed will continue to conduct policy in a way that will sort of continue the soft landing. So we will see, I think inflation gradually continue to trend down and, you know, the unemployment rate stabilize about where it is, or maybe tick up a teeny bit.
But, you know some of the things the administration like, like, you know, President-elect Trump has talked about the Fed will, you know, work to keep that from passing through to inflation. So if the administration passes policies that are a little more inflationary on their own the Fed will tend to keep rates a little bit higher to offset that. And you'll end up with a net effect where inflation will continue to be balanced.
BRUNHUBER: Let's -- let's hope. Eric Swanson, really appreciate you joining us. Thank you so much.
SWANSON: Sure. Thank you.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT-ELECT OF THE UNITED STATES: I really think that the biggest problem this country has is what they've allowed to happen to us on the border. They've allowed our country to be destroyed. They're allowing thousands of murderers and drug dealers and terrorists and people from mental institutions. They're emptying out their jails into our country.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER: So that was Donald Trump just a few weeks ago making a false assertion he repeated throughout his campaign for the White House.
Well, now, the president-elect says he's ready to make good on his promise to carry out the largest deportation effort in U.S. history. On Thursday, Trump told NBC News, quote, there is no price tag for his plan, which experts say will come with a costly and complicated price tag.
As our Priscilla Alvarez reports, Trump allies are already starting to lay the groundwork
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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.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BRUNHUBER: All right. Still ahead, a deadly Israeli strike hits a Gaza school where displaced Palestinian families have been seeking shelter. Israel's ongoing military operations in northern Gaza next. Plus, a fast moving wildfires threatening the lives and property of millions of people in southern California. We have details coming up.
Please stay with us.
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[02:37:23]
BRUNHUBER: Welcome back to all of you watching us all around the world.
I'm Kim Brunhuber. This is CNN NEWSROOM.
Well, he has 73 days before he returns to the White House, but Donald Trump is already busy getting ready. The president-elect has named the first key member of his transition team, choosing a woman to fill the job for the first time in history. And speculation is growing about who might come next.
Brian Todd reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TRUMP: I love loyalty.
BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): 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, Donald Trump's co-campaign manager for 2024, was just 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 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 Donald Trump she will only take the job if she could have more control over who can reach him in the Oval Office.
KAROLINE LEAVITT, TRUMP CAMPAIGN SPOKESWOMAN: Hello, everybody.
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 Donald Trump might use a go after his enemies, a name being floated is Ken Paxton, Texas's attorney general.
SABATO: I'd like to open a betting pool as to how many days -- not weeks, months, 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 of 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 at finals 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's 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 advisor tells CNN, Kennedy's already caused headaches for the Trump team, like an interview he did with MSNBC just hours after Donald Trump's victory speech.
ROBERT F. KENNEDY, JR., FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The entire department, like the nutrition department at FDA, they have to go.
[02:40:01]
TIM NAFTALI, CNN PRESIDENTIAL HISTORIAN: RFK Jr., if he has the president's ear, could put in place anti-vaxxers, anti-fluoride people above scientists.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TODD (on camera): 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 gantlet.
Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.
BRUNHUBER: Israeli attacks killed dozens of Palestinians across Gaza in the last 36 hours, according to Gaza officials, including 27 people in one strike. CNN has asked Israel's military for comment.
New evacuation orders have been imposed in northern Gaza as the IDF carries out its weeks-long offensive. On Thursday, an Israeli airstrike hit a former school turned refugee shelter in Gaza City, killing at least ten people. The IDF claims the site was a Hamas command center.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): Rubble fell on us, and people were torn to pieces. Where is the humanity? Where is the rest of the world? Where is the mercy? We have never seen any nation waging war on children. I'm 65 years old and I have never seen any nation waging war on children.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): Suddenly you heard the sound of an explosion and we saw people flying everywhere. People were dismembered. People were burned. I don't know. They say it's safe, but there's nowhere safe. Where is safe? All of them are civilians here. They all came from camps in Jabalia to here.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER: As we heard, Palestinians have said for months that nowhere is safe in Gaza.
Israel's ongoing ground offensive and evacuation orders have drastically limited the so-called safe zones.
Many Israelis are celebrating Donald Trumps return to the White House because of what it could mean for Israel's war in Gaza. But many Palestinians say they have no hope for change.
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.
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.
TRUMP: 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, in a region where conflict shows little sign of easing.
Matthew Chance, CNN, Jerusalem.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BRUNHUBER: A life-threatening wildfire is raging through southern California leaving people barely enough time to evacuate before their homes are destroyed.
We'll have details after the break. Please do stay with us.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is, like, surreal. I mean, I know we live in a fire danger area, but this is -- it came out of nowhere. It was so fast.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[02:46:46]
BRUNHUBER: Hurricane Rafael is now in the Gulf of Mexico after landing a devastating blow in Cuba. It hit the island as a category three storm on Wednesday, temporarily knocking out power to the entire country. Now, power is back up in parts of eastern and central Cuba as hundreds of workers scrambled to restore service. Since then, Rafael has moved west and weakened to a category two storm. Forecasters expect it to weaken further to a tropical storm in the coming days.
A volcano in Indonesia erupted eight times on Thursday, spewing a plume of volcanic ash as much as 8,000 meters into the air. The government declared a state of emergency after Mount Lewotobi Laki- laki became active. Rescuers worked to evacuate more than 5,000 people from the danger zone. At least ten people have died in a series of eruptions in the past few days.
Indonesia sits atop the Pacific Ring of Fire and experiences frequent seismic and volcanic activity.
Fire officials say they're still trying to determine what caused the so-called Mountain Fire that's raging out of control in southern California. The fast moving blaze began on Wednesday and is only 5 percent contained. Now, officials at the main electric company are considering shutting
off power to an additional 180,000 customers to prevent fallen power lines from starting or helping to spread the flames. Power has already been cut to nearly 70,000 customers.
More now from CNN's Nick Watt in Southern California.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NICK WATT, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): 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 always used to winds, but lately, last five years --
WATT: It's 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 fields 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.
[02:50:06]
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 views incredible. I knew it would happen someday. We pay for certain things. Unbelievable.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WATT (on camera): 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, so people are anxious here and elsewhere in southern California that there may be more of this to come.
Nick Watt, CNN, Camarillo, California.
BRUNHUBER: Investigators in Argentina have laid preliminary charges in connection with the tragic death of music star Liam Payne. More on that story after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BRUNHUBER: Three people are facing preliminary, but so far not formal charges in the death of singer Liam Payne. They are being investigated for abandonment before death and supplying narcotics.
CNN's Julia Vargas Jones has 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.
[02:55:09]
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)
BRUNHUBER: Former Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani is running out of time to hand over some of his luxury items after defaming two poll workers here in Georgia. On Thursday, a federal judge gave him until the end of next week to turn over the items or face sanctions for contempt of court. The valuables include his 1980s vintage Mercedes as well as watches, furniture and sports memorabilia.
Last year, he was found guilty of defamation after he falsely accused the poll workers of ballot tampering during the 2020 presidential election. The valuables are a part of about $150 million in damages that Giuliani was ordered to pay.
The U.S. election provided a boon to billionaires, as the wealth of the worlds ten richest people rose by a record amount the following day as stock markets soared, Trump supporter Elon Musk was the big winner with $26.5 billion out of his balance sheet, climbing to $290 billion. Other big gainers were Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, with $7.1 billion, and Oracle's Larry Ellison with $5.5 billion.
All in all, the top ten richest people did better to the tune of $64 billion. That wraps this hour of CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Kim Brunhuber. I'll be back in just a moment with more news. Please do stay with us.
