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CNN International: Trump Names Susie Wiles As White House Chief Of Staff; Trump Expected To Start Naming Cabinet Picks In Days; Trump Allies Fight For Key Spots In New Administration. Aired 11a-12p ET

Aired November 08, 2024 - 11:00   ET

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

[11:00:00]

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RAHEL SOLOMON, HOST, "CNN NEWSROOM": Good morning or good evening, depending on where you're watching. I'm Rahel Solomon live in New York.

Ahead on CNN Newsroom, U.S. President-elect Donald Trump making his first major personnel decision. Susie Wiles will serve as Trump's White House Chief of Staff. Coming up, more on the woman behind Mr. Trump's winning presidential campaign. Also ahead, a major investigation is underway into what authorities say were antisemitic attacks in Amsterdam Thursday night. Dozens of people have been arrested over violence linked to a match between Dutch and Israeli football -- soccer teams. And Californians forced to flee their homes as dangerous fires remain worse by extreme conditions. We're going to have a live report from the state, coming up.

Well, the transition to a new Trump White House is kicking into full gear, with the President-elect filling a critical role on his team and making history in the process. Donald Trump has chosen campaign manager Susie Wiles to become his Chief of Staff. She becomes the first woman to ever hold that powerful position. Now, before accepting the job, Wiles reportedly wanted assurances that she would have control over who had access to the President inside the Oval Office, something former Chiefs of Staff struggled with.

After his election win, Donald Trump had high praise for Wiles.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT AND CURRENT PRESIDENTIAL- 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 bag. Let me tell you, the ice baby, we call her the ice baby. Thank you, Susie. I've never seen her be shy before. Susie.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SOLOMON: All right. Let's get to CNN's Alayna Treene, who joins us now from West Palm Beach, Florida, for the latest on the Trump transition. Alayna, great to see you. Wiles is a familiar face in Florida political circles. That clip there was pretty interesting. You kind of get a sense that she didn't really want to be in the spotlight. So, talk to us a bit more about what we know about Susie Wiles.

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN REPORTER: Well, you're absolutely right there. It's very well known that Susie does not like, Susie Wiles, I should say, does not like to draw attention to herself. She likes to kind of stay away from the story. She doesn't want it to be about her, obviously, I think, a quality that Donald Trump very much appreciates and likes about her. We know that other times when people are really jockeying for the attention alongside him, it doesn't always go over so well.

But, one key thing about Susie Wiles that I think is important to keep in mind is how loyal she has been to Donald Trump. There is no secret that Donald Trump values loyalty really above all else, and she has been there from really -- the past several years now, she has held a very high position of power. After Donald Trump had left the White House, in many ways in disgrace after particularly the January 6th attack on the Capitol, Susie Wiles, unlike other people who try to distance themselves from him, she stuck by him and really rose to a very high position, and really the highest position beneath Donald Trump over the last several years, as his campaign manager.

Now, you brought this up, but I think it's so important to know, and it was such a great line from Steve Contorno's story, which is that she doesn't want the clown car coming to the White House. And that's really, I think, sums up how Susie Wiles has operated in the past. She knows Donald Trump very well. She understands how he operates. She knows that many people try to get to him with sometimes planting crazy ideas in his head. And what she has always done is what she calls controlled chaos. She wants to control the chaos, and she understands that really one of the best ways to keep discipline around Donald Trump is to try and cut off access to some very controversial figures.

She recognizes that she can't always do that. Donald Trump will always take calls, will always be meeting with people. They're going to be trying to get in front of him, as we've seen over the last 48 hours or so, with people jockeying behind the scenes for top roles in his second administration. But, what she is going to try to do is cut off the access that she can. And I'd remind you as well that over the past four years now, she controlled the flight manifest for his private plane, which I know that's a little bit in the weeds, but that is a very crucial job. She really controlled who had access to flying with him, who would get to be with him on a day in and day out basis. I'm told, as are our colleagues, that she very much wants to keep that control when she takes the role as Chief of Staff come January.

SOLOMON: OK.

[11:05:00]

Alayna Treene live for us there in West Palm Beach. Alayna, thank you.

Now, let's get to Miles Taylor, who is a former senior Trump administration official, who quit the first administration, calling Trump unstable in a dangerous democracy. He is now urging principled conservatives, as he puts it, to join the incoming Trump administration, not run away from it. Miles, good to see you again. Let's start there. I mean, as we learn more about what this administration might look like, you wrote this opinion piece for The Times, urging conservatives to, quote, "step forward and serve in the executive branch out of dedication to the principles that hold this country together, however tenuously." Say more about who you think Trump needs to be surrounded by while in office.

MILES TAYLOR, FORMER CHIEF OF STAFF, U.S. DEPT. OF HOMELAND SECURITY: Well, Rahel, I think that this starts with an acknowledgement that the anti-Trump movement is dead. His comeback wasn't just a comeback. It was decisive, and it shows that the element within the party, that was the breakaway element, doesn't have a home anymore. And so, my advice is that wary conservatives should try to rally around this new administration, and the best thing that they can do is encourage seasoned folks, seasoned leaders within the party to go into the administration, instead of the types of people that it sounds like Susie Wiles wants to keep out of the Oval Office, the sort of political commentator class that hasn't been in government, the more partisan types.

I think what conservatives should be doing is encouraging experienced public servants to go into government. The executive place -- the executive branch, rather, is not a place for amateurs. And so, my hope is that we will see some of those folks go in, especially in the national security realm, people who have served in those positions before, who know the functions of government and can be a steady hand. And so far, if the rumors are to be believed about who they're considering for some of those posts, I think there is actually cautious optimism that conservatives can have about how this administration will be run compared to the first go around.

SOLOMON: Yeah. And what are your thoughts about Susie Wiles? Do you think she might be a steady hand in his orbit?

TAYLOR: Well, look, I think the most important thing that I've heard is that she is so focused on controlling access to the President. Now, the big question is going to be, can she achieve that? My former boss, John Kelly, wanted to do the same thing. He was a Four Star Marine General who knows how to enforce order, and even he wasn't able to do that with Donald Trump. But, look, it depends on the relationship with the person, and she might have a different relationship now with Trump than John Kelly did, and I hope that she is successful at bringing more order to the chaos, because that was one of the most difficult things in the first term, was discipline.

Donald Trump knows he is not disciplined. His staff knows he is not disciplined. But, if there is someone around him who can bring a little bit more order and stability to the White House, that will bode well for policy-making and predictability, and that's the type of thing that the business community and foreign allies really want to see.

SOLOMON: Yeah. And Miles, I hear you say sort of the names that have been floated make you feel cautiously optimistic. Have there been names that have been floated that have the opposite reaction, that make you concerned? TAYLOR: Well, what's interesting is some of those folks are people that a lot of us on the outside speculated might join a second administration, but are no longer being talked about. I mean, think of some of the names and faces we saw at the very end of the first term during the effort to oppose the transfer of power during the 2020 election. A lot of those types think the Rudy Giuliani types. We're just really not seeing their names come up as much. And here is the reason why I think.

There is actually a whole new cohort of people that are considering joining this administration, especially from the tech sector, and especially from the business community. With the involvement of people like Elon Musk and Marc Andreessen, there is a whole new crop of characters that are interested in coming into government. Why does that matter? Because Trump really cares about people with household names coming to work for him. So, some of these lesser known, more partisan political operatives that were emerging at the end of the Trump administration, they might not be so lucky in getting those top posts, because Trump now feels like he has got a lot deeper bench to choose from.

And again, that, to me, is a silver lining, and shows there might yet be some very interesting and again, seasoned leaders coming into the Trump administration that you would not expect.

SOLOMON: Yeah. The tech point is an interesting one, because you talk about sort of how Elon Musk has sort of reshaped, in a way, Austin, Texas. Do you think that Washington may look very different in four years, with more influence from folks like perhaps Elon Musk and more sort of tech exposure there?

TAYLOR: Well, Rahel, I haven't seen anyone talking about this yet. And so, I want to make the point. I think we are going to see the Elonification of the nation's capital. Now, some people may be excited about that. Some people may be terrified by the prospect. But, look at what Elon did, as you note, in Austin, Texas, is a lot of the technologists and venture capital folks moved there when he moved there.

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It's changed the character of the city. It's a very different city now, and you can see that happening in D.C. Add on to the fact that Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos are not necessarily the two closest guys in the world, and Bezos is posted up just across the river with the Amazon headquarters. He owns The Washington Post. So, we may yet see a battle of the billionaires in Washington, D.C., and see it become more of a tech hub than it is because of Elon's involvement -- likely involvement in the next Trump administration.

SOLOMON: And Miles, lastly, what about those who, perhaps are not tech billionaires, but who, as you point out, are more principled conservatives? Do you wonder if, sort of, as you outline in your piece really starkly, I think, sort of what working for Trump in the first administration was like, you talk about canceling international summits to run back to Washington to try to talk him out of making potentially unlawful decisions. You talk about perhaps being ostracized by the public, by your family, by friends, and even having a hard time finding work after you've worked in that administration. Do you worry that things like that might scare off otherwise people who could be a good fit or who could be good for the country?

TAYLOR: Well, my advice to them, Rahel, would be, hope that it goes great. Prepare for it to go terribly. And what does that mean? It means people should go into an administration, and not just a second Trump administration, any administration with their resignation letters ready, because you never know what you are going to encounter. Now, of course, that first go around was very unstable. Policies were constantly changing at the speed of the President's tweets. And I think with any hope we might see a new leadership team in the White House that brings a little bit more of stability there.

But, if that doesn't work, if Susie Wiles isn't able to run a tighter ship, then those appointees need to be ready for the cascade effect of the chaos and be ready to say no to things that are unlawful, or be ready to resign if it doesn't align with their principles. But, I think the point here is that if he can get good people, good conservatives that want to advance the conservative agenda into government, that aren't partisan types, we may not see as tumultuous of an administration as the first go around, but that remains to be seen.

SOLOMON: Yeah. Miles Tyler, great to have your insights today and perspective. Thank you.

TAYLOR: Thank you.

SOLOMON: All right. Authorities in the U.S. are investigating a series of racist text messages sent to people across the country. New York's Attorney General says that the messages appear to be targeting black and brown people. Children and college students in more than 20 states were among those receiving the offensive text messages, which came from unrecognized phone numbers. They included references to slave catchers and told recipients that they had been selected to pick cotton at the nearest plantation. The texts were sent just one day after the polarized presidential election.

Well, overseas now, the Dutch government is condemning what it calls antisemitic attacks on Israeli citizens. Israeli football fans were beaten and injured in Amsterdam late Thursday local time. Israel says that the violence occurred before and after a match between Ajax, Amsterdam and Maccabi Tel Aviv. The following video shows a Maccabi fan being attacked in the street, and a warning, it is traffic.

(VIDEO PLAYING)

SOLOMON: Israeli football fans in town for the event say that the breakout of violence was frightening.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We went to the auditorium (ph) and we saw a lot of demonstrations of people running. It was really, really terrifying. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have nothing to do with the war. We come to

support Maccabi Tel Aviv.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SOLOMON: Israeli officials say that at least 10 Israeli citizens have been hurt in the violence. The Israeli Foreign Minister is now heading to Amsterdam to meet with his Dutch counterpart.

Let's get straight now to CNN's Melissa Bell. Melissa, talk to us a little bit about what the latest is on the ground there.

MELISSA BELL, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, still a lot of questions, and this major investigation, as it's been described by Dutch authorities, Rahel, that's now been open to try and figure out exactly how the events of last night could have unfolded.

Just to walk you through the series of events over the course of the last few days. This was a match last night, but we'd seen even Wednesday as the Maccabi Tel Aviv fans arrived, images coming out on social media of some of them putting down Palestinian flags, shouting at the Arabs. That tension had been rising for a couple of days. Dutch authorities had put on extra police last night to ensure the safety of Amsterdam's streets.

Initially, what we understand is that as the match finished, things were fairly peaceful, but then that extreme violence that you showed a moment ago began, hit and run attacks, as they're being described by Dutch authorities, with an insistence on their antisemitic nature, Maccabi Tel Aviv fans hunted down, beaten up with extraordinary violence, both verbal and physical.

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A number of them, as you say, ended up in hospital. All have now been released. And we also understand that all of the Israeli fans have now been accounted for. There were initially fears that some of them might have been missing.

Now, the Israeli Foreign Minister has just wrapped up a meeting here in Amsterdam with Dutch officials to try, and again, heard the condemnation and the shame, if they express, about how this could have happened here in the city, so famous for its openness and its tolerance, Rahel.

SOLOMON: Yeah. And Melissa, what now? I mean, Dutch authorities have promised to hold those responsible accountable. Where does that investigation stand?

BELL: And in fact, what we've just been hearing as a result of that press conference with the Israeli Foreign Minister now and his counterparts here in Holland, is that Israel is, in fact, helping -- offering to help to bring prosecutions, to help gather evidence, to ensure that justice is done. The Israeli government, in fact, put on these planes to bring back the fans to safety in Israel. One of them has already landed back in Tel Aviv. Another couple are due to make sure that they get back safely.

But, Israeli officials really insisting on the fact that they want to see that justice is done, and they want much closer cooperation in future. There is another match expected here in Europe where, remember, tensions have been running extremely high for more than a year, ever since the war began. This is a continent, Rahel, with very large Muslim communities, very large Jewish populations, and more broadly, even beyond those communities, very strong feelings about what's been happening in the Middle East. And we heard that today when we heard from the mayor of Amsterdam speaking to it, saying, look, there can be protests about what's happening in Gaza and the broader region. There can be expressions of solidarity for the Palestinian people. What happened here in Amsterdam was criminal.

The fear is now, what happens when those Maccabi Tel Aviv fans come back to the European continent for a match that's due in Paris? A lot more cooperation being promised between Israeli authorities and French authorities this time to make sure that this doesn't happen again, Rahel.

SOLOMON: Yeah. OK. Melissa Bell live for us there. Melissa, thank you.

And still to come for us, European leaders are planning their next steps, considering how to respond if Donald Trump slashes U.S. military assistance to Ukraine. Plus, praise for Trump from the man leading the war against Ukraine. We're going to have reaction from Russian President Vladimir Putin, straight ahead.

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SOLOMON: Welcome back. The European Union is trying to put on a united front after Donald Trump's election win. Leaders gathered in Budapest are discussing the future of Ukraine and the security of Europe at large today. EU officials say that they're considering how they might respond if Trump slashes U.S. support for Ukraine, once he takes office.

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CNN's Nic Robertson brings us the bigger picture now of what the next Trump administration could mean for America's European allies.

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NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR (voice-over): Raging wars in Ukraine and the Mideast, an informal alliance of enemies, Russia, China, Iran and North Korea at the obvious changes in world order President-elect Donald Trump inherits. Less talked about since he left office in 2021, the political weakening of some of his former putative allies, particularly in Europe.

Elections in France undermined President Emmanuel Macron's standing. Germany's Chancellor Olaf Scholz has a tanking economy and a collapsing governing coalition. Both of these EU powerhouses losing political ground to right-wing populists. They're on the rise across Europe. In Italy, a right-wing populist, Giorgia Meloni, won elections, is a

fan of Trump, but Trump also lost supporters.

BORIS JOHNSON, FORMER PRIME MINISTER OF THE UNITED KINGDOM: Thank you all very much.

ROBERTSON (voice-over): UK PM Boris Johnson gone from power. The Conservative Party trounced in recent elections by trend-bucking Keir Starmer's left-leaning Labour Party where all these changes get tested first likely over Trump's campaign promise to end Russia's war in Ukraine in a day --

TRUMP: I'll have that done in 24 hours.

ROBERTSON (voice-over): -- and threats to pull America's Ukraine funding, as almost 50 European leaders gathered in Budapest just two days after the U.S. elections, Trump's victory and Ukraine a top topic. Trump ally and meeting host Hungarian PM Victor Orban in close conversation with Macron and Starmer, Starmer then with Macron, just the tip of the iceberg of debate on this frosty issue --

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT: Good to see you.

ROBERTSON (voice-over): -- and Starmer later with Ukraine's Zelenskyy.

KEIR STARMER, PRIME MINISTER OF THE UNITED KINGDOM: As you know, our support for Ukraine is unwavering.

ROBERTSON (voice-over): The unspoken question in Budapest, can Europe go it alone?

ALEXANDER DE CROO, BELGIAN PRIME MINISTER: We should be very clear on this. European security is not something that we outsource to someone else, for example, to the United States.

ROBERTSON (voice-over): Macron said the same thing, but already clear the opening pitch to Trump, we need you --

CROO: We are open to discuss with the United States on how we can work better together.

ROBERTSON (voice-over): -- and at the sharp end of Europe's sell, NATO's new chief, another change for Trump.

MARK RUTTE, NATO SECRETARY GENERAL: I look forward to sit down with Donald Trump to discuss how we can face the threats collectively.

ROBERTSON (voice-over): It's a bold Gambit, but read through it, Europe isn't ready to stand up to Putin alone.

Nic Robertson, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SOLOMON: All right. Let's get more now from CNN's Fred Pleitgen, who joins us from Berlin. Fred, we heard public remarks from Putin, congratulating Trump on his win, but he also said that they haven't talked on the phone yet. Share with us what he did say.

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yeah. First of all, one of the interesting things was that his spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, today was asked about that, whether or not they would speak, and he said it's not out of the question that they might actually speak before Donald Trump's inauguration, at least as far as the Russians are concerned. However, what he did say is what Vladimir Putin said, is he said that he is open to speaking to Donald Trump, but it also seemed clear that the Russians would not initiate that conversation.

At the same time, Vladimir Putin said that he believed that some of the remarks that Donald Trump made in the election campaign, for instance, wanting to put an end to the war in Ukraine, were, quote, "interesting and made him interesting". Here is what we saw.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PLEITGEN (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.

TRUMP: My people came to me. Dan Coats came to me and some others. They said they think it is Russia. I have President Putin. He just said, it's not Russia.

[11:25:00]

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 want them stop dying, and 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 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 is 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.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PLEITGEN: So, perhaps foreshadowing some of what might be to come in the relations between the U.S. and Russia and, of course, the US and Ukraine as well, Rahel. One of the other things that Vladimir Putin did say at that event yesterday is he called Donald Trump courageous for the way that Trump reacted after that assassination attempt against him, where, of course, he was grazed by bullets. Rahel.

SOLOMON: Yeah. Really interesting. Fred Pleitgen live for us there in Berlin. Fred, thank you.

Well, still ahead, control of the U.S. House of Representatives is still up for grabs. We'll take a look at the latest balance of power and where it might be headed from here. Plus, Donald Trump's decisive victory has Democrats and many others asking, how did he do it? We'll take a closer look at the election with CNN's Michael Smerconish.

We'll be right back.

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SOLOMON: Welcome back. You're watching CNN Newsroom. I'm Rahel Solomon live in New York.

Days after the U.S. election, and control of the House of Representatives is still up for grabs. Sources tell CNN that members on both sides of the aisle believe that the Republican Party will likely maintain control of the House once all votes are counted, but it could be days or even weeks before a number of key races are officially called.

Let's bring in CNN's Lauren Fox, who is following all of this from Washington. Lauren, great to see you. So, remind us of the math here. Right now, Republicans have 212 seats. How many more do they need?

LAUREN FOX, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yeah. The magic number here is 218. Now, there are still more than 20 races outstanding, and this is why CNN has not actually called the House of Representatives for Republicans yet. There is obviously a scenario where Democrats, if they swept in those 23 seats, would have a shot at the majority.

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But, overall, right now, the math is looking like it's favoring Republicans in many ways. You just look at the fact that 11 of these outstanding seats are in California. That is taking time. It takes a significant amount of resources to count all of the ballots there. This is something we've seen over the course of the last several years in congressional elections, but Republicans are feeling very bullish about their chances. Underscoring all of this, however, is the fact that even if Republicans do maintain the majority, it's going to be a very narrow victory for them, which means there is not going to be a lot of wiggle room for Speaker Mike Johnson to work with when it comes to trying to pass Trump's agenda, and we've seen over the last several years what that looks like in Washington.

SOLOMON: Well, I mean, to that point, Lauren, I mean, even with that slim majority that they had, there was still so much division with House Republicans that made governing still really difficult.

FOX: Yeah. There is really an optimistic way that some Republicans look at this. One of them is that maybe with Trump at the helm, Trump able to try to encourage the party to get behind him, maybe that helps Speaker Johnson navigate this a little more easily. But, the reality is, if you have a majority where you have one to three seats to work with, that means that almost any Republican member or any small group of Republican members can be the thorn in the side of leadership.

And they're talking about doing this massive tax package starting in January, because many of the provisions in Trump's Tax Cuts and Jobs Act from 2017 are set to expire at the end of 2025. Just think about, the New York Republican members who may want to fight for SALT deduction once again, they could band together and make things really difficult. Any small group of members, perhaps even one member, could really be a major problem for the Speaker in the weeks and months ahead.

SOLOMON: In other words, it will remain very interesting on Capitol Hill. Lauren Fox, thank you.

All right. The Federal Reserve's key benchmark interest rate is a quarter point lower than it was this time yesterday, courtesy of the Federal Reserve. The central bank is gearing up for a second Trump administration, and relations between the Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell and the President-elect were rather tense the first time around.

Listen to what Jay Powell had to say when a reporter questioned his future at the Fed.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Some of the President-elect's advisors have suggested that you should resign. If he asked you to leave, would you go?

JEROME POWELL, CHAIR OF THE FEDERAL RESERVE OF THE UNITED STATES: No.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Can you follow up on -- is -- do you think that legally you're not required to leave?

POWELL: No.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SOLOMON: Let's bring in Julia. And Julia, that was a really interesting exchange. You don't often see Jay Powell sort of in that sort of mood, we'll call it. But, talk to us a little bit about what does Trump's victory mean for the Federal Reserve and that tension between Powell and Trump.

JULIA CHATTERLEY, CNN ANCHOR, FIRST MOVE: Yeah. You're looking for the mic drop moment phrase, I think. That was very unusual. Look, I think it's going to be warmer than the first administration, because, let's be honest, it couldn't have been cooler. It was very contentious. The President-elect was rude to him a lot of the times in criticizing the decisions that were made. Look, I think the big difference this time around, we know the President-elect likes to see rates lower rather than higher. The Federal Reserve is trying to lower interest rates this time around, and one of the only things really that could derail that, short of a big surprise, is perhaps the President-elect's policies of mass immigration limits, seeing blanket tariffs being applied around the world, that could then force prices up and perhaps force the Federal Reserve to slow down.

So, at least for now, we know he is going to stay in the chair. He is firmly wedged to it as far as he was saying there. And just to be clear, it's Congress that would remove him, not the President, though, of course, who wins the House could play a difference there. But, for now, we'll hope it's cordial.

SOLOMON: Yeah, and they would have to have reason, malfeasance, or some sort of reason to actually remove him.

Julia, talk to us about some of the key takeaways from the Fed's rate cut and what we learned yesterday.

CHATTERLEY: Well, he talked again, despite what many Americans feel, that this is a relatively solid economy, that they can be patient on bringing rates down, that they are bringing inflation back to target, of course, too. But, what really stood out for me was what he said that resonated with that exit poll that we got on CNN post-election, which was that three out of four Americans simply feel that they're the same in terms of wealth or worse off than they were at the beginning of this administration. Just listen to what he had to say about wages.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

POWELL: It takes some years of real wage gains for people to feel better, and that's what we're trying to create, and I think we're well on the road to creating that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHATTERLEY: And we are, of course, because wages are rising. But, why? Why do Americans feel like they didn't trust Harris to make them feel richer over the next four years? Just take a look at this chart, Rahel, because it's really important.

[11:35:00]

Wages rose for the manufacturing sector and non-supervisory workers under both administrations. In fact, they actually rose more, you can see, under President Biden. But then just look at the price rises that we saw, and we know inflation was that much higher and faster under President Biden. Now, the gaps between those bars, the bigger the gap, the richer you feel, the richer you are. The smaller that gap, the less rich you are, actually the poorer you feel. So, people's feelings were real. The irony again here is, is that we are seeing wages rise and people will start to feel better, but the President-elect is going to benefit from that rather than what we've seen under President Biden.

SOLOMON: Yeah.

CHATTERLEY: It's just going to take some time. Yeah.

SOLOMON: t's a really interesting point, Julia, about the sort of psychology of inflation.

CHATTERLEY: Right.

SOLOMON: Yeah.

CHATTERLEY: Yeah.

SOLOMON: Great point. Good to see you. Thank you, Julia.

CHATTERLEY: Thank you.

SOLOMON: All right. Still ahead, Southern California dealing with a raging wildfire.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RICHARD GALANTE, CAMARILLO RESIDENT: All my -- everything got destroyed. We didn't have time to do anything but leave.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SOLOMON: Coming up next, we're going to go live to Ventura County for the latest. Plus, it's Friday. The Grammy nominations have just been announced. We will take a look at which artists have a chance of taking home one of those awards.

We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SOLOMON: Welcome back. More than 14,000 people are under evacuation orders in Southern California. That's where the fast-moving mountain fire has really burned through miles and miles of land. In Ventura County, dozens of homes have been destroyed. Warm, dry and windy conditions have been fueling the flames.

For the latest, let's bring in our Camila Bernal. She joins us from Camarillo, California. Camila, talk to us about what the situation is like on the ground there. CAMILA BERNAL, CNN U.S NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Rahel. So, a bit

of good news. Officials here saying that they're expecting some progress on this fire. They've already made some. It's at five percent containment. So, it's still small, but it is much better than zero percent containment. And what they did yesterday was have 10 different teams going into these areas, into homes to see exactly how many of them were damaged. Unfortunately, after visiting about 300 of them, they realized that about 132 look like what you see here behind me. There is not much left.

You can obviously make out the car. I see a -- the barbecue is still intact, and there is actually two fireplaces that you can still see in this home. You see the fencing, but inside of the fencing, there is not much left. So, 132 homes completely destroyed, and about 88 that are still damaged, and officials saying that these assessments are not done. And so, what that means is that those numbers could still increase.

Now, the positive in all of this is the improving weather conditions. The red flag warning in the mountains here will expire at 11:00 a.m. local time. But, we were talking about having red flag warnings in the high and in the low areas over the last two days.

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Those winds, in addition to the very dry conditions, really gave a lot of people no time to evacuate. So many people just grabbing whatever they could to try to escape the flames. So, just a very complicated situation. And officials say that even though they do expect progress, there are still a lot of unknowns and the possibility for just really dangerous conditions still over the next couple of days.

Take a listen to what CalFire told me.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

THOMAS SHOOTS, FIRE CAPAIN, CALFIRE: The biggest challenge is that with a 20,000 acre fire, all it takes is one hot piece of material jumping across the line to get that fire going again. So, the potential is certainly still there. Right now, our focus is getting that perimeter as controlled as possible, and getting this community back in service. And to do that, we really have to make it safe around these homes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERNAL: So, right now, people are not allowed back into their homes just yet. And in terms of that progress, officials say that they want to get everything done, or as much as they can as possible over the weekend, because you have the red flag warnings not in place, and because you have some humidity that might help that firefighting effort.

But, come next week, red flag warnings will also be in the forecast. So, they are worried about that and trying to get everything done over the next couple of days. We were told there was a lot of progress overnight as well. They use the helicopters to do those retardant and water drops. So, we are seeing a lot more activity in firefighters, even in this neighborhood, trying to put out all of the hot spots in the homes that were completely destroyed. So, again, still a lot of work to be done, but some positivity here, after conditions in the weather have been improving. Rahel.

SOLOMON: Yeah. Certainly. Camila Bernal live for us there in California. Camila, thank you.

Meantime, in Spain, they continue to deal with the aftermath of the wettest October on record and the deadly flooding that spread across parts of the country there. Helicopter crews continue to search with the -- continue to assist with the search and rescue efforts.

Our correspondent Pau Mosquera flew with them.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PAU MOSQUERA, CNN SPAIN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): As has been done over the last days, Lt. Colonel Juan Jose Gonzalez and Lt. Ruben Bavketh (ph) are getting ready at Valencia's airport for another flight over the areas most affected by recent rainstorms and flooding.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (Interpreted): We have six helicopters deployed in the area affected by the floods. Most of them are dedicated to locating the missing, while another one is dedicated to carrying out daily flights to the Civil Guard laboratories in Madrid to deliver biological samples. That DNA is analyzed and compared with the relatives of those who are missing.

MOSQUERA (voice-over): The main goal today is to assist the search and rescue teams deployed on the ground, and we are joining them.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (Interpreted): We are now heading to the west, to the area of Chiva and Cheste. There we will find the Barranco del Poyo, and then we will continue east, following the natural course of the water.

MOSQUERA: The magnitude of the devastation caused by this flood is much easily of receiving (inaudible). Look over there. Many streets of pipe water must be covered in (inaudible). But, that's not all. From this side, you can easily see many other areas that are really difficult to access by foot.

MOSQUERA (voice-over): Destruction is everywhere. Even though it has been more than a week since all this area got flooded, we can still see piles of cars, debris all around, and collapsed bridges.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (Interpreted): Approximately 20 people were rescued with this helicopter, a number that gets bigger if we keep in mind the work done by other five helicopters that have participated in search and rescue operations. So, the volume of people rescued is significant.

MOSQUERA (voice-over): Nevertheless, it's been days since the last person they rescued alive. Nowadays, they are focusing on the mouth of the Turia River and Valencia's lagoon to check if any of those missing were swept out to sea.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (Interpreted): If the mud has buried them, we cannot see them anymore. So, what we do is wait for ground teams to notify us any finding, then we take them out with the crane.

MOSQUERA (voice-over): The search is intense, but there is nothing new in the area. So, after an hour hovering around, we get back to the airport base. This will be it for now. But, in a matter of hours, they will get back to the skies until, as they say, every single missing person has been found.

Pau Mosquera, CNN, Manises, Spain.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SOLOMON: And it is full steam ahead for Donald Trump's transition team after his election victory. But, what role did the non-traditional media play in his historic political comeback? I want better to break that down with CNN political commentator and host Michael Smerconish. He is going to join us in just moments. Stay with us.

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SOLOMON: Donald Trump is preparing his return to the White House, and when he does, will he essentially have a blank check to carry out his mandate? Trump's decisive victory includes winning the popular vote over Kamala Harris by a margin of more than four million. He currently has 301 electoral votes, sweeping the swing states, with just Arizona yet to be called. Beginning January 20th, Trump will be able to count on a mostly friendly Congress, thanks to the red wave. Republicans recaptured the Senate. Now, control of the House is still up for grabs, but Republicans at the moment do have a clear edge. So, how did Donald Trump pull off an incredible political comeback?

To help answer that, we are joined by Michael Smerconish, the host of CNN's Smerconish on Saturday mornings. Michael, great to have you. I always enjoy your perspective. It's been a few days now. What are your thoughts about the results, including the possibility of a full red sweep?

MICHAEL SMERCONISH, CNN HOST, "SMERCONISH", & CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Rahel, it's always great to be with you. I really appreciate the invitation. The biggest surprise to me, among many surprises on Tuesday, is that he broke 50 percent, because Donald Trump has never broken 50 percent in a prior national election, meaning he won in 2016 but he was in the 46.1 range. Then against Joe Biden, still in the 46 point range. And many of us were fond of saying that he was a guy with a high floor but a low ceiling, meaning that he had a very hardened level of support, but that they were finite, they were limited, and that he is not going to ever exceed the numbers that he generated previously. And he did exceed them. So, that assessment was wrong, and he did it without a robust third-

party effort, pulling votes away from his opponent, which makes it all the more impressive and unexpected. And to your point, now, if he enters with control of the Senate, which he is assured of, and potentially the House of Representatives, it sounds like a mandate for Donald Trump, which is just not something you would have believed a year ago, twice impeached, four times indicted, somebody who was convicted, owes a lot of money in civil judgments, and yet he confounded all the experts.

SOLOMON: So, what do you think that says that he sort of exceeded that 50 percent threshold? What does that say about the electorate?

SMERCONISH: I have a theory. My theory is that the electorate, in many respects, was tired of being told about all of his shortcomings, and tired of being told that they can't possibly return him to office. And it's as if he -- and I heard this from radio callers in the last couple of days that he engendered some support who don't -- from people who don't necessarily like him, but that they thought that he -- they were being brow beaten, and that they resented it. And a great example of this is that the Madison Square Garden election -- pre- election rally that took place the Sunday before the last full week of the campaign, where an appalling joke was told by a comedian. It was appalling, but it was a joke. And for three days, it dominated the news cycle.

And I could give you four or five other instances like hat, where people have said to me, like, yeah, we got the message. But, did you have to keep telling us and keep telling us? They ultimately resented being told for whom to vote.

SOLOMON: Yeah. That's so interesting. So then, what do you think, Michael, the messages or the lesson is for Democrats who are still, I think, scratching their heads, trying to understand, did that just happen?

SMERCONISH: I think the message for Democrats and the message for certain in the media is that they're out of touch, that they're out of touch with the sensibilities of the voters, the high school educated working class voters in this country, and that there is sort of an elite perspective that took hold a narrative in the media, and that the Democratic Party leadership kind of bought into it, and it gave them a comfort level that was unjustified.

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I mean, think about the eating cats and dogs in Springfield and the comedic routine that I described, and the attention that was put on Trump saying that he would welcome the media being shot through to get to him, all appalling things. But, boy, they were shown again and again and again and again, and at a certain point, I just think that it had a boomerang impact.

SOLOMON: So interesting. Michael, you make a really interesting point when you talk about sort of elite media. And I'm curious. One thing that I just thought was really fascinating was the sort of differing media strategies, right? You saw Trump. He didn't do the 60 Minutes interview, which is a tradition for presidential candidates. He didn't do that, but he did do Joe Rogan. He said that his young son, Barron, his 18-year-old son Barron, was part of the reason why he decided to do that. And I'm just curious, as we sit here and talk about lessons for the Democrats, what's the lesson for the media industry?

SMERCONISH: That it's fragmented. That it's fragmented. And I'm kind of old school. So, my response is to say, well, of course, you take the opportunity. It is 60 Minutes, right? That's sort of legacy media. How do you pass that? Meanwhile, he is spending three hours with Joe Rogan and the Vice President turned down that opportunity because apparently he was insistent you have to come to his studio, his studios in Austin, and he wants that interview to be three hours in duration. But, in retrospect, that would have been a better place for her to appear than sitting down with 60 Minutes.

And Trump did a lot of that narrow casting, and I'm so glad that you brought up the Barron Trump reference, because I read that as well that he was relying on his son to find out who is hip and cool and where should I spend my time to reach an audience of voters who otherwise might not be coming out to vote. Remember, Rahel, 80 million people who were eligible did not vote in the 2020 cycle. And so, Trump's effort was to try and reach people who were not high frequency voters, and to come back to where I began, which is to say that the biggest surprise to me is he broke 50 percent. Perhaps he broke 50 percent by reaching individuals who don't typically vote and added them to the ranks, and that's why he wasn't capped where he normally had been, somewhere between 46 percent and 48 percent.

SOLOMON: Yeah. It's so fascinating. I saw, I mean, this is just anecdotal, but I saw a voter who said he was on the fence, and he said he liked what Trump said in the Joe Rogan interview, and he really did not like that Kamala Harris didn't do the Joe Rogan interview. So, it's just so interesting and fascinating.

Great to have your perspectives and insights as well to help us understand it. Michael Smerconish, thank you.

SMERCONISH: Thanks, Rahel.

SOLOMON: And you can catch Smerconish every Saturday at 09:00 a.m. Eastern Time on CNN.

But, before we go, the nominations for the 2025 Grammy Awards are out, and Beyonce leads the pack with 11 nominations, close behind Kendrick Lamar, Billie Eilish, seven a piece.

Let's bring in CNN's Lisa Respers France, who joins us from Atlanta. Lisa, it is Friday. I'm tired. You know I know how to say your name. So, talk to us a little bit about what we can expect to see. Will it be ladies' night?

LISA RESPERS FRANCE, CNN REPORTER: It could be ladies' night, because Taylor Swift is also nominated. Chappell Roan, Sabrina Carpenter. You've got a lot of really amazing women who are nominated this year. But, everybody is talking about Beyonce, because with her 11

nominations, she has got 99 and it's not a problem for her. This makes her the most nominated artist in the history of the Grammys, and the fact that she was able to do it in the country categories as well, given all the debate about was her Cowboy Carter album is actually country or not, to have her nominated in four country categories is massively interesting. And I think it's going to cause a lot of debate and conversation, and people are going to wait to see, will she snag a Grammy in the country category, especially given the fact that a lot of people feel like that album isn't exactly country. And so, there is just a lot of debate back and forth.

SOLOMON: I mean, to choose her own words, she said, it's not a country album, it's a Beyonce album.

FRANCE: It's a Beyonce album.

SOLOMON: And I guess that could cut both ways. Have we heard reaction or got any response yet to her country nominations, to Beyonce country nominations? I know it's been -- it's only been an hour.

FRANCE: Yeah. It's only been an hour, but the hive is super excited. And there are some country fans who had been advocating for her as well, who were saying, this is clearly inspired by great country artists. She had people like Post Malone, who she is up against in a category on the album. He collaborated with her. And so, it's going to be interesting to see. For me, what I am most fascinated by is Andre 3000's album, his flute album getting nominated for Album of the Year.

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A lot of people really wanted him to come back to rap, and the fact that he followed his passion and went with a flute album, and the Grammy folks, they loved it. They appreciate it, and a lot of fans did too.

So, I think it's going to make for a really interesting night this --

SOLOMON: Yeah.

FRANCE: -- time around, because we have -- had a lot of complaints about the lack of women when it comes to music. The representation in the Grammys cannot say that this year, at least when it comes to the nominees.

SOLOMON: Yeah. It's a really interesting point about Andre 3000 and perhaps you can make the connection between Andre 3000 and Beyonce that both of them, with these albums, sort of pursued a different sound, but one that clearly they felt compelled to produce. And the reception was really positive. It's so interesting.

FRANCE: It is.

SOLOMON: Lisa Respers France, thank you.

FRANCE: Thanks, Rahel. SOLOMON: Good to have you.

FRANCE: Great to have you.

SOLOMON: All right. And we know your time is money. So, thank you for spending some time with me today. I'm Rahel Solomon live in New York. Stick with CNN. One World is coming up next.

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