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Trump Team Quickly Filling White House Roles; Elon Musk Could Win Big With Trump's White House Return; Trump Previously Claimed He Would End Ukraine War In One Day; IDF Says It Dealt "Severe Blow" To Hamas In Northern Gaza, The Future Of The Supreme Court Under Trump; Some Latinos Describe Why They Backed Trump In The US Election. Aired 7-8p ET

Aired November 09, 2024 - 19:00   ET

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

[19:00:18]

JESSICA DEAN, CNN HOST: You are in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Jessica Dean in New York.

It has been four days since Donald Trump's decisive presidential victory and we could learn some of his key Cabinet picks including CIA director, attorney general and secretary of Defense. The president- elect has already named his White House chief of staff, Susie Wiles, seen as many as the architect of his 2024 win.

And for more on how the Trump White House is taking shape, CNN's Alayna Treene is joining us now from West Palm Beach, near Mar-a-Lago.

And Alayna, it's kind of deja vu all over again in the sense that it's a Saturday night and we get a post from the former president, now former -- now president-elect with some key information on who will not be joining his administration.

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right. I think we're getting a little preview, Jessica, of what we can expect once Donald Trump is sworn in come January. Some of these, you know, late Friday, late Saturday night posts.

But, look, he did write tonight that he didn't announce new names for his second administration but he did announce two people that will not be serving in that second administration. I'm going to read for you some of what he wrote. He said, quote, "I will not be inviting former ambassador Nikki Haley or former secretary of state Mike Pompeo to join the Trump administration, which is currently in formation. I very much enjoyed and appreciated working with them previously and would like to thank them for their service to our country. Make America great again."

Now, look, behind the scenes, I'm sure you guys have some questions about why he is saying this. But the reason I'm told that this is even coming up is because both Pompeo's name as well as Haley's name have been brought up in some of these closed-door conversations with Donald Trump's transition team taking place behind me on that island at Mar- a-Lago. Now I will say many people that I have spoken to over the last several

days have said that they believed Mike Pompeo did a great job serving as Donald Trump's secretary of state and that he deserved a seat at the table this time around. However, Donald Trump for his part, his relationship with Pompeo is not what it once was. It's what many people have described it to me as, that their relationship has soured.

He did not come out and endorse Trump early on, if not even later on, and that has been a sticking point. But then also, Donald Trump has questioned I'm told privately when his name has been brought up whether or not he actually could trust Pompeo and whether or not he was fully loyal to him. Now some of the jobs that he was being floated for, really the main job Pompeo's name I'm told was under consideration for was secretary of Defense. But now that is clearly off the table.

As for Haley, look, Donald Trump had said that he had appreciated her getting up on stage at the Republican National Convention in July, saying that she supported him. She also offered I would remind you in really the 11th hour to go out and campaign with him. That never materialized, but discussions had been made about whether or not they would go out for a joint appearance before election day.

But really, when it came down to it, Donald Trump has been telling his allies, I'm told, essentially that he hadn't gotten over all of the attacks that she had lobbed at him throughout that Republican primary. It was a very bitter battle between Haley and Trump. And also Donald Trump believed and still harbors animosity toward her, I'm told, for hanging on and staying in that primary fight longer that he deemed appropriate.

So that's just some insight into maybe where some of this is coming from, as Donald Trump continues to remain, you know, locked in, locked down at Mar-a-Lago, going through some of these different candidates that he will be selecting for top Cabinet and other White House roles -- Jessica.

DEAN: All right. Alayna Treene, in West Palm Beach, thank you so much for that reporting. And for more on the inner workings behind President-elect Trump's next big decision, let's meet our panel now. Joining us, Marc Caputo, national political reporter for "The Bulwark," and Meridith McGraw, national political correspondent for "Politico."

Good have both of you here.

Meridith, I want to start first with you and this news that we're getting. I was just saying to Alayna, we're back at it again. It's kind of late on a Saturday night to be making news like this and we're getting posts from the former president, now president-elect, on Haley and Pompeo not joining his -- will not be a part of his administration.

What does this say to you more broadly that we're getting this information and that those are two people with whom he has, you know, personal beef essentially? MERIDITH MCGRAW, NATIONAL POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT, POLITICO: We're

getting a little deja vu here I think for those of us who covered the first Trump White House with a Saturday night social media post about personnel news. Look, I think with Mike Pompeo, he had been discussed as somebody who could be potentially be secretary of Defense and, you know, recently Pompeo appeared at a rally for Donald Trump and while they're not as close as they were, there is a faction within the Republican Party that is not a big fan of Pompeo.

[19:05:10]

So I wasn't particularly surprised by that. And Nikki Haley, I really had not heard her name come up in a lot of discussions for anything in the administration. But with the announcement of Susie Wiles this week, I think it signaled that Trump and his team are really going to move weekly with making some of these personnel announcements. They'd already been compiling a lot of names and resumes for the weeks before Trump won the election and I think some of these announcements about big Cabinet roles could be rolled out faster than they have in the past.

DEAN: And Marc, I just want to get your take on this news as well just as someone else who covers Trump very closely.

MARC CAPUTO, NATIONAL POLITICAL REPORTER, THE BULWARK: Everything you guys have said is true. This is what we're probably going to see go in the future, is if Donald Trump wants to say something, he's going to say something at the moment. Just get ready for more.

DEAN: And so, Marc, who is he listening to right now? Who is he talking to?

CAPUTO: I mean, he's talking to his campaign advisers. He's talking to Howard Lutnick who is his transition chair. He's talking to Elon Musk. He is Donald Trump, he's talking to probably everybody, and if Mar-a- Lago were in season he'd be talking to all the members who were at the buffet.

DEAN: Yes. And Meredith, in terms of experience when evaluating these people and trying to decide who is going to slot where, in terms of experience versus their loyalty, what is your sense of how they are measuring that?

MCGRAW: I have been told that loyalty is a top criteria for Donald Trump this time around. He does want to have people in his Cabinet who he feels could turn on him or, you know, work against him or doubt any of his decision-making, so I think he's going to be surrounding himself with a lot of people who he feels like will be loyal and follow his agenda to the T. And when you look at some of the names that have been brought up for some of these Cabinet roles, whether it is secretary of state or it's, you know, secretary of the Treasury or Defense, all of the names have been people who have been longtime Trump allies or personal friends.

And so I would expect that when he's making choices here on who he is going to be putting in his Cabinet, he's going to be thinking about who he is going to be getting along with, but also who is going to be following his agenda, especially in the critical first 100 days here of his administration, when it seems that they are going to be working pretty aggressively to tick through a list of different policy items, especially with having control of Congress, too.

DEAN: Yes. Yes. And, Marc, we've had a number of Trump allies on over the last several hours on the show, and to a person they've all kind of made the case that this is going to be a more professionalized version, look at him appointing Susie Wiles as his chief of staff, and I'm just curious, what do you make of that? And this comment from her from our reporting that she would take the job as long as the clown car was kept at bay from coming into the Oval Office.

And it's kind of that tacit admission that there are some really kind of, well, clown car type people that are surrounding the former president. What do you make of all that?

CAPUTO: That's true. I haven't -- I didn't hear Susie Wiles say that but I could see it being something that she would say. I mean, the reality is, Trump world writ large, because he talks to lots of people, that includes some toxic people and some of them are friendly with Trump and sometimes he can wind up appointing them. He did in his campaign at one point for a brief period. Sometimes he can wind up appointing them in his administration. That could be problematic.

DEAN: Yes.

CAPUTO: And what we could take from this right now is that, I mean, Susie Wiles knows what she's doing. She's professional, she's organized, but if Donald Trump suddenly decides to ignore his own advice or break his word with her, he's going to do it.

DEAN: And Meridith, what's your take on that in terms of the kind of -- it seems like there is a fork in the road where a lot of these allies are trying to push him to really take this moment and make the most of it, and yet there is, you know, this kind of group of others that, to Marc's point, if they want to derail him, they could?

MCGRAW: Well, I think it just sort of speaks to the broader Trump world that we've all known now for years. You know, as Marc was saying, Donald Trump likes to consult with the pretty wide variety of people, whether it's members in his club and friends or celebrities or it's, you know, people in Congress or just the person who happens to be standing next to him at a rally. And he'll ask them questions or ask for their opinions.

[19:10:03]

And so we saw that in the White House, how the Oval Office was described as a kind of bus station where people were constantly coming in and out. I think with Susie Wiles, she's probably going to be much more organized but also clamping down on some of that, but that being said, you know, as Marc was saying, it's Trump and he's going to be seeking out opinions from different people as he always has.

DEAN: And you start to think about some of those people who've really had a moment lately and who our reporting indicates he does want to reward because of their loyalty, RFK Junior, Elon Musk.

Marc, I would imagine those people have a tremendous amount of power right now.

CAPUTO: Well, they do. They've been in Mar-a-Lago just last week. RFK was there having a make America health again meeting. Elon Musk has been in and out. He was even photographed with his kid with the Trump family at a Trump family portrait or photograph. So it just kind of gives you an idea of like who's going around there and who's talking to whom. There's always been -- there've already been a little tension between the transition chair, sorry, I can't talk tonight, Howard Lutnick and RFK Junior when Lutnick gave an interview on CNN actually and sort of stepped on RFK's reputation in RFK's eyes sort of speak.

He said he wouldn't get a Cabinet post, he could never possibly get confirmed and that annoyed RFK. So we've seen these little personality battles brew and bubble up already. And more could happen, I wouldn't rule it out.

DEAN: Yes. And Meridith, you look back to 2016 and then what ensued and then kind of that period when he got out of office in 2021, you write about this in your new book, "Trump in Exile." I mean, he's really been up and down this rollercoaster and now finds himself really at the tallest mountain top he's been on so far.

What do you think just having observed all of that, has he taken any lessons? And if so, what you think those are?

MCGRAW: Well, I think one of the things that Donald Trump is going to remember as he is making some of these decisions is who was with him during this period when he was at a political low point? And Susie Wiles was somebody who came in in early 2021 and she stuck with him through 2021, through the midterms, went on to helm his campaign, and Trump is somebody who -- he values that sort of loyalty and people who stuck with him.

You know, I think with the Pompeo announcement tonight, you have to think about some of the past comments that some of these people made that I'm sure Trump and his team are watching out for and Pompeo was somebody who said that Trump should have taken the classified documents. So you have to look back on this era and some of the people in the Republican circles who may have had criticisms of him. Some of them have come back around but at the same time I think Donald Trump and his team also have in mind those who stuck with him.

DEAN: And Marc, look, the other differences, he did win the popular vote this time and again that seems to be something that is, as Alayna was reporting, giving him the feeling and his team that they have a mandate here.

CAPUTO: I mean, he would think he had a mandate anyway. Remember what he did with the popular vote in 2016 he said he did, and he was cheated when he lost in 2020. He said he actually won and that he was cheated. So yes, he always thinks he's got a mandate, but in this case, he's kind of right. He not only won the popular vote, not only won all the swing states, it's not official yet, but it looks that way, he also changed the coalition of voters who support Republicans.

He got a higher share of Hispanic voters and it looks like preliminarily a higher share of black male voters. So yes, he's feeling good about himself. However, we've seen in the past with other presidents, they feel they have a mandate, they get in office, then all of a sudden reality hits them and, you know, who knows what happens at that point.

I'd like to add one thing, by the way, that Meridith had said about Susie Wiles being loyal. She not only stuck with him through all of these things, she stuck with him during that classified documents investigation where she was hauled in front of the U.S. attorney's office and in front of the FBI, and was questioned, and she stayed by Trump. And she stuck with him. That matters.

DEAN: All right, Marc Caputo and Meridith McGraw, our thanks to both you and also remember you can check out Meridith's new book. It's is out now, "Trump in Exile."

Thanks to both of you. Have a great Saturday night.

Still to come, Iran is dining any involvement in a plot to kill Donald Trump after the Justice Department announced federal charges against three people it says plotted to kill the now president-elect before the election.

Plus, Elon Musk's big bet on Trump. Spending nearly $120 million to help get him elected. So what could be the return on his investment.

And later, some Democrats are calling for Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor to retire before Trump returns to the White House. We're going to talk more about that.

You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:19:37]

DEAN: In the election billionaire tech entrepreneur Elon Musk bet big on Donald Trump donating more than $118 million to help him retake the White House.

Our Jason Carroll looks at how that support could pay off in big ways for Musk and his companies.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENT-ELECT: A star is born, Elon. It's true.

JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Cheers for the president-elect and the richest man in the world who helped get him there, Elon Musk.

[19:20:02]

ELON MUSK, CEO OF TESLA: As you can see, I'm not just MAGA, I'm dark MAGA.

CARROLL: Musk spent some $119 million to help get Trump elected. The return on that investment is already paying off. Tesla shares have soared 29 percent since the election. Musk's stake has gained more than $30 billion. Investors betting that Trump's win will boost the electric vehicle company because of his closeness with Musk.

Remember, there was a time not long ago when Tesla wasn't looking so great with reports of sagging profits.

MAX CHAFKIN, SENIOR REPORTER, BUSINESSWEEK: When you look ahead, I mean, there are definitely opportunities for him to make money.

CARROLL: Max Chafkin is a senior reporter at "Bloomberg Businessweek" who covers Musk.

CHAFKIN: SpaceX, Musk's other main company, is a major defense contractor. Its most important customer is the U.S. government and Trump on the campaign trail talked about, you know, handing Elon Musk new contracts.

TRUMP: What a great guy. And he'd rather be making rocket ships because he'd really rather do that.

CARROLL: SpaceX is a privately held company, so it's tough to put a hard number on how much Musk stands to gain. The same can be said of his other privately held businesses, such as the brain implant company Neuralink.

TRUMP: He's a special guy. He's a super genius. We have to protect our geniuses. We don't have that many of them.

CARROLL: Musk could receive a position in the Trump administration running what he has called a Department of Government Efficiency.

TRUMP: Take over, Elon. Just take over.

CARROLL: Where he could roll back government regulations and cut what he determines is wasteful spending.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How much do you think we can rip out of this wasted $6.5 trillion Harris-Biden budget?

MUSK: Well, I think we can do at least $2 trillion.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes!

MUSK: Your money is being wasted. And the Department of Government Efficiency is going to fix that.

CARROLL: Whatever happens, Musk is gloating in the wake of Trump's victory, a political bromance brewing. Musk pictured with Trump on election night with his family and with Caitlyn Jenner. Musk posted this image showing him carrying a sink into the Oval Office, saying let that sink in, a throwback to when Musk bought Twitter and posted this video of him carrying a sink into the headquarters. MUSK: You can't help it but that's OK.

CARROLL: With promises to shake things up on the social media platform. Though it should be noted, Musk and his co-investors bought Twitter for $44 billion, one recent accounting has it valued at less than $10 billion.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

DEAN: All right. Jason Carroll, thank you.

One issue Trump will face when he returns is the crisis in Ukraine and Trump has previously said he would bring an end to the two and a half year old war within one day. But he has not gone into any detail about how he would do that.

CNN contributor and former Moscow bureau chief Jill Dougherty is joining us now.

Jill, thanks so much for being here with us. Russian President Vladimir Putin says he is ready to resume contact with the U.S. and engage in discussions with Trump. Knowing that, where do you see all of this going?

JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Well, that's a good question. But I think, you know, Ukraine is really critical at this point. And I think if you look at Trump politically, he wants a big win. He's already set down the marker that you talked about 24 hours he's have it solved. So this is a big deal for him and I think it is something that he wants to solve, but the problem is you have Ukraine and Russia, and the way it appears, although we don't know any of the details, as you mentioned, by the Trump people.

In fact some of them are actually divided about how to do it. But the details seem to be Ukraine gives up territory that Russia now holds and promises never to join NATO for about 20 years, and these are things that would be great for Putin, but they would be very bad for Zelenskyy politically and every other way.

So we're going to have to see because Zelenskyy is in a difficult situation. You know, the war is not going well. Russia is making gains and Zelenskyy relies upon the United States to a great degree for weapons and financial aid. So, at this point, you know, the indications up to this point have been that Trump is not a fan of Ukraine particularly, he wants the war simply over. And the big question would be the terms on which they end it.

DEAN: Right. And sources tell CNN that, you know, we just had this previous reporting before we came to you about Elon Musk and his role, that he did join a call between Trump and Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Wednesday. Of course Elon Musk has Starlink, the satellites and knows Putin and he has power and skin in the game, as it were, when it comes to all of this.

What do you make of his presence on that call?

[19:25:01]

DOUGHERTY: Well, it appears, you know, everybody is saying, and even the Ukrainians is saying, it went well. I think that Zelenskyy might have been a little bit nervous because if you remember at the beginning of the full-scale invasion back in 2022, actually Starlink was used and Musk provided Starlink and it's used for communication by the Ukrainian military, so it is very, very important.

And it went on for a while then he pulled it, Musk pulled it, because he wanted to be paid and eventually ended up getting paid by the Pentagon. But that I think what worries Zelenskyy. You know, can he count on Musk? Will he -- will Musk, you know, support Ukraine in this? I don't think there are any guarantees, and the lack of clarity is probably very nerve-racking at this point for the Ukrainians.

DEAN: Yes. And if you can just underscore for everyone, just give the context, Jill, of just what more broadly this means for Eastern Europe? Like what could be the fallout if it goes this way, what you're describing could happen?

DOUGHERTY: Yes. I mean, it really is critical, and not only for Europe, I mean, you know, food prices around the world were affected by this war, but talking about Europe, you would certainly, if Putin is perceived as winning, and you have to define winning, but winning this war, it would be perceived that he can do pretty much, you know, what he wants or he would be, let's put it this way, emboldened to do what he wants to do.

And there are a lot of countries -- I just got back from one, Jessica, which is Georgia, the Republic of Georgia, they're very worried. They used to be part of the Soviet Union. Could there be more pressure from Moscow? Even smaller countries, Moldova, et cetera. And the concern now is among the Europeans that if Trump pulls back some help and essentially hands the Ukrainian problem to the Europeans, that this will be very difficult for the Europeans to do on their own.

So right now we've got unbelievable thing, which is a war in the middle of Europe, which never happened except in World War II. And it's a grave challenge I think to everybody in that region.

DEAN: Yes. All right, Jill Dougherty, thank you so much for that context. We really appreciate it.

DOUGHERTY: Thank you.

DEAN: We're going to have more news in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:32:01]

DEAN: The Israeli military is claiming it has dealt a severe blow to Hamas in recent weeks saying thousand Hamas militants have been killed and a thousand more wounded by the IDF in Northern Gaza.

Gaza's Health Ministry says more than 43,000 Palestinians had been killed since the war began last October. CNN cannot independently verify those numbers and the Health Ministry does not distinguish between civilians and Hamas militants.

A recent UN report estimates women and children account for some 70 percent of death in Gaza.

CNN's Matthew Chance has more on this -- Matthew.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CHIEF GLOBAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Well, the head of the Israeli military says about a thousand Hamas militants have been killed in Northern Gaza in the past three weeks and another thousand captured visiting troops in Jabalia Refugee Camp area of Northern Gaza on Friday. Herzi Halevi who is the chief of the general staff of the IDF described those figures as, "a significant achievement for Israel and a severe blow for Hamas."

The Israeli military encircled Jabalia more than a month ago and launched a new ground operation there forcing residents to flee amid heavy fighting and said the operation was necessary because it has seen signs of Hamas rebuilding in the area. Despite a year of heavy bombardment and two previous ground operations.

Meanwhile the UN's children agency, UNICEF says at least 64 attacks have taken place against schools in the Gaza Strip in the last month, almost two a day.

An estimated 128 people were killed in the strikes according to the UNICEF report, many of them children. Israel's military says civilians including those in schools are often used by Hamas as human shields.

The United Nations has also issuing a new and detailed report on casualties in Gaza in the first six months of the conflict there saying close to 70 percent were women and children.

UN Human rights chief, Volker Turk said the report showed that civilian casualties were a direct consequence of the failure to comply with fundamental principles of international humanitarian laws. The Israeli military has yet to comment on the report.

Matthew Chance CNN, Jerusalem.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

DEAN: Matthew, thank you for that.

In Spain, thousands taking to the streets of flood-ravaged Valencia protesting the handling of deadly and devastating flooding there and demanding the resignation of the region's president.

Last week, angry residents in the region booed the King and Queen of Spain throwing eggs at them during their tour of the flood affected areas. Valencia was hit hardest by the catastrophic flooding which came amid Spain's rainiest October on record and it became the country's deadliest natural disaster in decades. More than 220 people were killed, authorities saying at least 78 remain missing.

Up next, Donald Trump reshaped the Supreme Court during his first term in office and this time he could shift the nation's Highest Court even further to the right. We will talk more about it next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:39:47]

DEAN: Some new images just coming into CNN.

Take a look at photos of Vice President Kamala Harris playing games with her grandnieces. These are some of the first teachers we have seen of her since she conceded the 2024 presidential race.

The photos were shared on Instagram by her niece, Mina Harris. The caption read, "Back to where it all began only a few months ago. My eternal gratitude to everyone who showed up. We love her so much."

[19:40:10]

Donald Trump's election victory could give him another chance to shape the Supreme Court and further stack its conservative majority. Of course, he appointed three conservative justices during his first term and with three more justices approaching retirement age, the incoming administration could potentially reform the high court for decades to come.

Joining us now, NPR legal affairs correspondent, Nina Totenberg.

Nina, nice to see you, thanks for being here.

NINA TOTENBERG, NPR LEGAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: My pleasure.

DEAN: As someone who is so very familiar with the inner-workings of this court and has covered this court for years, walk us through this moment in time and what could unfold over the next few years.

TOTENBERG: Well, Justice Clarence Thomas is 76, Justice Sam Alito is 74. They are two of the most conservative members of the court and at least arguably, they could retire, and my guess is that there will be a great deal of pressure on them to retire.

But I suspect, at least -- I suspect they won't actually, but you never know. They have time to think about it. I mean the Republican Majority in the Senate will ensure that however Donald Trump would pick if there is a vacancy, would get through quickly as we have seen.

I mean, Mitch McConnell, when he was Majority Leader, he made sure that the opening created by the death of Justice Antonin Scalia was not filled for almost 10 months, and then when Justice Ginsburg died, he made sure that vacancy was filled within days a nomination was made within weeks, it was filled. It depends a great deal who is in charge of the Senate. The Senate will be in Republican hands for the next two years and if you look at who is up, the likelihood is that they'll be -- that the Republicans will continue control of the Senate, at least that is the way it looks tentatively for now, of course, a great deal can change.

DEAN: What you make of this big dream, pipe dream if you will from some Democrats about Sonia Sotomayor retiring and then replacing her with a much younger justice in this limited amount of time they have yet before Trump takes over?

TOTENBERG: Never say never, but I wouldn't bet the firm on it. In fact, I wouldn't bet a $10.00 bill on it.

DEAN: Fair enough.

TOTENBERG: I actually -- I spent a fair amount of time before the election trying to figure out what would happen if either side, one control -- one, whether it was Harris or Trump, and I spent a lot of time talking to conservatives who our friends of Justice Thomas and they don't think that he is going anywhere. They think that he would view that as being driven out of office by his critics and that he is not at all likely to do that.

People who know Justice Alito think it unlikely that he will retire either. This is his life. He spent his life as a public servant. The question is, what do you do afterwards? He is a man who is defined by his work.

If I were betting, I would bet there are no vacancies. But we have seen vacancies occur that nobody expected, justices get sick, whatever.

DEAN: No, for sure. Our colleague Joan Biskupic had some new reporting about Justice Amy Coney Barrett and how the left may see her as their best hope during this incoming administration.

She writes, "Liberals on and off the bench see Barrett as someone who may provide some equilibrium to a court remaking the law in America, possibly able with her legalistic way to secure a cross-ideological majority for moderation."

What do you think sets her apart ? Do you agree with that assessment?

TOTENBERG: I agree with it partially, but only partially. She is a very conservative justice. Nothing is going to detract from that. But in this past term, she has, and even before that, she has given significant indications that she doesn't want to rip up the tarmac and run wild.

You saw it even in the Trump immunity case. She signed onto the opinion that the Chief Justice wrote, but disagreed with part of it. Again, she disagrees about the interpretation of -- when the court throughout a statute under which some of the January 6th defendants were convicted and sentenced to prison, she disagreed that that statute should have been thrown out. [19:45:15]

So, I think that she will bring some moderation and the Chief Justice to some extent as the same way. But, you know, you need five and that means they have to get Kavanaugh on board too or another justice in addition to the three liberals. This is a six to three conservative board. So, getting one justice who peels off isn't enough.

DEAN: Right, and just quickly before I let you go, I think there are a lot of Americans that are deeply concerned about what -- after Roe was overturned what more might possibly be up for being overturned within the courts that gets kicked up to the Supreme court. I'm thinking about gay marriage as an example. What do you think about the potential for that?

TOTENBERG: I think the potential for very allowing limits on trans, treatments for minors that that is definitely in danger.

I personally just don't think the court will go so far as to reverse itself on gay marriage. It could, but I think it would be such a jot to the system because suddenly states would not be recognizing marriages from other states and that is kind of an insane idea at this point in this road that we have been down on LGBTQ rights.

I don't imagine that, but the whole regulatory state is about to change, courtesy of a court that has done this. And there is a great deal more of things that are very important to people.

DEAN: Yes. Nina Totenberg, as always, thank you very much, we really appreciate your time.

TOTENBERG: Thank you.

DEAN: We will be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:51:54]

DEAN: Donald Trump won the presidency thanks in large part to the Latino vote.

CNN's Ed Lavandera visited Phoenix to tell that story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ED LAVANDERA, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): In 2016, this happened at a Donald Trump rally in Arizona.

DONALD TRUMP (R) PRESIDENT-ELECT OF THE UNITED STATES: Look at that sign, Latinos support Trump. I love you. I love you.

LAVANDERA: Next thing Betty Rivas knew, she was on stage with the future president.

TRUMP: I love her. I have fallen in love -- Melania, I've fallen in love with her.

LAVANDERA (voice over): Eight years later, Rivas remains fully enamored with the president-elect.

(BETTY RIVAS, TUCSON RESIDENT speaking her foreign language)

LAVANDERA (voice over): Betty Rivas told us she felt a connection with Trump on that stage when they looked into each other's eyes.

Betty and her husband Jorge owns "Sammy's Mexican Grill" near Tucson. In this temple to Trump, they serve tacos and enchiladas and the popular MAGA burger.

LAVANDERA (on camera): If somebody came up to you and say you are a Latino immigrant, how can you support Donald Trump?

JORGE RIVAS, TUCSON RESIDENT: I will tell them that the man love this country.

LAVANDERA (voice over): He says Trump speaks about the things he talks about, faith, family and economy.

J. RIVAS: I know he is not perfect I know he is not like a Pope. We believe in teaching our kids about God. Our Christian values, family values, and the Democratic Party is embracing all the work left- leaning ideas that doesn't go with our values.

LAVANDERA (on camera): I think there's going to be a lot of people who will hard a time hearing you say I like Trump because the family values.

J. RIVAS: I don't go by his lifestyle. I don't go by what he has done.

LAVANDERA (on camera): Do you think it is the Democrats pushing Latinos to Trump or is it Trump bringing in Latinos?

J. RIVAS: I think more Democrats are pushing Latinos to Trump.

(UNIDENTIFIED MALE speaking in foreign language)

LAVANDERA (voice over): Tony Adias and Idelfonso Armenta are the host of her radio show called "Los Chavo Rucos" which loosely translates to "young geezers."

On La Campasina Radio Network which airs in five states. They take dozens of calls a day on a radio station founded by the iconic labor organizer, Cesar Chavez. They have sensed Trump winning over Latinos in the last few years.

(UNIDENTIFIED MALE speaking in a global language)

LAVANDERA: "Democrats do not impress people" said the caller, "Donald Trump spoke well and stole their hearts."

(UNIDENTIFIED MALE speaking in foreign language)

LAVANDERA: Another caller said, "I fought with my oldest son. He told me Trump is better than Kamala. I said, I cannot accept that."

LAVANDERA (on camera): Are you saying that it's a generational divide in --

TONY ARIAS, RADIO HOST: I see a lot of young people voting for Trump because they are thinking about the economy.

RAQUEL TERAN, FORMER DEMOCRATIC LEADER IN THE ARIZONA SENATE: We need to do a better job of engaging our community.

LAVANDERA (voice over): Raquel Teran is a former Democratic legislator in Arizona. She recently ran for Congress and spent months knocking on doors trying to turn out Latino voters.

TERAN: What they are hearing from Trump is that there is going to be a better economy under his administration.

LAVANDERA (voice over): The night after Donald Trump won re-election, Jorge Rivas told us about their path to becoming US Citizens. He was born in El Salvador, granted asylum in the US at age 17.

Betty immigrated from Mexico and now she thinks many migrants are lying and trying to take advantage of the asylum process. They want immigration crisis fixed.

[19:55:08]

J. RIVAS: If they let in hundreds or thousands of people who already have criminal records, if deporting them creates mass deportation, I am all for it.

LAVANDERA (on camera): What if they are rounded up and all of that are people who work on a farm. If you're doing the jobs that Americans don't want to do, does that worry you?

J. RIVAS: That wouldn't be fair. Of course, you know, they need to make sure they don't throw away, they don't kick out -- they don't deport people that are family oriented.

LAVANDERA: The question that persists is why Donald Trump's history of offensive comments hasn't fully turned off Latino voters. Some pointed out to us that younger Latino voters in particular don't know much about Trump, that they simply see him as a celebrity businessman.

Others pointed out that many Latino immigrants come from countries with truly dangerous and evil political leaders and they view Trump as much more harmless.

Ed Lavandera, CNN, Phoenix.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

DEAN: Ed, thank you.

Thank you for joining me tonight. I'm Jessica Dean.

Stay with us. CNN NEWSROOM with Pamela Brown starts after a short break.

Have a great night, everyone.

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