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CNN International: Justice Dept. Critic Gaetz Chosen For U.S. Attorney General; John Thune To Become Next Senate Majority Leader; Biden En Route To Major Summits In South America. Aired 11a-12p ET
Aired November 14, 2024 - 11:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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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.
And ahead on CNN Newsroom --
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SEN. CHRIS MURPHY (D-CT): You could literally hear the jaws dropping to the floor.
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SOLOMON: -- absolute disbelief. Trump picks Congressman Matt Gaetz for Attorney General. Why some say it's a step too far? Plus, U.S. President Biden preparing for his last meeting with China's President Xi Jinping. What he hopes the meeting will accomplish before Trump takes over? And Paris is ramping up security ahead of today's football match between France and Israel. We will take you live outside the stadium for a look at how the city is preparing for protests.
The man once investigated by the Justice Department for sex crimes is Donald Trump's pick for Attorney General. Trump's choice of Matt Gaetz is sending shockwaves today through Washington, stunning not only Democrats, but members of his own party as well. Even some of Trump's supporters were caught off guard by his latest pick. Now, Gaetz was a Florida Republican Congressman, i.e., until Wednesday, when he resigned, effectively ending a House ethics investigation against him. He has been a longtime outspoken critic of the Justice Department, the agency that he may now get a chance to lead.
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MATT GAETZ, THEN-U.S. HOUSE REPUBLICAN: We either get this government back on our side, or we defund and get rid of, abolish the FBI, CDC, ATF, DoJ, every last one of them if they do not come to heal.
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SOLOMON: Now, the Justice Department ultimately decided last year not to pursue charges against him after a years-long sex crimes investigation. Some members, though, expressing uncertainty over Trump's choice. Take a listen.
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VOICE OF SEN. SUSAN COLLINS (R-ME): I was shocked that he has been nominated.
SEN. ROGER WICKER (R-MS): I'm having trouble.
MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: What about Matt Gaetz?
Do you support him?
SEN. RON JOHNSON (R-WI): We have a confirmation process.
SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R-SC): I don't know yet. I'll have to think about that one.
RAJU: Have you any concerns about it?
GRAHAM: We'll see.
RAJU: Do you think Matt Gaetz is confirmable?
SEN. JOHN CORNYN (R-TX): We'll find out. Won't we?
RAJU: Senator Kennedy, what do you think of Matt Gaetz as Attorney General?
SEN. JOHN KENNEDY (R-LA): Happy Thanksgiving.
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SOLOMON: The Gaetz choice and Trump's pick of Tulsi Gabbard to be his Director of National Intelligence has many asking, who will the President-elect choose next?
CNN's Steve Contorno tracking all of it for us and here with us. So, Steve, talk to us about what message, it appears, Trump is hoping to send with these picks and how they're being received.
STEVE CONTORNO, CNN REPORTER: Well, Rahel, Donald Trump campaigned on plans to dismantle the Justice Department, kneecap the military brass, and root out the deep state in the federal government, and the picks of Tulsi Gabbard, Matt Gaetz, as well as Pete Hegseth as Defense Secretary, certainly aligned with those views. If you're gwan (ph) to blow up those departments, you don't bring in seasoned administrators, you bring in hatchet men, and that is the entire point by naming these individuals to these positions.
In fact, one person close to Donald Trump in these selections told CNN, quote, "People being in a state of shock was the goal. That's exactly what MAGA wants. They want people who are a total challenge to the system." They believe that, and the Trump campaign believes that they have a mandate, and that mandate is built on what Donald Trump ran on, which is exactly what Matt Gaetz described in that soundbite you just played. It is a dismantling of the government agencies that they believe have been weaponized and turned against Donald Trump. Obviously, a lot of those accusations are full of conspiracies, if not downright misstatements and lies.
However, that is exactly the path they are following with these selections. And several Trump allies have suggested on social media that the picks that he has forthcoming are going to be closely in that vein and less in the more traditional camp that we saw with some of his earlier picks.
SOLOMON: It's an interesting point, Steve, and I wonder if shock is part of the strategy here. Do they believe that they can also get, at least in the case of Gaetz, confirmed?
CONTORNO: That's the real big question going forward, because obviously, you heard some already concerns, not just from Republicans in the House who have obviously a long-standing beef with Matt Gaetz and won't have a say necessarily in his confirmation, but some senators as well. They have to get through a Senate majority that is only going to be four people deep.
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And so, if they lose four votes, then it becomes a problem for Matt Gaetz.
However, we have seen time and time again, Donald Trump take actions and put forward names that appear offensive at first glance, and then soon after, Republicans get behind them. And I think that is what Donald Trump is testing with this Gaetz pick. It is someone who he wants to see the -- what kind of mandate and how far Republicans are willing to follow him. And if you listen to one Senator, Tommy Tuberville, it is jump and how high. Take a listen.
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SEN. TOMMY TUBERVILLE (R-AL): I've already seen where a couple of them says, I'm not voting for him. Wait a minute. You are not the United States of America. You have one vote in the U.S. Senate. You did not get elected President. Vote with President Trump. This is the last chance we're going to have, is saving this country. And if you want to get in the way, fine, but we're going to try to get you out of the Senate too, if you try to do that.
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CONTORNO: Now, those remarks are illustrative of a Republican Congress that is far more MAGA-friendly than it was when Donald Trump was first elected in 2016, and one of the reasons why Donald Trump believes he can get away with some of these selections.
SOLOMON: Yeah. We will soon see. Steve Contorno, thank you.
Now, Matt Gaetz's time in the House was marked by his unwavering support for Donald Trump and by controversy, including his successful bid to oust a fellow Republican from the speakership.
With more now, here is CNN's Brian Todd.
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DONALD TRUMP (R), FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT AND CURRENT PRESIDENTIAL- ELECT: Matt Gaetz is a great man.
BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In tapping Congressman Matt Gaetz to be his Attorney General, President-elect Donald Trump could be swatting at the biggest hornet's nest of his transition.
MARGARET TALEV, SENIOR CONTRIBUTOR, AXIOS: It would be like the understatement of the year to say that this is an unconventional pick. This is a provocative pick of a provocateur who has himself faced a lot of legal trouble and is highly polarizing, not just among whatever the American people or Congress, but inside the Republican Party himself.
TODD (voice-over): If confirmed, the 42-year-old from Florida would lead a Justice Department that he has criticized and been a target of.
GAETZ: I'm a marked man in Congress. I'm a canceled man in some corners of the internet. I might be a wanted man by the deep state.
TODD (voice-over): Gaetz, a 2020 election denier, has accused the Justice Department of being weaponized under President Biden against people like Trump. He has called for abolishing the department he is now been selected to lead, and called for abolishing the FBI, often jousting with its director.
GAETZ: People trusted the FBI more when J. Edgar Hoover was running the place than when you are.
TODD (voice-over): Could Gaetz now weaponize the Justice Department and help Trump go after his enemies?
REP. JARED MOSKOWITZ (D-FL): And I'm pretty sure with this pick, they're not just going to go around and shut down puppy mills. All right? This is a very serious pick, and Donald Trump is obviously telegraphing that he means business. Matt Gaetz is one of his best weapons in Congress. He is taking him out of Congress, and he is giving him the Attorney General's Office.
TODD (voice-over): It was Gaetz who led the charge among some far- right Republicans in Congress to oust Kevin McCarthy as House Speaker last year.
GAETZ: This House has been poorly led.
TODD (voice-over): But, before that, the man who could become America's top law enforcement official, had been accused of serious crimes. The Justice Department investigated Gaetz over allegations that he violated federal law by paying for sex, including sex with women who are under 18-years-old. Gaetz repeatedly denied any wrongdoing. And last year, the Justice Department announced it would not bring charges against him. One analyst says getting Gaetz confirmed could be a challenge, even in a Republican-led Congress.
TALEV: This seems destined not only to be a selection that is going to test the loyalty to President-elect Trump of Republicans in the Senate, but that is meant to provoke.
TODD (voice-over): Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.
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SOLOMON: And Republicans will have a new Senate Majority Leader, and it's not the Senator considered the most loyal to Donald Trump. South Dakota's John Thune will replace Mitch McConnell as the next Senate Republican leader. The GOP will have a trifecta in Washington next year, having won the White House and both chambers. Thune will be responsible for helping usher Donald Trump's agenda through Congress. Now, Thune -- or Trump, rather, has already made one controversial demand. He wants the Senate to back the idea of bypassing the traditional confirmation process for his cabinet picks, which Democrats were quick to push back on.
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MURPHY: I mean, that would be the end of the United States Senate if the Senate chose to end its power of advice and consent and just allow the President to choose, without any input, confirmation process or approval, his cabinet, I don't know why we would continue to show up for work. That's not a democracy anymore.
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SOLOMON: And Senate Republicans chose Thune over senators Rick Scott, a MAGA loyalist, and John Cornyn.
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SEN. JOHN THUNE (R-SD): The Senate has an advice and consent role in the Constitution.
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So, we will do everything we can to process his noms quickly, get them installed in their positions so they can begin to implement his agenda. We expect a level of cooperation from the Democrats to work with us to get these folks installed, and obviously, we're going to look at explore all options to make sure that they get moved and that they get moved quickly.
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SOLOMON: And we're joined now by POLITICO Congressional Reporter Nicholas Wu. Nicholas, great to have you. I think the question this morning is just how quickly might some of these nominations get through. And this might be the first real test for Senator Thune's leadership in terms of how he handles the confirmation process. What are you hearing? NICHOLAS WU, CONGRESSIONAL REPORTER, POLITICO: Well, the question now is really how these confirmation hearings will go for some of these more controversial nominees, like Pete Hegseth for the Department of Defense, Tulsi Gabbard for DNI, or Matt Gaetz for Attorney General. There is potentially damaging information that could come out during these, and Republican senators that my team talked to yesterday responded to the Gaetz news with a mixture of shock, confusion, and you had key moderate senators like Lisa Murkowski and Susan Collins signal that they might be opposed. So, this really will be a test of Senate Republicans' loyalty to Trump in the end.
SOLOMON: Yeah. And let's play just a few more clips of some Senate Republicans reacting to this news. Take a listen.
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JOHNSON: Well, it's an interesting pick, highly loyal to President Trump. Again, I don't know enough about him in terms of his ethic charges, and that's why I say it's a somewhat interesting pick. We'll have to see how that all unfolds.
SEN. SHELLEY MOORE CAPITO (WV): The President has the prerogative to nominate who he wishes.
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SOLOMON: But, Nicholas, it sounds like whether we're listening to those clips or whether we're listening to sort of, we had a montage from Manu Raju of him asking a handful of senators for what they thought, that a lot of senators are keeping their options open.
WU: A lot of Republican senators are likely withholding judgment, at least public comment for now, because remember, we're still in the lame duck session of this Congress. Control has not officially flipped yet, and it would make little tactical sense for a lot of these senators who might actually have reservations about some of these more (inaudible) nominees, to make their positions down before they're even up for a vote. They would want to avoid the kind of backlash that this could incur among more conservative voters.
SOLOMON: But, what about the idea of recess appointments? So, that's been something that Trump has obviously said that the new Senate leader should be -- should back or should support. But, the idea of completely going around the confirmation process entirely, what are you hearing there?
WU: This is something that it seems a lot of senators are resistant to doing, just because, like Susan Collins said, advice and consent was such an integral part of what the Senate does. That is one of their main functions as part of the federal government to provide a check on the executive branch and who they can appoint.
SOLOMON: And talk to me a little bit about -- we talked about it briefly there, but just days before Gaetz resigned, there is -- we expected this release of an ethics report. Do we know, is it clear what happens down with that report? Is it still going to be released? Is there any precedent here?
WU: It remains to be seen exactly what happens to that report. The thing is, is that, with the House Ethics Committee, people who are no longer a member of Congress are generally beyond its reach. They can't touch them. And so, the question now is that the Ethics Committee does have this report, whether they can come to any kind of agreement within them, and remember, it's an evenly divided Committee in Congress, whether they can come to any kind of agreement on what to do with this report. Whether it's the full report or whether it's the top lines, it remains to be seen. But, there will certainly be pressure on this panel to put something out, especially as the confirmation process starts to heat up for Congressman Gaetz.
SOLOMON: Yeah. And with Gaetz resigning, that makes the House Majority even slimmer. You think about some of Trump's other picks, whether it's representatives Stefanik or Waltz. How much more difficult, Nicholas, does that make passing real legislation, despite the fact that they control both chambers? If their majority in the House is still razor thin, and you have just a few who might not agree, I mean, that still has the potential of making things a little difficult in Washington.
WU: Very much so. As someone who covered the last time there was a traffic down in Washington, the -- after Joe Biden and Democrats won Congress in 2020 with a slightly larger margin in the House, actually, we saw how difficult it was for them to get through their infrastructure package, the social spending bill. Any number of House lawmakers could stand in the way of legislation in order to get what they wanted.
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And with the margin in the House likely about the same as it was this past Congress, which was highly dysfunctional, or maybe even smaller, this is a recipe for extreme legislative difficulty.
Now, the thing to remember, though, is that in the end, with the Democratic trifecta, they still got their bills through. And so, that will be the question with Republicans, as they try to enact this very ambitious conservative agenda next year.
SOLOMON: Yeah. Nicholas Wu, great to have you. Thank you.
And coming up, world leaders are preparing for a second Trump presidency. But first, Joe Biden is onboard Air Force One, as you see him here, on his way to South America for the APEC Summit. Plus, a new report by Human Rights Watch accuses Israel of a state-sponsored forced displacement policy against Palestinians in Gaza. After the break, we'll go live to the region.
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SOLOMON: U.S. President Joe Biden has just departed for Peru, as world leaders gather for the two major summits in South America. Here you see him arriving at Joint Base Andrews just a short time ago. The uncertainty of a second Trump term looming large over this week's Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation, or APEC Summit. President Biden is expected to highlight U.S. economic leadership and engagement in the Indo-Pacific region. Then on Saturday, Biden will meet with China's President Xi Jinping as the last time and for the last time as President, before he then heads off to Brazil to attend the G20 Summit.
Let's bring in CNN's Arlette Saenz, who is tracking this story, and joins us live from the White House. So, Arlette, talk to us about what more Biden is hoping to accomplish now with this trip.
ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Rahel, President Biden had hoped to be heading to these summits in both Peru and Brazil with much more different circumstances, as he had hoped that Vice President Kamala Harris would be preparing to succeed him in the coming four years. But, instead, Biden and many of these world leaders are now grappling with this reality that it will be President-elect Donald Trump in the White House for the next term.
Now, for President Biden, his first stop will be that APEC Summit in Peru. This will really give him a chance to highlight the United States' efforts in the Indo-Pacific region. The foreign policy view of this Biden administration has really coned in on the Indo-Pacific as a way to counter China's growing influence in the region. You have seen President Biden really lean into, trying to cultivate these alliances and relationships with other countries in the region, especially with the leaders of South Korea and Japan. He is set to meet with them in separate meetings while he is in Peru.
But, Biden has also been working to shore up and strengthen and create these new alliances with other countries. Think of the Philippines and Vietnam, and that is something National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan spoke to yesterday, saying that he believes that the work that the Biden administration has done with these alliances can endure beyond Biden's presidency. Take a listen.
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JAKE SULLIVAN, WHITE HOUSE NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISOR: He'll go with our alliances in the Indo-Pacific at a literal all-time high, Japan, Korea, Australia, the Philippines, a really remarkable record over four years, and that's what he is going to hand off to President Trump. And he is going to be making the case to our allies and frankly to our adversaries that America is standing with its alliances, investing in its alliances, and then asking its allies to step up and do their part, which they have done these past four years, is central to American strength and capacity in the world.
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SAENZ: Now, after the APEC Summit in Peru, President Biden will head to Brazil for the G20 Summit. This will put him in front of many world leaders that he has worked with, including those who have been part of the G7. And one thing that Biden has often pointed to, there is this anecdote, that when he first had his meeting on -- at the G7 Summit back in 2021, he said to those world leaders, America is back. And they asked, but for how long? That is now something Biden could have to grapple with when he is face to face with these world leaders, who are all gaming out what a Trump presidency will look like.
But, for President Biden, this trip will really serve as a capstone, in many ways, of his long foreign policy career, which is a personal passion for the President. And so, this is his first trip to South America, his last also as President, but it will give Biden a chance to meet with these world leaders, as many are trying to chart out what the next four years will look like under a Trump presidency.
SOLOMON: Yeah. And one leader that he will be meeting with, that he has met with many times over his foreign policy experience, as you've talked about, is Xi Jinping, both as Vice President and then President. What can we expect from that meeting? I mean, we know this last term, the relationship at times, had grown quite icy. What can we expect on Saturday in that meeting?
SAENZ: Yeah. Well, President Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping will sit down face to face for the final time and the first time that they are meeting in a year. It does come, as you noticed, Biden has really sought to manage this relationship with what has become perhaps the most consequential competitor that the U.S. is facing. Now, officials acknowledge there is not going to be a long list of deliverables coming out of the meeting. Instead, senior officials have described this as an opportunity to reflect not just on the U.S.-China relations, but also Biden's long relationship with Xi Jinping.
They're expected to talk about some thorny issues like Taiwan, also China's continued support for Russia amid its war in Ukraine, and also cyber concerns as well. But, looming large over all of this is the future President who is coming into office, and that is President- elect Donald Trump. He has promised a hardline approach to China on the world stage. He has talked about enacting tougher tariffs against China.
And he has also named several people who will join his administration, who have very hawkish views when it comes to China, perhaps setting a much more adversarial approach to the country at a time when the U.S. has really sought and worked very closely, trying to manage this relationship, trying to avoid any misunderstandings. President Biden perhaps could speak to what a Trump presidency could hold for Xi Jinping as well.
SOLOMON: Yeah, certainly one of the big question marks heading into the next term.
Arlette Saenz live for us there at the White House. Arlette, thank you.
And Israel's new Defense Minister says that the IDF has expanded its military ground offensive against Hezbollah in southern Lebanon. It's also escalating airstrikes. New blasts rocked the south of Beirut this morning for the third straight day. Hezbollah, meantime, is also keeping up its strikes on Israel. It says that it launched at least 20 attacks Wednesday alone, in part to show solidarity with its Palestinian people of Gaza.
And a new Human Rights Watch report on Gaza accuses Israel of carrying out a deliberate, systematic campaign of forced mass displacement. It says that the policy is a state-sponsored war crime that appears to meet the definition of ethnic cleansing. The report says that Israel has, quote, "blatantly violated obligations to ensure Palestinians can return home, raising virtually everything in large areas". The IDF says, for its part, that it's committed to international law and issues evacuation orders to protect civilians from combat.
Let's get more now from Jeremy Diamond, who is in Tel Aviv. Jeremy, let's start in Lebanon. What's the latest you can share with us about these strikes?
JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: Well, as you said, the Israeli military is certainly ramping up its attacks in Lebanon once again. And make no mistake, there is no coincidence with the fact that these ramped up attacks are happening as these negotiations for a ceasefire appear to be advancing, hitting perhaps a critical stage. Israel has always viewed military pressure as part and parcel of its negotiating strategy, whether it is in Lebanon or in Gaza, any time that they are working to negotiate a ceasefire. And in this case, we are seeing the third day in a row of airstrikes hitting the southern suburbs of the Lebanese capital of Beirut. You can see a large plume of smoke visible following strikes this morning.
We also know that these strikes followed evacuation orders issued by the IDF.
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The Israeli military, for its part, says that it was targeting Hezbollah command centers as well as weapons storage facilities. They have struck approximately 30 Hezbollah targets over just the last two days, according to the Israeli military. And again, this comes as those negotiations for a potential ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah appear to be advancing, with the Israeli Energy Minister, Eli Cohen, telling Reuters that the ceasefire prospects are closer than they ever have been since the beginning of this war. Rahel.
SOLOMON: Jeremy, at the same time, this newly released Human Rights Watch report, quite damning. I mean, talk to us about that.
DIAMOND: Yeah, certainly. And what's so significant about this report, beyond the kind of extensive nature of it, 154 pages, going into 184 different evacuation orders issued by the Israeli military, analyzing them, speaking to dozens of Palestinians on the ground, is it's going after what is -- what has really been one of the key arguments that Israel has made, as it tries to argue that it is doing everything it can to minimize civilian casualties, and that is this notion of issuing evacuation orders before carrying out military operations in certain areas. The Israeli military says that it is doing so to mitigate the harm to civilians, and it believes that it does so effectively.
But, what this Human Rights Watch report outlines and concludes is, not only that these evacuation orders and the system of evacuations that Israel employs has not made Palestinians more safe, but that, in fact, it has put them in more danger, and that the way in which it has done so, amounts, in Human Rights Watch's opinion, to war crimes and crimes against humanity. They say that Israel has, quote, "intentionally caused the mass and forced displacement of the majority of the civilian population in Gaza", pointing to the fact that 1.9 million Palestinians, more than 90 percent of the population, according to the United Nations, has been forced to displace as a result of this war.
The Human Rights Watch says in this report that these evacuation orders issued by the Israeli military are inconsistent, inaccurate, and frequently are not communicated to civilians with sufficient time for them to be able to move. It also notes, as we have documented in the past, that evacuation routes and evacuation zones have been struck by the Israeli military as well. For its part, the Israeli military insists that it is committed to international law and insists that these evacuations are being carried out to mitigate harm to civilians. Rahel.
SOLOMON: OK. Jeremy Diamond live for us there. Jeremy, thank you.
And still to come, anxiety looms over the global fight against climate change, as Argentina pulls its delegates out of the UN's climate conference. We're going to have details straight ahead. Plus, torrential rain is once again battering Spain, just two weeks after deadly flooding swept through some areas.
Meteorologist Derek Van Dam is here to tell us more. Derek.
DEREK VAN DAM, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yeah. And here we are again, heavy rain leading to this catastrophic flooding in Spain. Over a month's worth of rain fell from the sky in just one hour. I'll have a complete breakdown on what's to come after the break.
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SOLOMON: Welcome back. You're watching CNN Newsroom. I'm Rahel Solomon live in New York. And here are some of the international headlines we're watching for you today.
Delegates from Argentina are returning home after attending just two days of the UN's climate summit in Azerbaijan. A source tells CNN that the delegates were ordered to withdraw on Wednesday, as Argentina's President, Javier Milei, is expected to head to Mar-a-Lago for a conservative summit. The departure of Argentine negotiators feeds anxieties about the global climate fight and the future of the Paris Agreement. Donald Trump has vowed to pull the U.S. out of the treaty when he takes office.
Typhoon Usagi is slamming the northern Philippines with heavy rain and wind. The super typhoon made landfall earlier Thursday, packing winds of 240 kilometers per hour. That is the equivalent of a Category 4 hurricane. This is the third typhoon to hit the country in just eight days, and it's not going to be the last. A fourth storm is expected to hit the Philippines sometime this weekend.
And thunderstorms and torrential rain have once again battered coastal Spain, prompting thousands of people to evacuate their homes. In some areas, nearly a month's worth of rain fell in one hour on Wednesday. The country is still reeling from historic floods that killed more than 220 people just two weeks ago, and forecasters say that more rain is on the way.
Let's bring in Meteorologist Derek Van Dam. Derek, talk to us about when people can see relief there.
DAM: Yeah. Well, you can bet, Rahel, that anxiety levels are high as -- especially after two weeks ago, we had this historic, and unfortunately, deadly flooding. Now, we're left with what has caused more flooding into the south of Spain. You can see some of these aerial video images, just of what's been dealing or what people have been dealing with here, contending with flooded vehicles. There has also been some swift water rescues reported within the area. This is all just to the south and east of the Straits of Gibraltar, a location known as Malaga, Spain. You talked about how this area received over a month's worth of rain just in a one-hour period.
Well, here it is. You can see why. It's just tapping into moisture right off of the Western Mediterranean. This area saw that significant rainfall yesterday, and fortunately, the storm system that was responsible continues to meander a little further to the west, and I'll tell you why that's going to bring improving conditions in just one moment.
Here are some other rainfall totals. All in all, we've seen 137 millimeters in the Malaga region, where you saw the flash flooding on your video -- TV monitors just a moment ago. But, other locations, equally impressive numbers, roughly 40 to 80 millimeters in that 24- hour period. The radar, very busy, especially across the southeast coast. Remember, two weeks ago, this is the area here near Valencia and Barcelona that got hit the hardest with flash flooding. Now we focus our attention on the south of Spain, near the Straits of Gibraltar, and again, as the system starts to slowly work its way off of the Iberian Peninsula, we'll start to see the heavy rainfall relax and also skies start to clear up. So, maybe we'll get an opportunity to dry things out.
But, we do have another round of light to moderate showers still, as the system kind of meanders off the west coast of Portugal. Heavy rain warnings in effect. This is a level two of three near Seville, and that extends south towards the Straits of Gibraltar. But, you can see the storm system pulling away, and we'll say goodbye and good riddance, because this is just not what the country has needed, especially after going through such dangerous and deadly flooding lately. Additional rainfall totals here, anywhere between 15 to 25 millimeters, and again, adding more misery to the region. But, again, the conditions will improve from here on out, with no major rainmakers in sight past this weekend. Rahel. SOLOMON: Yeah. It certainly can't come soon enough.
Derek van Dam, thank you.
And still to come, France is gearing up for a football match against Israel, that starts just hours from now, as Paris police tighten security, trying to avoid any repeat of violence after those shocking scenes in Amsterdam last week. We're going to have a live report straight ahead.
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SOLOMON: Protests in Paris there ahead of today's football match between France and Israel. Pro- Palestinians groups Wednesday -- gathered Wednesday night to denounce a controversial pro-Israel gala by a far-right Israeli Association. French police are on high alert, ramping up security ahead of the match. Some 4,000 officers will be deployed to police the game. They want to prevent any violence like the clashes that broke out in Amsterdam last week. Israel and the Netherlands condemned the attacks on Israeli fans as antisemitic.
Let's bring in Melissa Bell for more. She is in the northern suburbs of Paris, where the game will soon kick off. Melissa, it looks relatively quiet behind you. Talk to us about what you're seeing there.
MELISSA BELL, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It is quiet for the time being, with three hours to kick off, Rahel. We are expecting pro-Palestinian demonstrations to take place in some of these northern parts of Paris, maybe not on the exact route that will lead the fans to the Stade de France, but certainly kept away from them by local authorities. All efforts being made to ensure that Israel's fans, those who have made the trip to Paris to support their national team, can be kept safe.
You mentioned the events of last night in Paris. I think they were interesting, Rahel, because this was a gala event held by Franco- Israelis in favor of the Israeli far-right Bezalel Smotrich was due to appear as a guest. The controversial Israeli Finance Minister is in charge of settlements in the West Bank. In the end, he didn't come, spoke by video link. But still, the event had attracted sufficient attention that pro-Palestinian groups came out of the streets to protest its holding and to protest Israeli policies in the Gaza Strip.
But, what we also saw, and this was the first time since the events of October 7th last year, we saw Jewish -- French Jewish groups coming out against the policies of the Israeli government as well. There were two separate demonstrations, one by Jewish groups, the other by pro- Palestinian voices, but both aimed at expressing anger at Israel's policies in the Gaza Strip. And so, to tonight, we do expect similar opposition to be voiced.
But, Paris authorities have really done everything they can, Rahel, to ensure that the scenes that we saw in Amsterdam last week not be repeated with these 4,000 policemen and women who are there to make sure that anyone choosing to attend the match can do so safely, but also to try and ensure that any violent demonstrations that are of pro-Palestine support are kept well away from the Stade de France, Rahel.
SOLOMON: Yeah, interesting that we're going to see Macron and his two predecessors as well at that game.
Talk to us a little bit, Melissa, about just the game coming at a particularly tense time for politics and sports in France.
BELL: That's right. I think in France, there has been, bear in mind, this is a country in Europe that has the Europe's large -- the European Union's largest Muslim population, largest Jewish community, as well, Rahel, but also has had, over the course of last year, these very strong pro- Palestine movements, not just protests, but increasingly what we're seeing here in Europe is politicians speaking out more and more forcefully in favor of arms, of weapons ban, for instance, to Israel, for -- calling for stronger and stronger sanctions to be brought on the Israeli government.
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So, you've got on one hand, European politicians who have been speaking more forcefully about events in the Middle East and at odds sometimes with their American counterparts and the general population, who for much more than a year now, have been hoping to express their support when they can to the Palestinian cause, Rahel, and that's very much what we're expecting to see once again tonight, with this effort being made by French authorities to try and say, look, it's all very well to express political opinions and to come out and protest against what's happening in Gaza, but that these need to be kept away from stadiums.
We saw this match last week between Paris Saint-Germain and Atletico Madrid, a huge sign was displayed "Free Palestine" all over the bleachers, all over a huge part of the stadium, that immediately condemned by French ministers.
And you're right. There is a determination on the part of French authorities to show their determined opposition to antisemitism, hence the presence, not just of Emmanuel Macron tonight, but Nicolas Sarkozy and Francois Hollande, the two former presidents, Rahel.
SOLOMON: Yeah. OK. Melissa Bell live for us there. Melissa, thank you.
Let's continue the conversation and talk more about the security concerns in Paris. We are joined now by Claude Moniquet, who is the President of the European Strategic Intelligence and Security Center. Claude, great to have you. Thanks for being here. Talk to us a little bit about how much of a challenge it is to protect and secure an event like this. I mean, as Melissa said in her piece, 4,000 police officers. What's the hardest part of securing an event like this?
CLAUDE MONIQUET, PRESIDENT, EUROPEAN STRATEGIC INTELLIGENCE & SECURITY CENTER: Oh, yes. It's -- the next time you heard a problem and challenge for the security forces in France, tonight, we'll have, as it was said in the report, we will have approximately 4,000 gendarmes and police officers at Stade de France. That's 10 percent of all the forces which were deployed for the Olympic Games, to give you an idea. So, we can hope, of course, that this would be sufficient to avoid any problems around the stadium and inside the stadium.
But, of course, we could see problems in other parts of the city, for example, near the hotels where the Israeli team will be -- is staying on the (inaudible) where the Stade de France is located. It's very a complicated municipality, with a lot of -- with a bigger Muslim community, with a lot of people with have not very friendly feelings about Israel and with a lot of also of criminals who could take the street tonight.
SOLOMON: Talk to us a little bit about -- I mean, we talked about the physical presence of the officers on the ground, but obviously, intelligence gathering always becomes really important with this as well. You think about social media. What are you hearing there? I mean, what's your sense there, just in terms of the intelligence gathering heading into the game?
MONIQUET: Intelligence in France and probably in other countries, and certainly in Israel, intelligence services are working a lot on this match since weeks now. They try to, of course, to detect the possible (inaudible). For instance, last week, after the Amsterdam program on Friday, on Friday morning, we began to sew on some social media, we began to saw calls to play a second round after Amsterdam, and the second round of music was the match in Paris tonight.
So, there is a lot of talk about -- of the intelligence service and the security service, which is done for weeks, a lot of exchanges with the -- between French and Israeli intelligence and security service, and also a lot of exchange between the French services and the service in Germany, in Netherlands, in Belgium, because we fear also -- or we can fear, we can suppose that some extremists from this country will try to join the party tonight.
SOLOMON: And then lastly, I mean, as you lay out all of these concerns, there were obviously calls for the game to be moved or for the game to be canceled. Officials obviously chose otherwise. What are your thoughts on that? I mean, is that the right move to continue with the game, and does it send the wrong message to cancel or move the games, whether it's ideologically or even just in terms of the ability of the intelligence and the security authorities to be able to protect the fans?
MONIQUET: No. I think the Interior Ministry, we know -- I'll tell you, the French Interior Ministry has exactly the right words. It said two days ago, there is no question to change to -- excuse me, to ban the match, to play (ph) the match in another stadium and so on.
[11:45:00] We will play it in the Stade de France, because it's the place where the French team -- the French national team is usually playing. We cannot concede to the violence. We cannot concede to mobs in the streets. And the fact that tonight, the President Macron and former President Sarkozy and probably Francois Hollande, will be in the stadium, is a clear sign of solidarity with the Jewish community and a clear sign that the French state don't -- doesn't want to concede -- to consider anything to the mobs and to the violence.
SOLOMON: Yeah, certainly sending a message there with the presence of the three leaders.
Claude Moniquet, great to have your insights today. Thank you.
MONIQUET: Thank you.
SOLOMON: And coming up for us, a key indicator on inflation has been released, and here is a live look at the Dow, which is fractionally lower, although we've seen a bit of a Trump jump after the election. Still ahead, the latest on the producer prices and what it could mean for the economy and a live report, after we come back.
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SOLOMON: Welcome back. A key measure of inflation is up for the month of October. Producer prices grew 0.2 percent in October. That's a faster rise than in September. Annual producer price inflation hit 2.4 percent in October, up from 1.9 percent on an annual basis the previous month.
Let's bring in CNN's Matt Egan, joining us live from New York. So, Matt, break down this report for us.
MATT EGAN, CNN REPORTER: Well, Rahel, this is another reminder that getting inflation back to normal is easier said than done. As you mentioned, this is wholesale inflation. So, it's measuring prices before it gets to all of us as consumers, and the report today show the producer prices up by 2.4 percent year-over-year, and 0.2 percent on a monthly basis. The monthly increase is not alarming, and it does suggest that some of this has to do with the calendar, the fact that a year ago, inflation was falling rapidly, and that's always tough to live up to, on a comparison standpoint.
And we look at the trend, we can see that inflation has really improved dramatically from two and a half years ago, when this metric was at almost 12 percent. But, it also shows, when you combine this with yesterday's Consumer Price Index, that getting back to that two percent normal level, that last mile of improvement, that is proving to be a bit tricky. The economists that I talked to today, they didn't sound overly alarmed by these numbers, though they did sound a little bit more concerned, and there is this growing sense that the Federal Reserve is probably going to have to start to slow the pace of interest rate cuts next year, right, and that would be disappointing for everyone who is trying to pay off credit card debt or get a car loan or a mortgage. Now, we know that the Fed and economists, they look at the rate of
inflation, but all of our viewers care about the level of prices, and there is no doubt that everyone is paying so much more at the grocery store or for car insurance or just about anything than they were a few years ago. And Moody's found that each month a typical U.S. household is spending about $1,100 more than they did in January 2021, all to get the same goods and services, and all because prices have gone up.
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And Rahel, I think that really explains why people remain pretty frustrated, understandably so, about the cost of living.
SOLOMON: Yeah. I know people say, a picture says a thousand words, but it's really that number which says that thousand words, because that really gets to a lot of the frustration we hear so much about.
Matt, talk to us a little bit about what this means for President- elect Trump's future economic plans.
EGAN: Well, Rahel, it means he is inheriting an economy that is still getting over an inflation shock, and where inflation is not yet back to normal. And that's why it is so significant that his economic proposals are, according to mainstream economists that we both talk to, quite inflationary. When you think about massive tariffs and mass deportations and tax cuts that add trillions of dollars to national debt, there is a risk that that makes these price increases accelerate again, which obviously is not what people want.
Take a listen to former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers and what he told our colleague Kate Bolduan yesterday.
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LARRY SUMMERS, FORMER U.S. TREASURY SECRETARY UNDER PRESIDENT CLINTON: If he carries through on what he said during his campaign, there will be an inflation shock significantly greater than the one the country suffered in 2021. If you're talking about deporting millions of people, that is an invitation to labor shortage and bottlenecks. So, I hope that he will get the message from this election and adjust his program so that it is not inflationary.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
EGAN: That's quite the warning from a former Treasury Secretary. We should know that the Trump campaign, the Trump transition, they've pushed back, and they've argued that his plans will not be inflationary.
But, Rahel, look, I think the devil is in the details here. How high does Trump really plan to make tariffs go and for how long, and how many deportations are even possible logistically and legally? I think the answer to those questions is going to go a long way to deciding just what happens next for inflation. Rahel.
SOLOMON: Yeah, a lot of questions. And as we learn more and more about his cabinet, one person in one role who hasn't been chosen yet is the Treasury Secretary. So, that'll be really interesting to see --
EGAN: Yes.
SOLOMON: -- what happens there, Matt.
EGAN: And safe to say that it won't be Larry Summers.
SOLOMON: Safe to say.
Matt Egan, good to have you. Thank you.
EGAN: Thanks, Rahel.
SOLOMON: All right. A potential economic hit for the social media platform X. Its competitor, Bluesky, has rocketed to the top of the Apple App Store in the U.S. The company says that it gained one million new sign-ups this past week alone, and now has more than 15 million total users. This comes as a handful of prominent journalists announced that they were quitting X in recent days, and about 115,000 X users deactivated their account after the election. That's according to digital platform Similarweb. Elon Musk, of course, endorsed Donald Trump and contributed big bucks to a political action committee supporting him.
Let's bring in from Toronto CNN's Clare Duffy. So, Clare, what more are you learning? What more can you share with us about this apparent exodus, if you can call it that, from X?
CLARE DUFFY, CNN BUSINESS WRITER: Yeah. Rahel, it's actually really interesting, because activity on X peaked on Election Day and the day after. By one estimate, there were 46.5 million visits to the site, just to the website alone. That doesn't include the mobile app. But, we've seen that activity taper off since the election. As you said, 115,000 users deactivating their U.S. accounts from X. That includes the UK newspaper The Guardian. It includes our former CNN colleague, Don Lemon, other prominent journalists. And users are really frustrated with the way that Elon Musk has used X to promote President-elect Donald Trump. He has also spread racist conspiracy theories. We've seen more hate speech.
And so, this comes at a time when, as you said, we're also seeing X competitor Bluesky really start to take off. Users have more than doubled in the last 90 days. As you said, there are now more than 15 million users, which remains much smaller than X, but it still is sort of a growing swell of users who feel like this is a more useful and more positive platform.
But, I will say, I think that we should take any claims that this is going to be a mass exodus from X with a grain of salt, because we've seen this before. Elon Musk has made other controversial decisions as owner of the platform, and users say they're going to leave, but then they end up trickling back. I also think that Musk doesn't necessarily have a reason to change the way that he is running the platform. I mean, look, his boosting of Trump on X has gotten him a position in the administration. And so, while there are users who say they're planning to leave the platform, there are also a lot of right-leaning users who are coming to X. So, I think it's going to take a lot more users leaving the platform for him to really change the way that he is operating.
SOLOMON: Yeah. It's interesting, because even with Threads, we've seen these competitors try to sort of gain traction or take advantage of the fact that some people do apparently want to leave X, but no one really being able, clearly, to really sort of take away their viewership or their audience base.
[11:55:00]
Clare Duffy, thank you.
And before we go, one more thing, something you don't see every day, a wayward koala bear inside your home.
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SOLOMON: That was an Adelaide, Australia. The small but wild koala wandered into the couple's bedroom, surprising the woman there. We heard screaming when she returned home from work. She told her husband, there is a koala in our room. He didn't believe her until he saw it himself. You see it just sort of hanging out on the bed there. The couple was eventually able to lower the koala off the bed and outside using that blanket there. Wild.
Well, we know your time -- thank you. We know your time is money. So, thank you for spending some time with me today. I am Rahel Solomon live in New York. Stick with CNN. One World is coming up next.
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