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CNN This Morning
Trump Begins Selecting Top Positions For New Administration; Netanyahu Calls Trump Win "History's Greatest Comeback"; California Wildfire Destroys More Than 130 Homes; Latino Voting Margins Shift Towards Trump. Aired 5-5:30a ET
Aired November 08, 2024 - 05:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[05:00:30]
KASIE HUNT, CNN ANCHOR: It's Friday, November 8th.
Right now on CNN THIS MORNING:
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DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT-ELECT OF THE UNITED STATES: Susie likes to stay sort of in the back. Let me tell you, the ice maiden, we call her the ice maiden.
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HUNT: The top spot. Donald Trump tapping his campaign manager as his White House chief of staff.
Plus --
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REPORTER: If he asked you to leave, would you go?
JEROME POWELL, FEDERAL RESERVE CHAIRMAN: No.
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HUNT: Standing firm, the chair of the Federal Reserve says he won't step down if the president-elect tries to push him out.
And --
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REP. JOAQUIN CASTRO (D-TX): It would be a mistake not only to lay that blame now, but also to give up on the community.
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HUNT: Grappling with defeat. Democrats look in the mirror for answers on why Latino voters flocked to Trump.
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HUNT: All right, 5:00 a.m. here on the East Coast. A live look at Capitol Hill on this Friday morning.
Good morning, everyone. It is finally Friday. We made it to the end of a particularly long week. I'm Kasie Hunt. It's wonderful to have you with us.
Just days after his historic comeback victory, we are learning the plans for Donald Trump's new administration. The focus now, staffing up. He has already announced his pick for chief of staff, his campaign manager Susie Wiles. And she will make history as the first woman to serve in that role. Trump praised Wiles in his election night victory speech from West Palm Beach.
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TRUMP: Susie and Chris, the job you did. Susie, come, Susie, come here, come here, Susie. Susie likes to stay sort of in the back. Let me tell you the ice maiden. We call her the ice maiden.
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HUNT: After running what has been considered to be Trump's most disciplined campaign yet. A source tells CNN she asked for more control over who gets access to Trump once he's in office. The source telling CNN, quote, the clown car can't come into the White House at will and he agrees with her.
That is a reference to Trump's first term. His previous chiefs of staff struggled to keep people from meeting with the president. Trump also reportedly taking the job of selecting top positions more seriously this time around. A Trump adviser telling CNN, quote, that would seem like an obvious thing, but he feels strongly that in 2016, he allowed people who were around him and knew more about D.C. to make decisions for him. He is far more involved now.
Joining us now is "The Hill's" Julia Manchester and actually Julia will be joining us momentarily as we, of course, learn more about what the Trump administration is going to look like.
Control of Capitol Hill right now as were trying to learn more. We're still understanding whether or not the house -- it's expected to go Republican, but of course, it's the United States Senate that is going to really make the difference in terms of whether and how Donald Trump's nominees are going to be confirmed.
And Julia Manchester does join us now.
Julia, good morning.
JULIA MANCHESTER, REPORTER, THE HILL: Good morning.
HUNT: So let's talk about Susie Wiles at the beginning because that fascinating moment as Trump declared victory on Tuesday night, he tried to call Susie Wiles up to the microphone. She actually wouldn't take it she gave it to her campaign manager Chris LaCivita instead. And while that may be the image she wanted to send publicly, here she is. Here was part of that moment where she shakes her head and says, no, I'm not taking the microphone.
Behind the scenes, she does not step back.
MANCHESTER: No.
HUNT: The way you saw her do this in public. She is incredibly widely respected, not just in Trump's universe, but by Republicans who she has been in politics for a long time, Republican politics before Trump.
What does this say about what the new Trump administration might look like?
MANCHESTER: Look, I think it shows that there could be more discipline compared to the last administration. As you talked about just a few minutes ago, there were -- there was a lot of struggles with this, previous chiefs of staff to really control him. And we know that this campaign, compared to the last two Trump campaigns, has been very disciplined. I mean, she has been able to sort of control his messaging to the extent that she can because ultimately Donald Trump makes that decision.
But she has very much been able to discipline the campaign sort of limit who gets around him. And look, she has a lot of experience, you know, positive experience as a political operative particularly in Florida. We know that she was in -- she's been involved with Senator Rick Scott's past campaigns, 2016, President Trump's run there, Ron DeSantis.
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So we've seen that state increasingly become red, and, you know, it's because of people like Susie Wiles.
HUNT: Well, Ron DeSantis really --
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HUNT: -- he is not being on track to be inaugurated president.
MANCHESTER: No, right.
HUNT: Julia, one -- one thing that, you know, we've been reporting here and we walk through it at the top, was that the thing that Wiles wanted was control of who had access to the president and we know that Donald Trump, as a person often is incredibly influenced by the last person that he spoke to. So this is a way to try to stay on top of that no one recognizes that, and shows that Susie Wiles really knows the man she's dealing with.
MANCHESTER: Yeah, and that's going to be huge because we saw the Harris campaign continuously try to paint Donald Trump as someone who was chaotic and point to the scenes from his first administration, his 2020 campaign and you know, Susie Wiles because of how disciplined she was able to keep Donald Trump to an extent. I mean, there were certainly criticisms of his rhetoric and, you know certain moments during the campaign.
You know, I think we could expect to see something different here. You know, we heard so much about the palace intrigue, the leaks during the first of Trump administration. I think there's going to be a real effort by people like Susie Wiles to put a lid on that.
HUNT: So, Julia, of course, this just the first of many roles that Trump is going to have to fill here. Obviously, conversations ongoing about secretary of defense, secretary of state. Marco Rubio's name has been in play.
We also have Doug Burgum who was the governor, outgoing governor of North Dakota. Let's -- let's watch what he had to say about the transition possibilities.
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GOV. DOUG BURGUM (R), NORTH DAKOTA: I think it's a sign of respect for the whole state of North Dakota that that my name is popping up on a short list. He and I were on the same page that you can't do transition planning -- really shouldn't even be talking about it until after you win an election. And, of course, now yesterday and today, those discussions are going in earnest.
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HUNT: So now, of course, Mar-a-Lago, the center of this because as we've reported here, Trump has been superstitious. He is superstitious, didn't want to plan for this ahead of time. What are you hearing from your sources on "The Hill" about who might fill these positions and who may be out as well?
MANCHESTER: So what's interesting is for U.N. ambassador, we are hearing, Congresswoman Elise Stefanik, obviously part of House Republican leadership, but has been incredibly vocal about antisemitism in the U.S. and her support of Israel. We know that she was in Israel earlier this year. She's proven to be an ally. I think, in many ways to Netanyahu, conservatives in Israel. So she is being floated for the spot of U.N. ambassador.
And we know that in that spot, she's probably going to obviously clash with some people in or, you know, some figures in the U.N. on the issue of Israel. Marco Rubio for secretary of state, a lot of Republicans love to hear that name, because we know that he's someone who is well versed in foreign policy and intelligence.
He's not necessarily, I would say, a moderate but he's someone who sort of speaks to a number of corners of the Republican Party. So even Republicans who might be concerned about sort of this potential chaos we'll see in the Trump administration, they like to see names like Marco Rubio.
HUNT: All right. Julia Manchester of "The Hill" -- you're heading into a busy season.
MANCHESTER: Yes.
HUNT: Thank you for being here on this Friday.
MANCHESTER: Thank you.
HUNT: All right. Coming up here on CNN THIS MORNING, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu welcoming Donald Trump back with open arms. How a second Trump term could shape the Middle East.
Plus, Russian President Vladimir Putin also praising the president elect, saying he is now ready to engage with the U.S.
And playing the blame game. How Democrats are coming to terms with losing some of their most critical voting blocs.
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REP. DEAN PHILLIPS (D-MN): I think we've used too much condemnation, not enough invitation to appeal to American voters and I think Democrats have pretty good product, but not good packaging, not good distribution.
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HUNT: All right. Welcome back.
More than 20 world leaders have now made contact with Donald Trump to congratulate him on winning the presidency. Among them, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. He praised Trump in a tweet for quote, history's greatest comeback. Going on to say, quote, your historic return to the White House offers a new beginning for America and a powerful recommitment to the great alliance between Israel and America.
That sentiment shared by many in Israel, including members of the military.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: On the occasion of Donald Trump's presidency, God bless America. God bless Israel. Woo!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think it's good for Israel. Yeah. No doubt. It's better than Kamala Harris.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think it's going to be a new era for the world, for the Middle East, for Israel. Things are going to be -- things are going to change.
(END VIDEO CLIP) HUNT: All right, let's go live to London where we find CNN's Max Foster.
Max, good morning to you. So we're hearing from Benjamin Netanyahu, praising what he's calling the recommitment to the U.S. Israeli alliance. What does the Trump presidency mean for Israel?
MAX FOSTER, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Trying to work that out. He's obviously very -- he's spoken a lot to Netanyahu, as we understand it. He is very sympathetic to, you know, the Israeli cause. But at the same time, we have heard him often talking about how he wants to end wars.
Netanyahu doesn't show any indication that he wants to end his war. So then we look back at what Trump might have said over the campaign. And I think a couple of things stand out. One of them was when he -- Trump talked about finishing the problem with the war against Hamas, suggesting that there is some leeway for Netanyahu to continue with that mission to completely destroy Hamas within Gaza.
But the other interesting point during the campaign was when, if you remember, Trump criticized Biden for opposing the idea that Israel should attack the nuclear sites within Iran in response for an attack on Israel. So Biden felt that was going too far. Trump criticized that. So it does suggest that you know, maybe Israel would be allowed to attack those nuclear sites, which would take away, in Israel's eyes, the nuclear threat from Iran.
But again, were just going on what he said before and you probably have to look at what he does, don't you?
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HUNT: Indeed, you do. And we are, of course, about to find out.
Max, while I have you, I also wanted to touch on what has been going on in Amsterdam overnight, where there was a football match between Dutch and Israeli teams. But violence broke out in the aftermath. What can you tell us about this?
FOSTER: Well, we haven't verified all these videos, but there's lots of them there was clearly a serious incident last night. Hundreds of officers sent out. We're hearing more, actually, from the Israeli side, more than anything diplomats and government that they were as these Israeli football fans left a match, they were attacked, not clarity on who they were attacked by. But the Israelis thinking it was a planned attack because there was a lot of language and social media chatter leading up to this.
And then initially, Prime Minister Netanyahu said he was sending planes, would you believe, to Amsterdam to evacuate Israeli citizens which is an extraordinary situation. We're not sure if that's still happening, but certainly there's a plan to evacuate any Israelis that want to get out of the Netherlands and the Israeli foreign minister is also flying over to the Netherlands. The foreign minister saying this was a barbaric and antisemitic attack
and called them a blaring alarm call for Europe and the world. So this idea of a -- you know, rise in antisemitism in Europe is something that certainly resonating within Israel.
HUNT: All right, Max Foster, for us this morning -- Max, thanks very much for that. Have a wonderful weekend.
FOSTER: And to you.
HUNT: All right, sixteen minutes past the hour. Here's your morning roundup.
The FBI now investigating a rise in racist text messages that are being sent from random phone numbers nationwide. People receiving the offensive texts in at least eight states. The references to slave catchers and picking cotton at plantations.
Three people facing charges in Argentina surrounding Liam Payne's death. They include a hotel employee and a suspected drug dealer. Officials are considering charges of abandonment of a person before death and other drug charges. Payne died after falling from a hotel balcony last month.
One of President-elect Donald Trump's lead attorneys phones was tapped by Chinese hackers according to CNN sources. We're told the FBI alerted Todd Blanche that the hackers accessed some voice recordings and texts. None of the information pertains to Trump but Blanche is now the second of two Trump attorneys to be targeted by hackers.
All right. Time now for weather. The wildfire burning in California's Ventura County, destroying more than 130 homes.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I didn't know if our neighbors got out. And my phone didn't work, so I couldn't -- I didn't know if anybody was stuck.
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HUNT: The fire scorching more than 20,400 acres of land since Wednesday morning.
Fortunately, today, the wind that fueled the flames seems to be slowing down.
Let's get to our meteorologist, Derek Van Dam, with more on this.
Derek, good morning.
DEREK VAN DAM, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yeah. Kasie, we've heard so many harrowing stories, not only of residents on the ground, but also the local firefighters battling this Mountain Fire. Again, this is in western Ventura County. Look at the people just working together as a team to put the fire breaks in place. You can see the fire back in the distance approaching towards these properties. We already know that dozens of homes and structures have already been burnt.
Now the good news is that the wind that fueled the flames continues to relax. It's certainly not the oranges and the yellows that we saw at this time yesterday morning with the intense Santa Ana wind event that took shape this week and even heading into the rest of the weekend, we don't see that picking up from the off shore direction, although we will get a more onshore component. So some of the smoke that has been billowing from these wildfires will move inland and actually start to bring very poor air quality across Ventura, Los Angeles, San Bernardino areas.
A red flag warning still exist in the interior mountains of southern California. Let me take you to the other side of the country, where another red flag warning is in place for a large population density of the New England coastline, 57 percent of the Northeast under drought conditions right now, over 90 percent extremely dry. We know and have been monitoring the dry weather that has been impacting the northeast but now were getting this combination of dry relative humidity. No recent rainfall and winds that will pick up. So that is including our increasing our fire risk across the area.
And lastly, I'm going to leave you with this major snowstorm unfolding across Eastern Colorado and Northern sections of New Mexico. Incredible footage with cars and vehicles and trucks stranded on highways as over three feet of snow piles up in an early season snowfall there -- Kasie.
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HUNT: Well, let's hoping everyone is safe, but I will say its at least its winter somewhere. It sure isn't winter here yet.
Derek Van Dam for us this morning, Derek, I'll see you next hour. Thank you very much.
VAN DAM: Okay.
HUNT: All right. Still ahead here on CNN THIS MORNING: the Fed orders another rate cut. What it means for the economy. Will a shakeup could be on the way for the Federal Reserve when Donald Trump takes office?
Plus, the Democratic Party now left to do post-election soul searching after Republicans made major headway with their historically reliable blocs of supporters.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think myself, a lot of other Latinos across the country, felt the vice president was going to win the Latino vote. I mean, she obviously didn't win it, but the fact that we lost, particularly amongst Latino men, so much support. I think is a challenge.
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HUNT: All right, 5:24 a.m. here on the East Coast, a live look at Las Vegas, Nevada, where it is, 2:24 a.m. Pacific Time.
Good morning, everyone. I'm Kasie Hunt. It's wonderful to have you with us.
As Washington grapples with the reality of Donald Trump's return, the dramatic shifts in the electorate are also coming into focus. Trump's victory on Tuesday found broad support with Latino voters.
CNN's Ed Lavandera takes a closer look at what drove the shift.
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ED LAVANDERA, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In 2016, this happened at a Donald Trump rally in Arizona.
TRUMP: Look at that sign, Latinos support Trump. I love you. I love you!
LAVANDERA: Next thing Betty Rivas knew, she was on stage with the future president. I love her, I fall in love -- Melania, I fallen in love with her.
TRUMP: Eight years later, Rivas remains fully enamored with the president-elect.
Betty Rivas told us she felt a connection with Trump on that stage when they looked into each others eyes. Betty and her husband Jorge, owned Sammy's Mexican Grill near Tucson in this temple to Trump, they serve tacos and enchiladas and the popular MAGA burger.
If someone were to come up to you and say, you're a Latino immigrant, how can you support Donald Trump?
JORGE RIVAS, TRUMP SUPPORTER: I will tell him that the man loved this country.
LAVANDERA: He says. Trump speaks about the things he cares about faith, family and the economy.
RIVAS: I know he's not perfect. I know he's not like the pope. We believe in, you know, teaching our kids about God, our Christian values, family values.
And the Democratic Party is embracing all the woke, left-leaning ideas that it doesn't go with our values.
LAVANDERA: I think there's going to be a lot of people who have a hard time hearing you say, I like Trump because of family values.
RIVAS: I don't go by his lifestyle. I don't go by what he has done.
LAVANDERA: Do you think it's the Democrats pushing Latinos to Trump, or is it Trump bringing in Latinos?
RIVAS: I think more Democrats are pushing Latinos to Trump. LAVANDERA: Tony Arias and Idelfonso Armenta are the host of a radio
show called "Los Chavorrucos", which loosely translates to young geezers.
In La Campesina radio network, which airs in five states. They take dozens of calls a day on a radio station founded by the iconic labor organizer Cesar Chavez. And they've sensed Trump winning over Latinos in the last few years.
Democrats do not impress people, said the caller. Donald Trump spoke well and stole their hearts.
Another caller said I fought with my oldest son. He told me Trump is better than Kamala. I said, I cannot accept that.
Are you seeing that it's a generational divide?
TONY ARIAS, RADIO HOST: I see a lot of young people voting for Trump because they're thinking about the economy.
RAQUEL TERAN, FORMER DEMOCRATIC LEADER IN THE ARIZONA SENATE: We need to do a better job of engaging our communities.
LAVANDERA: Raquel Teran is a former Democratic legislator in Arizona. She recently ran for Congress and spent months knocking on doors trying to turn out Latino voters.
TERAN: What they're hearing from Trump is that there's going to be a better economy under his administration.
LAVANDERA: The night after Donald Trump won reelection, Jorge Rivas told us about their path to becoming U.S. citizens. He was born in El Salvador, granted asylum in the U.S. at age 17. He immigrated from Mexico. Now, she thinks many migrants are lying and trying to take advantage of the asylum process. They want the immigration crisis fixed.
RIVAS: If they let in hundreds or thousands of people who already have criminal records, if deporting them creates a mass deportation, I'm all for it.
LAVANDERA: But what if rounded up and all of that are people who work on a farm? Are they doing the jobs that Americans don't want to do? Does that does that worry you?
RIVAS: That wouldn't be fair. Of course. You know, they need to make sure that they don't throw away. They don't kick out --- they don't deport people that are that are family-oriented.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HUNT: All right. Very interesting. Thanks to Ed Lavandera for that.
Joining us now to talk about how the Latino vote shaped this election is Sabrina Rodriguez, national political reporter for "The Washington Post". Sabrina, good morning.
You covered all aspects of this campaign. I want to be clear for "The Washington Post", but you also have spent a lot of time looking specifically at this group of voters. And the shift was really remarkable. It was fascinating to hear from those people that Ed was speaking to about why they made these decisions how do you understand it based on what you saw on the campaign trail in the final days of the race, and what are you hearing now from particularly Democrats who are grappling with what happened?
SABRINA RODRIGUEZ, NATIONAL POLITICAL REPORTER, THE WASHINGTON POST: You know, Kasie, I love hearing that segment from Ed and actually hearing directly from Latino voters.
HUNT: I mean, anyone who's been talking to Latino voters this election cycle is not completely surprised by the outcome of this election and by us about Latino voters. I feel like there's always an important caveat to add here that, you know, a majority of Latino voters did vote for Kamala Harris because based off of the way a lot of people are talking about it, you'd think that was not the case.
But the shift that has happened is very much real and is very much one that we need to be analyzing and that the Democratic party in specific needs to be sitting and reckoning with. The reality is that Donald Trump had a compelling message for some Latinos. I think for Democrats, there was sort of this.
