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CNN This Morning
Trump Vows Tariffs On Mexico, Canada & China On Day 1; Fighting Between Israel & Hezbollah Intensifies Ahead of Potential 60-Day Ceasefire; Rain Impacting Parts Of The Eastern United States. Aired 5- 5:30a ET
Aired November 26, 2024 - 05:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[05:00:24]
KASIE HUNT, CNN ANCHOR: It's Tuesday, November 26th.
Right now on CNN THIS MORNING:
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DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT-ELECT OF THE UNITED STATES: The word "tariff". It's more beautiful than love.
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HUNT: Promises made. How President-elect Trump plans to make his love of tariffs official on day one.
And --
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MATTHEW MILLER, STATE DEPARTMENT SPOKESMAN: The very last stages of an agreement are the most difficult. Tense talks Israel and Hezbollah reportedly closing in on a ceasefire deal.
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HUNT: And then --
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BOB GELDOF, MUSIC PRODUCER: I'm not suffering from charity fatigue because I don't think that this is a charity.
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HUNT: Forty years of Band Aid. Legendary music producer Sir Bob Geldof joins us live to mark four decades of helping those in need.
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HUNT: All right, 5:00 a.m. here on the East Coast. Here's a live look at Capitol Hill on this Tuesday morning of a holiday week.
Good morning, everyone. I'm Kasie Hunt. It's wonderful to have you with us.
Donald Trump vowing to impose massive tariffs on day one of his incoming administration on goods from two close allies Mexico and Canada. And he's also planning to boost tariffs on China, announcing on social media his plan to implement a 25 percent tariff on all products coming to the United States from Canada and Mexico.
He says it's a response to their role in illegal immigration and drugs coming across the border. Trump also announcing a 10 percent increase on tariffs already in place on goods coming from China, quote, until it prevents the flow of illegal drugs into the United States, end quote.
Many economists believe tariffs could wreak havoc on Americas supply chains and raise prices on everyday goods for American shoppers. Chinese -- China's embassy spokesperson telling CNN, quote, China believes that U.S. -- China-U.S. economic and trade cooperation is mutually beneficial in nature. No one will win a trade war or a tariff war.
Trump's tariff pledge comes just days after he announced his pick for treasury secretary. The hedge fund executive Scott Bessent. It will be up to Bessent to manage Trump's economic agenda. Prior to becoming Trump's pick to lead the Treasury Department, he had this to say about tariffs.
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SCOTT BESSENT, TRUMP'S TREASURY SECRETARY PICK: I would recommend that tariffs be layered in gradually, which would the price adjustment would be over a period of time.
But I think if you take that price adjustment coupled with all the other disinflationary things President Trump is talking about, that we're going to be at or below the 2 percent inflation target again.
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HUNT: All right. Joining us now, political reporter for "NOTUS", Reese Gorman.
Reese, good morning. Nice to see you.
So the pick for -- that's Donald Trump's pick to be treasury secretary seemed a very acknowledge in a very straightforward way. These are going to raise prices.
Yeah, he's saying -- well, we should do that over time. Trump doesn't seem to be on board with doing that over time. I mean, he's saying he's going to do it right away.
What does that look like?
REESE GORMAN, POLITICAL REPORTER, NOTUS: He wants to do it by executive order, one of his first executive orders. He said he's going to sign when he gets into office. And what's that going to look like? We don't know. I mean, it could --
it could raise prices dramatically, possibly. I mean, I know economists came out during the campaign saying Trump's plan, these tariffs are not good. They will raise prices. They will be basically kind of a tax on the American people.
Trump and some Republicans beg to differ. There are Republicans on the Hill that are anti-tariff. I know the business community is also anti- tariff. And so I guess we'll have to see how this whole thing plays out.
HUNT: Yeah. And I mean, the reality is that there's not a lot of tools Congress has to push back on this. I mean, this is very squarely in the president's purview. No?
GORMAN: Yeah, 100 percent. He could -- he could do it by himself. Now, there are some congressional Republicans that will argue, like Congress should have a say. But at the end of the day -- I mean, Trump can do this by executive order. And he did it. He did it somewhat during his first term as well.
HUNT: Yeah. So here was what "The Wall Street Journal" said about Scott Bessent who is, of course, the pick to be treasury secretary.
They write, quote: Mr. Bassett campaigned hard for the treasury job himself, including an op-eds that tried to show that he's come around to the virtue of tariffs. Mr. Bessent campaigned conversation on tariffs raises the question about how willing Mr. Bessent will be to tell the president when he's making a policy mistake. If Mr. Bessent won't, it's not clear who on the economic team will. But if his lodestar is growth, he'll do well for the president and the country.
They're basically saying hey, you should. They're raising questions about whether Bessent is going to be willing to tell Trump, like, hey, this is going to be bad for business.
GORMAN: I mean, how many does Trump like being told that what he's going to do is not, right? I mean, Trump hates being told, no, he hates -- that's why he likes surrounding himself with people who just tell him yes all the time.
And so I don't -- I don't think a lot of these cabinet choices are necessarily people who are going to stand up to Trump and do this, because I think objectively that's something he said that he's looking for is loyalty to him as opposed to his first term.
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So I think -- while there's some people that might step up. I don't -- I'm not -- people aren't holding their breath.
HUNT: So one of the questions I had about this too is -- I mean, obviously, we've heard president-elect Trump talk so much about the border with Mexico and the course of his campaign. And he's talked about China. Obviously, he had put tariffs on China when he was president last time around. But Canada is part of this and it's certainly, I think, may raise
eyebrows with people who are kind of like, well, you know why? So I just want to show you what Eric Trump had to say last night about this. And he -- he seems to be -- he mentions Canada. Watch.
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ERIC TRUMP, SON OF PRESIDENT-ELECT TRUMP: You want to allow drugs to come through our southern border, we're going to tariff you.
You want to allow them to come through Canada. We're going to tariff you. China, if you're going to allow this stuff to get sold in our country largely produced in China, we're going to add another 10 percent to your chair. We are going to cost your countries, your economies, we're going to cost your businesses billions, hundreds of billions of dollars.
If you think you're going to, you know, you're going to poison Americans, it's not going to happen.
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HUNT: So basically, the argument is that this is about punishment for illegal drugs, nothing else?
GORMAN: That's also kind of what Trump touched on in his Truth Social post directly. The fentanyl kind of importation coming into the through the southern border and the northern border. And so, that is according to Trump's truth. And what Eric Trump has said that this is kind of what they're looking at. This is why they're implementing these tariffs because of this influx of fentanyl coming into the country.
I also think that this is a change because originally it was tariffs, because he wanted to bring more American jobs in the first time around. And this is what he was saying on the campaign as well. So this is a little bit of a shift to my -- to my remembrance.
HUNT: I was going to say because so much of this, the way that in many ways the American public has moved towards more populist economic policies, which potentially could include tariffs, is not necessarily about drugs. It's more about jobs.
GORMAN: Yeah, that's kind of been the general take. That's been my take too after covering the campaign, is that this has been to bring more jobs to America, to Americans bring more jobs, keep them in America, prevent -- prevent companies from leaving and going overseas or going out of the country. And so, this is kind of a different take on tariffs from Trump, from -- I know he's mentioned this somewhat in the past, but its mostly the main message has been to keep jobs in America.
HUNT: Yeah, really interesting.
All right, Reese Gorman starting us off this morning -- Reese, thanks. I appreciate it. All right. Straight ahead here on CNN this morning, closing in on an
agreement. The Israeli cabinet is set to vote today on a cease fire deal with Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Plus, 40 years of Band Aid. We're joined by the pioneer of that movement, Sir Bob Geldof, to discuss the latest mission of the iconic charity.
And drill baby, drill, one of Donald Trump's rallying cries on the campaign trail. How will he move that agenda forward?
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TRUMP: I will end Kamala's war on Pennsylvania energy and we will frack, frack, frack, and drill, baby, drill. And we're going to drill, baby, drill.
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HUNT: A ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hezbollah is close to being finalized, according to a Lebanese official. The Israeli cabinet is set to vote on a potential deal later today, as the death toll in Lebanon climbs. Strikes from both sides, intensifying.
Israel's military says they hit two Hezbollah command centers in Beirut on Monday, and that Hezbollah also fired multiple rockets into northern Israel last night, the U.S. backing the 60-day pause in fighting that's now on the table.
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MILLER: I think you've also heard the secretary say that oftentimes the very last stages of an agreement are the most difficult, because the hardest issues are left to the end. We're pushing as hard as we can to get a diplomatic resolution that would allow these tens of thousands of people in Lebanon and Israel to return home. But ultimately, that's up to the parties, not to us.
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HUNT: All right. CNN's Max Foster joins us live from London with more.
Max, always wonderful to see you. So the pressure is obviously on Bibi Netanyahu in this final phase. There are still some on the right in his cabinet that think this deal might be a mistake.
What do you see coming in the next 24 hours?
MAX FOSTER, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Well, lots of positivity coming from Israel that there will be a positive agreement coming out of this cabinet meeting. There are those who opposed it who -- who oppose it because they feel Hezbollah should be completely destroyed before the fight stops.
But there are other voices saying that they have been destabilized. They've been effectively crippled. So the job has been done. They're unable to carry on fighting Israel in the way that they could have done in the past.
There are lots of sticking points however, lots of detail as there always is in these negotiations. But lots of positivity coming out and certainly were feeling that from America as well but there is a lot of cautious optimism because these things can always go wrong at the last second.
HUNT: Yeah. And, Max, big picture here. I mean, obviously, this all comes as Israel is grappling with this arrest warrant aimed at Bibi Netanyahu, another one of the former defense minister Yoav Gallant. That, of course, splitting America from many in Europe who would go about supporting this warrant. The U.S., of course, does not.
There are, of course -- you know, we're heading into a world where Donald Trump is about to come into office here in the United States.
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He, many expect, would be a more staunch supporter of Israel, even than President Biden has been -- another kind of element that potentially separates America from its European allies in the way people think about this conflict there.
What do you think that all kind of means here? As we barrel towards Donald Trump's inauguration?
FOSTER: Well, governments in Europe are separating themselves away from this court judgment. They say it's a matter for the courts. They are signed up to the court.
So the reality is that, um, most European leaders are saying that they would have a duty to allow not to interfere, to allow the police to arrest Netanyahu if he were to visit. I don't think that would encourage Netanyahu to visit.
The big test would certainly be if he did visit. The police tried to arrest him. And then America looks on and says, why isn't that government intervening here, and blocking this arrest?
So I think as long as you know, this judgment is being made, the governments have said they would abide by it. Its not really going to, you know, that that sort of debate has passed. The test would be if Netanyahu turned up and he were arrested and that's where, you know, the tension would really kick in.
HUNT: Yeah, for sure.
All right. Max Foster for us this morning -- Max, always grateful to have you. Thank you so much.
FOSTER: Thanks, Kasie. HUNT: All right. Straight ahead here on CNN THIS MORNING: Team Trump investigating one of its own. Did a longtime aide profit from his ability to influence the president-elect?
Plus, could special counsel Jack Smith find himself on the wrong end of a Justice Department investigation after Donald Trump takes office?
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HUNT: All right, 20 minutes past the hour.
Here's your morning roundup.
Donald Trump's lawyers investigating whether one of the president- elect's top aides is involved in a pay to play scheme. Sources tell CNN that Boris Epshteyn has been investigated internally for allegedly using his position to sell access to Trump.
Here was the reaction from Trump's son, Eric.
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E. TRUMP: I've known Boris for years and I've never known him to be anything but -- but a good human being. So I -- that said, I will tell you, my father has been incredibly clear. You do not -- you do not do that under any circumstance. I certainly hope the reporting is false and I can also tell you if it\s true, you know, the person will probably no longer be around.
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HUNT: Epshteyn tells CNN the allegations are false and defamatory.
Walmart, the latest company to roll back diversity, equity and inclusion programs after increased right wing pressure. The retail giant ending racial training programs, reviewing funding for pride and LGBTQ events, and removing online sexual or transgender products marketed to children.
Thanksgiving travel expected to set records this week. AAA projects 80 million Americans will travel 50 miles or more over the holiday period. 18 million people are expected to travel by plane. The FAA says today will feature the most planes in the air, with ongoing staffing shortages in control towers.
And that does bring us to weather. Rain is impacting parts of the eastern U.S. this morning, while folks in northern New England could see some light snow, as those holiday travelers prepare to hit the road for Thanksgiving.
Let's get straight to our meteorologist, our weatherman, Derek Van Dam, for the travel forecast.
Derek, good morning. DEREK VAN DAM, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Packing our patience this morning.
Good morning, Casey.
Yeah. So we've got a couple of different weather systems that will impact the country from today and into Thanksgiving, and beyond. I'll explain. So here's the first one right now. So if you're traveling on the roadways, this is where things could get a bit tricky.
So let's zoom down to Atlanta for instance. I-75, it goes north and south right through the city, Interstate 85 also dissecting the city as well. It's wet, drove in this morning. This is where the headquarters is for CNN.
So, yeah, we felt it. And the roadways are feeling it as well. So, traveling a little further north, here's the heavily populated and very busy I-95 corridor, rain showers now starting to move into that region. This will impact LaGuardia, JFK going forward. So this could cause some trickle down delays through the course of the morning.
But notice this is all rain. The snowfall is located just to the north. You got to go into the higher elevations of Upstate New York and into portions of Vermont and into New Hampshire to see the changeover from rain to snow. Certainly, all snow across the mountains of Colorado. This is west of Denver, so the majority of the impacts will be across the mountains.
The same cannot be said for Salt Lake City, impacts there. And a lot of snow for the Sierra Nevada Mountain range.
So if you are flying today, you saw the cold front moving into New York. This could cause some major delays. So keep that in mind. Double check your flight plans as this cold front moves eastward.
We kind of get a break on Wednesday, so maybe a good travel day for eastern seaboard locations, but look what's coming on Thursday, Thanksgiving Day. This is the storm system we've been concerned about.
You better settle in to your relative's house because this is where things are going to get interesting. Snow downwind of the lakes and rain for the coastal areas. You can see the precipitation going forward and a lot of cold weather behind this as well.
Temperatures are going to take a nosedive behind this system. And by the way, anyone who's keeping track, Macy's Day, Thanksgiving parade on Thursday morning in New York City, looks to be wet and breezy.
HUNT: Chilly, chilly, chilly.
All right, Derek Van Dam for us this morning -- Derek, I will see you next hour. Thank you very much for that.
VAN DAM: All right.
HUNT: Ahead here on CNN THIS MORNING, special counsel Jack Smith dismissing his cases against the president-elect. Will Trump's pick for attorney general now prosecute Smith?
Plus, Bono, Bowie, Freddie Mercury, just some of the icons who've been involved with Band Aid, which is now marking 40 years of charity work. The man behind that movement, Sir Bob Geldof, joins us live.
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HUNT: All right, 5:29 a.m. here on the East Coast. A live look at Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where it is only 4:29 a.m. on this Tuesday of Thanksgiving week.
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