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Connect the World
CNN International: Trump Allies, Private Sector Prepare for Mass Detentions of Migrants; Biden to Make First Speech Since Harris Lost Presidential Bid; Mixed Reaction to Election Results from the Middle East; U.S. Federal Reserve Expected to cut Interest Rates Again; Japanese PM Ishiba Calls with Congratulations; Experts Brace for Trump to Pump the Brakes on Climate Action. Aired 9-10a ET
Aired November 07, 2024 - 09:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[09:00:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BECKY ANDERSON, CNN HOST, CONNECT THE WORLD: Well, this is the scene outside the White House where in two hours, we'll get President Biden's
first public remarks after Donald Trump's election victory. It's 09:00 a.m. there in Washington, it is 06:00 p.m. here in Abu Dhabi. I'm Becky
Anderson. You're watching "Connect the World" and wherever you are watching, it is good to have you on board.
Coming up over our next two hours of coverage, the President-Elect has a lengthy to do list. We'll take a look at what he is promising. Plus, what a
second Trump presidency could mean for Russia's war on Ukraine. And Kamala Harris concedes defeat, but she says the fight for Democratic ideals isn't
over.
And the stock market in New York will open about 30 minutes from now, Futures indicating that the post-election rally may continue into a second
session after a surge in share prices on Wednesday, following Trump's decisive victory. Traders also waiting on the Federal Reserve's decision on
rates. Consensus is that interest rates will be cut by how much and whether that easing will continue, is what the markets are watching for more at
09:30 a.m. local time there in New York.
Right, two days after a history making election, speculation is rife over who will fill the key roles in Donald Trump's return to the White House.
Sources telling CNN that the President-Elect is mulling over staff picks and getting ready to enforce a host of executive orders on day one in
office. Trump's victory over Vice President Kamala Harris on Tuesday, an electoral thumping.
Republicans also won back control of the Senate, and they are currently on track to maintain control of the House, something that Trump noted in his
victory speech in Florida.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP (R), FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT AND CURRENT PRESIDENTIAL-ELECT: America has given us an unprecedented and powerful mandate.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Well, Trump's team amping up preparations then for what is the promised mass detention and deportation of migrants once he's sworn in.
Homeland Security officials bracing for a seismic shift when it comes to U.S. immigration policy, when Trump returns to the White House.
Well, on the campaign trail, he has repeatedly promised mass deportations of illegal immigrants. CNN's Priscilla Alvarez joining me now. What are you
learning about what may come to be? We certainly have heard the promises on the issue of immigration.
PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well look, Becky, the Department of Homeland Security, which is charged with immigration enforcement, is no
stranger to the whiplash of immigration policies. Of course, after President Joe Biden took office, he reversed for President Donald Trump's
policies, and now they are expecting much of the same when the incoming Trump Administration comes in.
Now, one of the promises that has come up multiple times on the campaign trail, as you noted, is mass deportation. And I have been told by multiple
sources that over the last several weeks, Trump allies and some in the private sector had been quietly preparing to detain and deport immigrants
in a large -- in a large scale.
Now one of the people who may be charged with leading this is Tom Holman. He was the Acting Director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement. And in
the past, when he has talked about this publicly, he said that any operation would be a targeted one, meaning, for example, going after those
who are criminals, but also under consideration and discussion is what to do about the so-called Dreamers, those are immigrants, undocumented
immigrants, who came to the U.S. as children.
Now, some of them are temporarily protected by an Obama era program, but others are not. Now, typically, they've received bipartisan port --
bipartisan support that could change. Now, key to any plan to mass deport immigrants is going to be detention space. Of course, after anyone is
arrested, they need to go somewhere.
And on that front officials I've spoken with say it could happen quite quickly, building the spaces some in the private sector have already been
discussing and preparing this, but it usually comes down to money. Where do the funds come from? Because this has been a challenge for Republican and
Democratic administrations.
They can move funds within the department here and there, but there are limits to that. In addition to that, do they have enough personnel to carry
this out?
[09:05:00]
So that all brings up the question of how quickly could they do something like this, and when? Now there are again preparations to get the detention
space going. But how the rest continues still remains to be seen. Now, I will also note that in talking to those officials in the Homeland Security
Department, they tell me it's been a mixed bag of emotions.
In some cases, there has been, as one said, shell shocked. And then others say that they are optimistic, hoping for a harder stance on border security
under the Trump Administration. So certainly, still a lot remains to be seen, but certainly these promises that have been made on the campaign
trail, there are ways to do them just how exactly they look we'll see.
ANDERSON: Priscilla, is it clear how many people we are talking about at this point?
ALVAREZ: Well, there are millions of undocumented immigrants in the United States. But Becky again, while there have been attempts to deport many
undocumented immigrants under Republicans and Democrats, it's a very hard endeavor. I mean, if you look back at the Trump Administration numbers,
there were 100, a few 100,000 who were deported.
Biden Administration the same, just because there's not enough resources to do it, not to mention Becky, that you also need to have diplomacy. That's
part of this, because not every country is willing to take back their people. It's usually easy with Mexico and Central America, much harder when
we have been seeing immigrants from all around the world, say, for example, China or other parts of the world.
So certainly, this is a multi-faceted operation, but the very beginning parts of this, which would be detaining, detaining immigrants for
deportation, that is a part that has there have already been quiet preparations to do. And then it comes down to how many people it would be.
But again, Becky, it's very hard to tell, simply because we don't know what the resources are going to be to do it.
ANDERSON: Fascinating. All right, Priscilla, always good to have you. Priscilla Alvarez, on the story a top priority we are told for the new
Trump administration. Bryan Lanza, a Senior Adviser for the Trump Campaign, spoke earlier with our Anderson Cooper. They talked about the status of the
transition planning and Trump's agenda for his first few days in office. Have a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BRYAN LANZA, SENIOR ADVISER, TRUMP 2024 CAMPAIGN: We're excited to have so many people, so many people excited to be part of this administration and
unifying the country. So, I think what you're going to see from this transition is going to be a unified front. And President Trump and Kamala
Harris spoke a little bit earlier.
It was a very gracious phone call that the vice president gave, and president was very clear she thought she ran a strong campaign, and she was
very tenacious in the process. And she also mentioned she wanted to work with the president to unify the country. So, I think from the transition
who wants to display a unified front, and also from the relationship that he has with Kamala Harris and Joe Biden. We're looking to have a unified
relationship with the country in January.
Let's be clear Anderson, it's not a legal requirement for the assignment, for the campaign or the transition, to sign anything with the government.
We're working on cooperating in unison to make sure we cross the necessary thresholds so that our people can be briefed properly with national
security background information, and so that we can hit the ground running.
But let's be clear, it is not a legal requirement to sign a memorandum of understanding with the government for this transition. What we expect to
see for the first 100 days is this people focused on affordability. The American people want to do something with respect to affordability. They've
been wiped out.
They've suffered from tremendously through the pop -- through the policies of the previous administration. And we're going to focus on that. We're
also going to focus on securing the border. That's very common sense to the common people. Once we understand how step one moves forward, will
understand will move to the next layer. But let's be clear to the American people, we are going to deport illegal aliens who've broken our laws and
who've been violent to our people.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: Well, U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris urging her supporters to hold on to the values that drove her campaign and to keep on fighting in
the wake of the election. Her remarks came during what was an impassioned concession speech at Howard University where she formally acknowledged her
loss to Donald Trump and promised a peaceful transition of power.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KAMALA HARRIS (D), U.S. VICE PRESIDENT: A fundamental principle of American democracy is that when we lose an election, we accept the results. While I
concede this election, I do not concede the fight that fueled this campaign.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Well, CNN's Eva McKend joins us now from Washington. And you spent many weeks on that campaign. Of course, it was only, what, 100 days
or so, but you were on it and in it to report on it every step of the way. Now that she has given a concession speech, what happens next for Kamala
Harris?
EVA MCKEND, CNN U.S. NATIONAL POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: Becky, a few things. We imagine that she is going to continue to try to unify the country calm
the nerves of her supporters that are very, very frightened in this moment.
[09:10:00]
And what second Trump presidency brings? She also will engage in the peaceful transition of power, as she stated, that is very important to her.
And then lastly, the vice president and the president going to spend the closing weeks of this year touting the winds as they see them of this
administration.
So, under this administration, they worked very aggressively to lower the cost of insulin, for instance, something that is so vital for seniors. They
also passed a bipartisan infrastructure bill. They pursued the Chips and Science Act to bolster American manufacturing. These are all of the things
that we are going to hear about in the closing weeks as they sort of remind Americans on their way out the door what they were able to achieve.
ANDERSON: Eva, just for a moment, can you just reflect on that campaign as a reporter, many asking whether Democrats went wrong, and much soul
searching going on at present, just briefly before I let you go, your sense?
MCKEND: Well, it was always going to be a tall order for the vice president coming in as the nominee in the final hour. But the calculation was made
that at the late stage, when President Biden stepped aside, that there just wasn't time or the energy in the Democratic Party at that point for more
division, for a contentious primary.
So, you had the vice president step into the moment. I can tell you that they were exhaustive in their approach. They campaigned very hard in every
battleground state, and ultimately, they came up short. She ran on unifying the country, restoring reproductive rights.
You know, what she said on the campaign trail is that one in three women live in a state with a Trump abortion ban. She talked about, in her view,
the threat she believed a former -- you know now President-Elect Trump would mean for the country, but all of this ultimately proved not to be
persuasive enough, and she fell short. But it certainly wasn't through lack of effort and trying to really appeal to a diverse constituency of voters
all over the country, including courting a very aggressively Republican voters, Becky.
ANDERSON: Fascinating. It's good to have you, Eva. Thank you. Eva McKend on the story for you. Well, as we mentioned, the U.S. President is set to
address Americans from the White House in the coming hours, it will be the first time we hear directly from Joe Biden since his vice president's
stinging election loss in a short statement issued by the White House yesterday called Kamala Harris a tremendous partner.
Well, our Arlette Saenz is standing by for Mr. Biden's speech at the White House. And before we talk about what we might expect to hear from the
president. We were just talking there with Eva about the sort of soul searching and the reflections on a losing campaign, ultimately, how
important a role was Joe Biden in that loss Arlette, is it clear?
ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well Becky, for many Democrats, they do believe that President Biden should shoulder the blame
for a lot of what happened in this election amid his lingering unpopularity and even his decision to run for re-election in the first place.
President Biden launched that re-election bid at the age of 80 back in April of 2023, and then spent over a year on the campaign trail. And
Democrats argue that by the time that he did drop out of this race, that that really did not or gave made it very complicated for any Democratic
nominee, whether it was Kamala Harris or someone else, to really stand up and run a campaign against Former President Donald Trump.
Now, one big question is whether President Biden will address any of these concerns, or what went wrong for Democrats in his remarks today. It comes
as advisers have said that the president plans to use this speech to talk about the election, offering some reflections, but also talking about the
transition.
President Biden, his advisers have stressed that he remains intent on ensuring that there is a peaceful transition of power. That is something
that was not afforded to Biden by Trump back in 2020. The teams here at the White House have been in contact with the Trump transition teams. There are
still some details that need to be ironed out in order to provide access to the Trump transition teams.
But officials have made clear that Biden wants to ensure that there is that peaceful transfer of power. He's already called Trump to congratulate him
on his election, and has invited him here to the White House.
[09:15:00]
Sources say that's a meeting that could potentially happen as early as next week. But for this speech, it will really give Biden his first chance to
reflect publicly on this campaign, it's expected that there will be many staff in the audience to hear from President Biden. Last night I'm told he
did speak to them by phone where he said this quote, while I am sure you're all feeling a variety of emotion today, I hope there's one emotion you
didn't lose sight of, that's pride, pride in everything we've accomplished.
He also on that call, said that the vice president was the best vice president he could have hoped for. Biden is now facing this new reality
where his predecessor, the man he beat in 2020 will now be returning to the White House next year, so we'll see what exactly he offers to the country
when he speaks in the Rose Garden a bit later today?
ANDERSON: All right, Arlette it is good to have you. Thank you. Well, just less than three months before that handover of power coming up this hour,
European Leaders preparing for that second Trump Presidency. And some happier than others, we will break down the reaction up next. And we'll
hear from what leaders are saying here in the Middle East, where Trump's win comes as wars rage on with no end in sight.
(COMMERCIALBREAK)
ANDERSON: Well, European Leaders know how delicate it will be to maintain a stable relationship with the United States going forward with Donald Trump
at their helm. As they congratulate him, they are also emphasizing the existing bonds between the U.S. and their own countries.
Some leaders like Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelenskyy, are appealing to Trump's pride in their messages. He wants the U.S. to continue its commitment to
Kyiv as his country's war against Russia drags on. But that support is something that Donald Trump has cast doubts on throughout his campaign.
Well, I want to take a look at what is going on with Ukraine, with NATO, with European erstwhile allies, perhaps we should describe them as under
Donald Trump Administration. Our International Diplomatic Editor, Nic Robertson joins me now from London. Let's just sort of move through these
quite rapidly. Firstly, should Ukraine be worried?
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Yes, it should, because Donald Trump has said that he will settle the war in a day, and everyone
takes that to believe a lot, couple with what he's had to say about reducing military support for Ukraine, that that can end up in ceding
territory to Vladimir Putin, and that's a concern for European countries. So yes, I think there's absolutely a level of concern there.
ANDERSON: NATO?
[09:20:00]
ROBERTSON: The same look President Trump when he was president, and now President-elect Donald Trump has -- had that very similar message for NATO.
He's not sure that the alliance is really there for doing a job that America necessarily needs. Indeed, he's said in his campaign that any
countries that aren't measuring up to their 2 percent of GDP defense -- 2 percent of their GDP spent on defense spending, which is a NATO commitment
by this year for all the 32 nations in it.
Then actually, you know, it wouldn't be opposed to President Putin of Russia invading those countries. So, there's a real question mark, I think,
a current question mark, the old question mark, the current question mark about his commitment. And this is something that the new NATO Secretary
General is trying to sort of smooth that over already. Listen to what he said earlier today.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARK RUTTE, NATO SECRETARY GENERAL: I look forward to sit down with Donald Trump to discuss how we can face the threats. Collectively, what we need to
do more. And yes, part of this, and here, he is absolutely right, will be that on the European side of NATO, we will have to spend more, do more to
meet sure -- make sure that we reach the capability targets. When he was president, he was the one in NATO who stimulated us to move over the 2
percent.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTSON: Now here's what's kind of interesting about what's going on in Europe and where Mark Rutter was making those comments, which is Budapest,
which is the home of the most pro Putin -- pro well Putin and pro Trump European Leader Viktor Orban of Hungary, he's hosting almost 50 different
European leaders, and the vast majority don't think like Viktor Orban.
They do think that President Trump needs to continue to support NATO. And they do have arguments in their pockets to say that. They will say, for
example, that the money that the European Union spends supporting Ukraine 190 million, $190 billion worth, rather along with the U.K., actually
almost 30 billion of that goes to provide money to U.S. weapons manufacturers for weapons that end up back in Ukraine.
ANDERSON: Right.
ROBERTSON: This is where the narrative is going to go.
ANDERSON: Nic, Donald Trump enters a very different world, not least because of the Russia's war in Ukraine, which started in February 2022. I
want to show our viewers a very memorable photo from the sidelines of a G7 meeting in 2018 when he was formerly the President, United States.
The body language always striking. What I notice now is how much has changed centrists, Angela Merkel and Theresa May was behind Larry Kudlow.
Those two center right leaders, for instance, no longer in the global frame. Now, Macron has been hampered by his own domestic political
challenges.
The point being, he's dealing with a very different Europe and a very different world this time compared to his first time, isn't he?
ROBERTSON: Oh, hugely. I mean, look the Japanese Leader standing at his side there is now dead, and there's been a couple of different prime
ministers since then. But I think, look might, when I look at that picture right now, go, Oh my gosh. Merkel was the real powerhouse, the moral
powerhouse, the economic powerhouse in Europe.
Look at her replacement. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz yesterday, fired his finance minister, his government coalition, which was always weak, is
really foundering at the moment. Their economy is really hurting. It's particularly hurting in the auto sector, something that will give put a
smile probably on President-elect Donald Trump's face.
You talk about how much it's changed. It's changed in that room. He's now in the U.K. For example, no longer conservative Theresa May, there's a
long-standing lot big majority labor government. And then I just look, you just have to say, here you've got Russia, China, Iran, North Korea, all in
an alliance that they weren't before.
And two very important wars going on. So much has changed the faces, but also the structure of the United States enemies has got more aligned and is
in a coalition in the way that it wasn't previously.
ANDERSON: Yeah, it's fascinating, isn't it? Nic, it's always good to have you. Thank you. Nic Robertson is in London for you. Well, history's
greatest comeback is how the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described Donald Trump's victory. The pair spoke on Wednesday at what is,
of course, a critical time for Israel's wars in Gaza and Lebanon.
Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Qatar also quick to offer congratulations. Iran facing the prospect of more of Trump's maximum pressure campaign
largely shrugged off the election results. Still Tehran urged the United States to reconsider policies it considers calls unjust. Well, CNN's Paula
Hancocks tracking reaction here in the Middle East, and joins me with more on that.
[09:25:00]
We haven't heard an awful lot from Donald Trump, about, for example, his position on the war, Israel's war on both Gaza and Lebanon. Suffice to say,
he says he will make peace in the Middle East, correct? What can we expect going forward? Is it clear at this point?
PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's not clear, Becky. And he hasn't given us any kind of playbook of how he's going to end these wars. He's
effectively said they wouldn't have started if I was president. That's the main thing he says. We did hear back in April, he spoke to what Israel was
doing, and said that they need to finish what they started and get it over with fast, because they're losing the PR war. But --
ANDERSON: And he didn't want it on his watch --
HANCOCKS: Exactly! But the fact is, we don't know how he is going to approach the actual war itself. We do know from precedent, from his first
administration, that he is pro-Israel, that he has certainly made decisions that benefit Israel, as opposed to the Palestinians recognizing Jerusalem
as the capital of Israel, for example, something that was supposed to be part of the discussions between Israel and the Palestinians.
Palestinians are concerned. We've spoken to some lawmakers, and they are concerned that there will be more concessions given to Israel that may make
it even more difficult to end up with a two-state solution,
ANDERSON: He has addressed the Lebanese-American population, at least those who are currently living in the States. What is it clear what his position
with regard Lebanon is at this point?
HANCOCKS: It's not at this point either very clear what that is. We know he does have a Lebanese-American, for example, within his wider family, we
know he's been leaning on that individual that the father of law, of his son-in-law, I think it is what it is.
ANDERSON: Father of his son-in-law.
HANCOCKS: Exactly! The father of his son-in-law. Thank you.
ANDERSON: Yes.
HANCOCKS: But this seems to be as far as he has gone at this point, he has been courting that vote. There's no doubt about it. But at no point has he
given a set policy of how he would try and bring these two wars to an end. What we do know is that the fact is, he's not going to take control until
the middle of January.
So, we don't expect there to be any kind of cease fire on either front until then, because there's no pressure for there to be a cease fire.
ANDERSON: Special Envoy for Iran in his last administration was Brian Hook, and we're going to speak to him next hour. So, it will be interesting to
find out. And this is a man who's been tasked with actually sort of refitting the State Department under Donald Trump's new administration.
So, it'll be interesting to find out from him what his view is with regard Trump and Iran for the time being. Thank you. Paula Hancocks in the house
for you. Well, just ahead, politics and money, it's Fed decision day for U.S. interest rates. It's also election week in America, of course, but Fed
Chief Jerome Powell isn't expected to touch on Donald Trump's big win more. Coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[09:30:00]
ANDERSON: Right, that is what is going on at New York Stock Exchange is half past 9 in the morning in New York. Welcome back. I'm Becky Anderson in
Abu Dhabi with the time is half past 6 in the evening. You're watching "Connect the World". And half an hour ago, we looked at the futures
markets.
It was at that point, a see, of green looked as if futures, at least, were indicating a higher open for these markets on the back of what was a
significant rally for share prices on Wednesday in the wake of the Donald Trump victory. Well, that is the picture today, perhaps not quite as
significant.
There is a reason for that. In just a few hours, we will know the Federal Reserve's decision on U.S. interest rates. Market watchers are expecting a
cut, but they will be holding back just to see what that looks like. It would be the U.S. Central Bank's second rate cut. Of course, this year,
surrounded by concern that some of Donald Trump's policies could push inflation higher, that will be top of mind for these decision makers.
Market attention isn't only focused on today's announcement. Of course, investors also are waiting to hear what this man, Fed Chief Jerome Powell,
could say about the future of easing. Well, CNN's Matt Egan joining us now from New York. You know we are what 36, we 36 hours after it became clear
that this was a pretty emphatic victory for Donald Trump.
In your CNN article, you write that his policies could make practically everything more expensive for Americans, from goods to loans. Explain that
for us, because an awful lot of Americans are buying that argument, or at least bought the argument from the Trump campaign that things were going to
be a whole lot better for them.
MATT EGAN, CNN REPORTER: That's right, Becky. I think inflation helped propel Donald Trump back to the White House. Right, Americans are fed up
with high prices on everything from car insurance to groceries. And in CNN exit polls, we saw that about two thirds of voters, they described the U.S.
economy as not good or poor.
Just 1/3 said it was excellent or good, and among those voters who gave the economy poor marks, they broke heavily in favor of Trump. Now we know that
the rate of inflation is down, and that's what the Fed looks at. That's what economists pay attention to, but Americans and consumers around the
world, they pay attention to the level of prices, and those are not down.
Right, the typical U.S. household every month is spending about $1,100 more, than they did in January 2021 when Biden took office for the same
goods and services. Now wages are up too, but often not by enough. Trump has promised to attack the cost of living. He has laid out aggressive plans
for tax cuts, mass deportations, massive tariffs, and, yes, cutting red tape.
The problem is that a lot of the mainstream economists that I talk to, they are worried that the Trump agenda is inflationary, perhaps very
inflationary. They're worried about deportations, depriving industries of workers they need. And they're worried about tariffs, because tariffs are
taxes on U.S. imports.
There's a recent study out from the Peterson Institute that found that the typical U.S. household is going to be spending about $2,600 more per year
because of these Trump tariffs. But Becky, the question is, how many of these campaign promises become a reality? Because maybe Trump doesn't plan
to tariff all $3 trillion of U.S. imports.
Maybe that's just a negotiating tactic. But what happens next, and how all of this gets implemented is going to really play out in a big way for
consumers, investors around the world, because we know inflation really haunted Biden and Vice President Harris, and it could become a problem for
Trump too, if he's not careful.
ANDERSON: Matt, it will also be a real problem for Jerome Powell and the folks at the banks who are involved in these decisions. This could get
really tricky, because if his policies, if Trump's policies, do undermine this era of sort of lower inflation, their carefully orchestrated soft
landing is at risk.
[09:35:00]
How does the Fed plan for that? Staying out of politics, of course, which is what Jerome Powell is.
EGAN: Yeah.
ANDERSON: You know, squarely focused on.
EGAN: Becky, this is not going to be easy for Jerome Powell. Now we do expect the Fed to cut rates today. Right, the market is pricing in like a
98 percent chance of an interest rate cut, a quarter point cut from the Fed today that would come after the big cut last, actually in September, where
they cut by a half of percentage point.
But the question is, what happens next? And this is going to be tricky for Jerome Powell, right? How do they model the impact of these proposed tax
cuts? How do they model the impact of the tariffs and the deportations? And I just think the answer is, it's just too soon to tell, because we just
don't know how much of this is going to become a reality. But these are going to be important questions facing Powell today at the press
conference, Becky.
ANDERSON: Yeah, it's a fascinating time. I'm also seeing that. We're seeing some of those T-bill rates going higher at present. So, we should keep an
eye on the bond markets, of course, as well. Thank you, Matt, always a pleasure.
EGAN: Thanks, Becky.
ANDERSON: Well, Donald Trump has said that he will impose a tariff on all goods coming into the U.S., as well as higher tariffs on imports from China
and Mexico. He claims that tariffs will boost American manufacturing and bring in billions of dollars to help pay for tax cuts and other policy
initiatives.
This is Trump's view. Others say it is unlikely the revenue from new tariffs would fully cover his proposal and tariffs. Experts say would
likely raise prices for the average American. Will CNN's Vanessa Yurkevich explains.
VANESSA YURKEVICH, CNN BUSINESS AND POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: Imagine everything you buy that comes from outside the U.S., like wine, cheese and
laptops get more expensive. Well, that's what economists say would happen under Former President Trump's tariff proposal. A tariff is basically a tax
on products, and Trump wants to put them on everything that comes into the U.S.
That's $3 trillion worth of goods a year. In order to cover the higher tariffs, companies will have to raise prices, and that cost ultimately gets
passed down to you, the consumer. So, here's his plan, a 60 percent tariff on Chinese imports and up to 20 percent on imports from other countries.
Trump says it will protect working class jobs and punish countries making goods with cheap labor in unsafe conditions. The self-proclaimed tariff man
is hoping the tariffs will incentivize Americans to buy more Made in America products and the tariffs could, in theory, raise trillions of
dollars to help fund tax cuts.
But economists at Goldman Sachs warn the tariffs could backfire. Instead raising prices on American families, killing jobs and setting off another
trade war, countries could then retaliate, putting their own tariffs on U.S. goods that they buy. The cost to the average American family, by one
estimate, more than $2,600 per year.
ANDERSON: Vanessa Yurkevich. Well, Donald Trump has promised to bring down the cost of gas by boosting U.S. oil and gas production. And he referred to
America's vast oil reserves in his acceptance speech, while he was praising political ally Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. Have a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: That he wants to do some things, and we're going to let him go to it. I just said, but Bobby, leave the oil to me. We have more liquid gold
oil and gas, we have more liquid gold than any country in the world, more than Saudi Arabia. We have more than Russia. Bobby, stay away from the
liquid gold. Other than that, go have a good time, Bobby.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Well, Trump is not alone in expecting more oil to flood the market. This week, I was ADIPEC here in Abu Dhabi, where energy CEOs and
market players told me that the world is far from peak oil, and that oil would continue to be a key element in the energy transition. I asked
India's Oil and Gas Minister what he thought would happen to prices in the near term. Have a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HARDEEP SINGH PURI, INDIAN PETROLEUM & NATURAL GAS MINISTER: Earlier, I said, I hope there will be a reduction in oil price. Today, I'm more
confident that there will be. Am I shocking you? Look when more and more oil is coming on the market, nobody can contain anything in the world.
If you can circumscribe and bring some calm into the areas of conflict. More oil coming on the market, a faster transition taking place, more and
more biofuel blending taking place, more compressed bio gas, more natural gas by 2026 when more energy is available in the market. As a student of
the situation, I think that likelihood of prices remaining stable coming down are higher.
[09:40:00]
ANDERSON: So, you've seen a reduction in imports from Russia in October by some 10 percent.
PURI: Yes.
ANDERSON: Why?
PURI: There are other people willing to supply the same competitive rate, because the OPEC position is they don't deal with price. There is healthy
competition going on. If you don't get it from one, you get it from someone else.
ANDERSON: Have you made a strategic decision to reduce imports from Russia going forward?
PURI: I wish life were as simple as that, that me and some of my colleagues could sit down and make a strategic decision. The fact of it, these are oil
decisions taken in the marketplace. When we faced February 22, there was 13 million barrels of Russian oil on the market.
Suddenly, if that oil had gone off the market, and India had decided to shift its 5 million barrels to say suppliers in the Gulf, price of oil
would have gone up to 200 a barrel. So, I think we did everybody a favor.
ANDERSON: As you look at your energy diversification story, how critical -- are critical minerals to your energy diversification play going forward?
PURI: Today, wherever I go, I mean, I'm Oil and Natural Gas Minister, in terms of a nomenclature, but in effect, what I'm looking at is energy
transition. The supply of batteries from a particular source was not very forthcoming earlier. Now maybe it will be forthcoming.
But I think any country which is in the energy business, which Sultan Jaber described as the, you know, the backbone, which I call the lifeline, has to
look at where critical minerals are going to be available. Because we are not dealing about today. Today, you might manage without, but tomorrow and
day after, you will lead them.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: Hardeep Singh Puri is always good to talk to him, India's Oil Minister. More Republicans are preparing their agenda for a potential full
sweep of Washington. For the first time in four years, they will have control of the Senate and most likely the House that is the upper and lower
Houses.
Of course, in Congress, a Republican majority in the House still up in the air, but lawmakers, including House Speaker Mike Johnson, insists they're
not in any danger. Well, at this point, it could be days until the final results are known. CNN's Lauren Fox joins us in Washington. And what would
a GOP, a Republican controlled Congress, both the House and the Senate, mean for Trump's agenda and for America going forward?
LAUREN FOX, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, I mean the margin really is going to matter here in the House of Representatives, and that, of
course, is because Speaker Mike Johnson, we've seen what a difficult time he's had getting any legislation through with his Republican majority, and
that's been with the 3, 4, 5, seat majority.
Imagine if he has an even narrower swing than that. Right now, House Republicans and Senate Republicans say that they have been meeting for
months to discuss, potentially, what their agenda would be if Donald Trump won and they maintained the House majority and took back the United States
Senate.
If indeed that is what happens, they say that they will attack first a massive tax bill. That is because major provisions that were part of the
tax cuts and Jobs Act that passed back in 2017 when Donald Trump was in the White House. Some of those provisions are set to expire, many of them at
the end of 2025.
And a lot of Republicans did not want a repeat of what they saw back in 2017 where many Republicans were surprised that Donald Trump won, and they
sort of hit the ground with flat feet when it came to trying to repeal and replace Obamacare. Instead, they say that they want to be ready with an
agenda.
They want to talk through what's working with the tax cuts and Jobs Act, what's not working, what they want to improve on. And some Republicans told
me that they also want to look at repealing parts of the Inflation Reduction Act, a major accomplishment of the Biden Administration as part
of that first tax package.
Of course, they are going to have other routine things they have to do, like funding the government, dealing with the debt ceiling. But taxes are
going to be the major priority in the first couple of months, if Republicans maintain majority of the House, as we expect that they could do
in the days ahead.
ANDERSON: Thank you, Lauren. And the CNN app is useful at this point because it's got that animation of what is going on as we continue to get
results in on the House. So, do use that. That is the CNN app. Still to come, with a second Trump term on the horizon. What does it mean for
billions of people in Asia? More on that today in a live report just ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[09:45:00]
ANDERSON: Welcome back. Quarter to 7 here in Abu Dhabi. I'm Becky Anderson, you're watching "Connect the World". Well, leaders from Asian countries
have been offering President-elect Trump their congratulations on his election win. China's Xi Jinping says he hopes both countries can find the
way to get along in a new era.
Well, in his first term, Trump slapped tariffs on Chinese imports, and he is promising to do more of the same. The Japanese Prime Minister also
calling to congratulate Trump. Sources say he is hoping to meet with the president-elect this month as he travels to the G20 summit in Brazil.
Well, as for Chinese President, Trump has called him a brilliant leader who controls a nation of 1.4 billion people with an iron fist. CNN's Marc
Stewart joins me from Beijing. Marc, what's the perception of that relationship there in Beijing. Is the sense that they sort of pick up where
they left off?
MARC STEWART, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Becky, that is the question. And right now, Beijing is basically trying to play things very safe. Because wasn't
that long ago that Chinese leaders would lie in bed, awake at night, wondering what was next. This theme of unpredictability, which many world
leaders have felt.
If we look at the response this congratulatory message from Xi Jinping, he talks about win-win cooperation, mutual respect. These two leaders have had
a complicated relationship. At first, they had chocolate cake together at Mar-a-Lago. Then things turned a bit frosty when it came to China's
response to COVID, and then this ongoing issue of trade.
This is an issue that is weighing heavily on Chinese people. We see discussion about a potential trade war opening up. And Becky, as you know,
when it comes to Chinese Foreign Policy at times, there is very much this policy, if you do something to hurt us, we'll do something to hurt you,
back. So, Beijing certainly watching with some anxious anticipation.
ANDERSON: Yes, it's going to be really interesting to see how that relationship sort of unfolds as it were. Japan, of course, has a new prime
minister since Trump was last in office. Just remind us how important that relationship is for both sides, Marc?
STEWART: Well, let's talk about what has happened under the Biden Administration. Japan, along with South Korea, have formed a very strong
alliance together because of this perceived threat from China. Well, now we have an incoming administration. Trump has made it very clear that he is
very critical of alliances such as NATO, for example.
[09:50:00]
So perhaps this could actually empower China to become a very dominant force in this part of the world and establish this new world order that
it's talked about. So, it's this alliance threat which is going to be concerning, and that's one reason why the Japanese Prime Minister, I'm
sure, certainly wants to meet with the president-elect to shore up these relationships as China really tries to show that it is a force in this part
of the world, Becky.
ANDERSON: It's always good to have you, Marc. Thank you very much indeed. Marc Stewart in Beijing, for you folks. Well, climate change will
essentially be knocked off the agenda in Trump's second term, or at least there are concerns that it could have a chilling effect globally on climate
action that being the Trump Administration in its second term. We are going to discuss that up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANDERSON: Welcome back just before five to seven in the UAE. New climate data confirms what many of us suspected. 2024 will be the hottest year on
record. It will also be the first calendar year to exceed a threshold set out in the landmark Paris Agreement.
Now, Donald Trump has promised to withdraw from that global agreement for a second time when he takes the oath of office in January of 2025 and with
the warming climate fueling more extreme natural disasters, experts, while frankly sounding the alarm. CNN's Chief Climate Correspondent, Bill Weir
joins us now.
Bill, Trump pulling out of the Paris Agreement again, as promised. If that happens, what happens to U.S. climate policy? And what other countries
follow suit? What would the impact be?
BILL WEIR, CNN CHIEF CLIMATE CORRESPONDENT: That's a great question, Becky. It really sends a message when the richest most powerful country, the
biggest historic polluter votes in, really, the most notorious climate denier, a man who is just shows nothing but sort of sneering derision for
climate science and has vowed to actively undo Joe Biden's Inflation Reduction Act.
Really the most ambitious climate policy. Baku, Azerbaijan is the host of the next conference of the parties next week, COP 29 there, and some
countries indicating not going to send anyone, since this one was supposed to be about climate finance, richer countries helping those in the
developing world catch up and adapt and those sorts of things.
So, for those folks who take this very seriously, especially in the Global South, these are really dark, scary times, because while there is momentum
in the clean energy train that's happening in the United States, a couple years of hundreds of billions of dollars of private investment now flowing
into all these clean energy sources.
There is worry that such blatant flip flopping could send sort of a whiplash around the globe and really slow down progress at the most crucial
time, these next five years, Becky, when it comes to decarbonization, mean everything to keep us from these tipping points.
ANDERSON: To that point, tell us about this new report from the EU's climate change service.
[09:55:00]
WEIR: Yes, Copernicus, saying now that it's virtually assured that 2024 will be the hottest ever shattering records from last year. You can see the
bar chart there, but again, this is the first full year above that 1.5 of global warming threshold, three degrees Fahrenheit over pre industrial
levels, right now.
The hope was to hold it there, but now we're banging up against it, and there is no real progress worldwide. Last year, another set a record for
emissions, nearly 40 billion metric tons of carbon pollution put into the sky and in the world, of nearly 200 countries that were supposed to sort of
up their ambitions and announce new target goals, only Madagascar was able to do that so far.
So, there's sort of leadership failure around the world. You can see the red areas there are where there's record ocean surface temperatures, much
of the Atlantic, North Atlantic Gulf there, you can see so the oceans are hiding a lot of the damage as well. That's going on right now.
But you also hear from those climate warriors, Becky, in places like California and big cities, mayors who say, we're going to keep up the
fight, regardless of another Trump Administration.
ANDERSON: It's always good to have you, Bill, thank you. Bill Weir is in the house for you. Folks join me after this break for our second hour of
"Connect the World". Stay with CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
END
