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The Chris Wallace Show
Analysts Speculate on Likely Policies Pursued by Donald Trump's Second Administration Including Deportation of Illegal Immigrants and Economic Tariffs on Foreign Goods; Elon Musk and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. May Hold Positions within Next Trump Administration; Some Democrats Blame President Biden for Kamala Harris's Loss to Donald Trump in Presidential Race; Donald Trump's Promises to End War in Ukraine and Bring Peace to Middle East Examined; Survey of Americans Finds Their Preferred Side Dishes for Thanksgiving Dinner; American Airlines Testing New Technology that Sounds Alarm When Passengers Cut Lines When Boarding Airplane; Americans Buying Larger Televisions as Technology Improves and Prices Fall. Aired 10-11a ET.
Aired November 09, 2024 - 10:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[10:00:29]
CHRIS WALLACE, CNN ANCHOR: Hello again, and welcome. It's time to break down the big stories with some smart people. Today we're asking, as Donald Trump prepares for a second term, will he be able to keep his most controversial campaign promises?
Then the blame game. As Democrats point fingers, why it may not be who but what that's at fault for their big loss.
And later, cold turkey, why some Americans are giving up Thanksgiving's main attraction for the side dishes.
The panel is here and ready to go. So sit back, relax, and let's talk about it.
Up first, Donald Trump's political comeback is complete following a resounding show of support in this week's election. With the wind at his and the Republican Party's back, the focus now is what to look for in a second Trump term.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
DONALD TRUMP, (R) U.S. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Look what happened. Is this crazy?
(CHEERING)
WALLACE: Donald Trump resurgent.
TRUMP: I will govern by a simple motto -- promises made, promises kept.
WALLACE: Among those promises, carrying out mass deportation of millions of immigrants in the country illegally.
TRUMP: I will launch the largest deportation program in American history.
(CHEERING)
WALLACE: Imposing high tariffs on imports.
TRUMP: This country can become rich with the use, the proper use of tariffs.
WALLACE: And pardoning his supporters convicted for January 6th Capitol riot.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Would you pardon those people?
TRUMP: What's going to happen -- oh, absolutely I would.
WALLACE: Trump is expected to wield the powers of the presidency alongside an emboldened Republican Party in Congress.
TRUMP: This will forever be remembered as the day the American people regained control.
WALLACE: Already name checking potential advisers and cabinet picks, like billionaire Elon Musk.
TRUMP: A great gentleman is Elon Musk.
(CHEERING)
WALLACE: And antivaxxer Robert Kennedy Jr.
TRUMP: I'm going to let him go wild on health.
WALLACE: As the dust settles on the 2024 campaign, one thing is clear.
TRUMP: This was a movement like nobody has ever seen before.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
WALLACE: Here with me today, podcaster, journalist, and author Kara Swisher, Reihan Salam, president of the Manhattan Institute and "National Review" contributing editor, "New York Times" journalist and "The Interview" podcast host Lulu Garcia-Navarro, and conservative pollster and "New York Times" opinion writer, Kristen Soltis Anderson. Welcome back everybody.
Donald Trump made a lot of promises during the campaign, some of them mainstream conservative and some pretty radical. Lulu, what should we expect from the Trump two?
LULU GARCIA-NAVARRO, "NEW YORK TIMES" JOURNALIST AND PODCAST HOST: I think what we should expect is that there's going to be a lot of change. You ain't seen nothing yet. Everyone has thought that perhaps the front -- the first Trump administration was going to show the way for a second Trump administration, and I don't think that that's true. I think that they are better prepared. I think that they're going to better staffed. And I think that some of the promises they have put forward are pretty radical. Mass deportations, we'll see if they can do it. It costs a lot of money to do that. There are a lot of people in this country. It hasn't been successful to do the kind of numbers that they are talking about, but they are talking about that. I even saw some mention on immigration of denaturalization, taking people who are naturalized citizens and perhaps taking away their citizenship. There are all sorts of things being put forward at the moment. We'll see what happens.
WALLACE: Reihan, what do you expect from Trump, and specifically on some of the more radical, some would say extreme proposals? Do you really think that we're going to see the mass deportation of millions of people who have been in this country for years? Do you really think that we're going to see blanket pardons of the January 6th rioters?
REIHAN SALAM, CONTRIBUTING EDITOR, "NATIONAL REVIEW": When it comes to deportation, both former President Trump, President-elect Trump, and J.D. Vance have said that, look, we're going to focus initially on criminals, and we'll move carefully to go beyond that as necessary, as is responsible.
If you look at the first Trump administration, he actually deported fewer people than President Obama before him. So I think that what they've learned is the that you need to be really careful and deliberate about how you go about doing that.
When it comes so January 6th, there is a difference between folks who, for example, engaged in violent combat and other people who may well have been treated in a way that President-elect Trump considers unfair and unreasonable.
[10:05:04]
So I think that it's not going to be a blanket pardon. I think it's going to be more measured than that. That's certainly my expectation.
WALLACE: And what do you expect just generally from this second term?
SALAM: Well, look, this was a center-right majority. And if you look at how Donald Trump differs from his predecessors in the Republican Party, what he did is he moved the party to the center on a range of issues. He was more centrist than I would like on a number of important issues. And I think that he recognizes that and he is going to be someone who is going to keep Republicans in Congress in check. He's going to make sure that they are moving in a deliberate way with public opinion. It's not necessarily going to be something that is going to be entirely successful. There could be all sorts of blowups. He's a mercurial figure. But I do believe that he and his team recognize that this was a center-right majority, and he will try to govern accordingly.
WALLACE: Trump made his first staff hire. Campaign manager Susie Wiles will now be the White House chief of staff. And he reportedly agreed to her one condition. The clown car can't come into the White House at will, meaning all of the Trump hangers-on. Kristen, what can you tell us about Susie Wiles? And do you think she will actually be successful in keeping the clown car out of the White House?
KRISTEN SOLTIS ANDERSON, CONSERVATIVE POLLSTER AND "NEW YORK TIMES" CONTRIBUTING OPINION WRITER: She is enormously well-respected, and that is a sentiment that unites both MAGA Republicans and establishment Republicans to the extent that we're still pretending that Donald Trump is not the Republican establishment. Republicans of all stripes like Susie Wiles. I'm from Florida. I have a lot of connections with Florida political operatives. Almost uniformly they say she is a tough cookie who knows how to get things done.
And I think that this suggests that Trump 2.0 is going to be a much more professional and effective operation. If you are progressive, you may initially think, well, this is good, maybe the Trump hanger-ons won't be coming into the Oval Office. But it also means he is going to be much more effective at getting things done, including things that my progressive friends will not like.
WALLACE: What is your single biggest either hope or worry about the Trump presidency?
ANDERSON: My hope is that he will actually be able to use his disruptive approach to things to really shake up government agencies that genuinely have not been delivering for years and years and years. It is true that the federal government doesn't function very well, and that sense of disfunction is part of why people are constantly voting out the incumbent party, in a new party. If he can truly disrupt things, and I don't just mean go in and fire a bunch of people, but really come in with a let's think about ways we can do things differently, that could be positive.
WALLACE: Kara, do you have any hopes for the Trump presidency, or only worries?
KARA SWISHER, PODCAST HOST, "PIVOT" AND "ON": Sure. Why not? One would assume, one would hope. We are hoping -- the appointment of Susie Wiles did calm me down a little bit, I have to say, because she seems quite competent. I may not agree with her, but she seems very competent, very well-respected. Everyone I've checked with, same thing.
I'm worried that the Lisa (ph) Loomers and that whole gang will find their way into the White House. They did before. And I think he has a proclivity for that. I'm also worried about his age. I think he can go off script all the time much more so. So that's worrisome. And he has the interest in those people that never wanes, it never seems to wane. I was -- Elon Musk being in the call with Zelenskyy today, are you kidding me? It seemed insane to have him in that call.
WALLACE: Lulu, we are hearing a lot of talk here about this is going to be a more competent, a more measured administration than the first Trump term. You buying it?
GARCIA-NAVARRO: No. I think ultimately the one thing that this is proven is that Donald Trump is at the center of the party, and he is unchecked. And his instincts are the instincts to disrupt, to be chaotic. And I think that ultimately we will see how long Susie Wiles lasted -- excuse me, how long Susie Wiles will last.
WALLACE: You referred to her in the past tense.
GARCIA-NAVARRO: Everyone started -- yes, yes, you can't put in past tenses. But if you think about it, the first Trump administration, he had all his generals around him. They were all super well-respected. They were people who, you know, everyone same thing as Kristen was saying. People liked them, and they didn't last very long. He likes to get rid of people. He likes the chaos. We'll see if Susie Wiles will last, and we will see how --
WALLACE: And then there are the two unexpected key players in the Trump administration, Elon Musk, who Kara just mentioned, who Trump says will recommend ways to cut and reorganize the government, and RFK Jr. will have a broad mandate on health.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Clearing out the corruption in your terms, would that mean clearing out the top level federal service worker that are currently at the FDA and the CDC?
ROBERT F. KENNEDY JR., FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Yes, in some categories, I would say.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What does that look like?
KENNEDY: In some areas where there are entire department, like the nutrition departments at the FDA that have to go.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WALLACE: Kara, how big a role do you think Elon Musk and RFK Jr. will play, and for how long?
[10:10:05]
SWISHER: I think they're going to drop RFK off the turnip truck as soon as possible. I think that's probably a smart thing for them to do. They have gotten what they wanted from him, and they're going to sort of move him off.
WALLACE: I don't know. You keep hearing the president-elect say he is going to --
SWISHER: I understand. I feel like there's others around him who understand the issues, and they are talking to him, from what I understand. With Elon, it'll be interesting to see what happens. I do think they're going to clash. They are too much alike as people. I think -- I have talked to a number of Republicans who have spent some time with him recently, and all of them are like, ooh, you were right about his personality. Once a get a taste of that in the extreme, I think Trump and he will clash, 100 percent. WALLACE: For Democrats, it's time to look in the mirror and ask,
after losing the popular vote for the first time in 20 years, what does the party do to win back voters?
Plus, the world is watching. We'll break down the impact Trump's win could have on the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East.
And later, shame on you, the new and humiliating way to stop line cutting passengers at airports.
WALLACE: Kara --
SWISHER: Yes.
WALLACE: You are totally a line cutter.
SWISHER: Yes -- no.
WALLACE: What?
SWISHER: No, I'm not a line --
WALLACE: You are a line cutter. You are a line cutter. I can see you --
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[10:15:52]
WALLACE: Would have, could have, should have. In the wake of their crushing defeat, Democrats are playing the blame game, trying to figure out what and who are responsible for election night. And more important, what they need to do differently to regain power.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KAMALA HARRIS, (D) VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: This is not a time to throw up our hands. This is a time to roll up our sleeves.
(APPLAUSE)
WALLACE: Kamala Harris conceding defeat from the same Howard University podium where the night before she planned to make her victory speech.
HARRIS: I am so proud of the race we ran and the way we ran it.
WALLACE: And how Democrats ran their campaigns is what many in the party are now focused on. Some blaming President Biden for deciding to run, then not dropping out soon enough.
JOE BIDEN, (D) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I'm staying in the race.
(CHEERING)
BIDEN: I'll beat Donald Trump.
WALLACE: One Harris aide now telling "Politico", "Joe Biden is the singular reason Kamala Harris and Democrats lost." Other Democrats blame Harris for how she ran and choosing a progressive running mate instead of a moderate.
LINDY LI, HARRIS SURROGATE: I hate to say this, but I'm not sure how much Tim Walz contributed to the ticket.
WALLACE: Some strategists don't blame Harris or Biden. They point to the party's politically correct messaging, which they say turned off traditional Democratic voters.
JULIE ROGINSKY, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Stop with the virtue signaling and just speak to people like they're normal. We need to be the party of common sense again.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
WALLACE: Kristen, who is to blame for the Democratic debacle?
ANDERSON: I think a fair amount of the blame does fall on Joe Biden for two reasons. First, the staying in the race only until the point where you had that complete dumpster fire of a debate, and then still dragging it out for a few weeks. I mean, Kamala Harris was dealt a very tough hand to play because of Joe Biden's decision.
But I also think that as a president, this was a year where voters just did not want anything to do with anything that Joe Biden's administration had done. Voters put him in office four years ago because they said we want the adults back in charge. We want stability. We want prosperity. And they don't feel like that was delivered on. And so Harris was in a tough spot. Could she turn the page? Did she really have enough time to? I've criticized her on this show that she didn't break as much as she should have, but I think a lot of blame falls at Joe Biden's feet.
WALLACE: Lulu, where are you pointing fingers?
GARCIA-NAVARRO: I had an interview with Speaker Emeritus Nancy Pelosi, and what was fascinating was, first of all, she was stunned by the turn of events. I don't think she was expecting it. She was cagey because she is cagey, but what she said was that she did feel that Kamala Harris -- there should have been an open primary, that when Biden stepped down there should have been a process that actually put people against each other, tested them, allowed them, the best person --
WALLACE: In the months between then and the convention?
GARCIA-NAVARRO: I mean, what she said was that once Joe Biden stepped down and immediately endorsed Kamala Harris, there was no -- there was no other way to deal with this.
WALLACE: I want to do a thought experiment. Suppose Biden drops out after a good showing in the 2022 midterms, so in December, January of 23, and throws the race for the Democratic nomination open for the regular full primary process. Lulu, could any Democrat have beaten Trump this cycle?
GARCIA-NAVARRO: I don't think so. There's a lot of handwringing. There's a lot of, I think, soul searching in the Democratic Party, and I think that is good. I also think, as Reihan has pointed out many times before, that you have an anti-incumbent global movement at the moment where parties who oversaw inflation and immigration surges off the back of COVID have been booted out. And I'm afraid to say that in this case America is not exceptional. This is the hand that they were dealt.
WALLACE: I want to pick up on exactly that point. And I know you and Kristen have talked about that, this wave of anti-incumbent feeling.
[10:20:03]
I mean, there are a lot of presidents, people in office, in the case of Kamala Harris, the surrogate for the president, part of the administration, who have been kicked out because of post-pandemic inflation and disruption. Could any Democrat have overcome that?
SALAM: Absolutely. I really do believe a different candidate could have done it. The key thing and the key failure of both Biden and Harris was that they could not say no to the left flank of their party. The formula for successful Democratic presidential candidates is really straightforward. You demonstrate that I'm not with the radicals, I'm not with the extreme fringe. I'm with you, that ordinary, down the line, middle of the road voter. Those are the voters who are in the blue wall who lost --
GARCIA-NAVARRO: Didn't Harris do that? She pivoted to the middle.
SALAM: She absolutely did not. She could not actually explain why she reversed her positions. If you look at the number of times she could not explain -- she couldn't even answer the question of how she was going to vote on a California ballot initiative that was backed by over 70 percent of California voters that was rolling back some soft on crime policies. She was unable to simply say that the Democratic Party went too far.
SWISHER: She was in a position where she really couldn't go against Biden either, because then she would have been accused of being a betrayer. So she was in a box that she really couldn't -- and she is risk averse. I have said this time and again. If you want to win this, you have to be risk -- leaning into risk, which Donald Trump does every day.
WALLACE: But Reihan's real point is not what she could have done. It's that the entire Biden-Harris administration went too far to the left and should have gone more center.
SWISHER: An open primary would have been better, period, and Biden leaving earlier right after 2020 would have been fantastic. And I think they could have come up with something like Shapiro -- GARCIA-NAVARRO: You are seeing this fight play out right now in the Democratic Party where you have the progressive left and you have the mainstream Democrats. They are having it out right now with this very discussion, because on the left you have Bernie Sanders saying, actually, the problem that the Democrats have --
SALAM: Who did worse than Harris.
GARCIA-NAVARRO: Who did worse than Harris.
SALAM: Sanders did worse than Harris in Vermont.
GARCIA-NAVARRO: Nancy Pelosi pointed that out. But his point is it's no longer the party of the working class. We have left -- we are no longer -- but it wasn't only -- it wasn't only Bernie Sanders.
SWISHER: It's not the working class. It's the can-do Democrat. It's the can-do democrat like Josh Shapiro. He built that bridge. He built the bridge. He did things. And I think the idea of doing things for your constituents is very attractive no matter what side you are on.
WALLACE: I want to put up some numbers that show how serious this slippage was among key parts of the Democratic coalition. Among black men, Hillary Clinton beat Trump by 69 points in 2016. Harris's margin was still strong, 56 points, but down considerably from Clinton. It's even more dramatic among Latino men. Clinton won by 31 points back in 2016. Harris lost Latino men to Trump by 12 points. Kara, how do Democrats win back, not only those constituencies, but just a majority of American voters?
SWISHER: I think what I'm doing for you, this is what I'm doing for you in a very clear message. I'm not bottled into any group right or left, and I'm here to help you. I'm here to help you, if they keep saying that, and then showing actual help on the ground.
GARCIA-NAVARRO: But you're talking about men in that poll, and I think it's very clear, they didn't lose black women. White women still --
WALLACE: They lost a majority of Americans.
GARCIA-NAVARRO: Yes, but wait, you just pointed to a whole bunch of different groups. So I'm just responding to what you --
WALLACE: No, but I'm asking just generally, what do they need to do to win?
GARCIA-NAVARRO: Bu what I'm saying is the whole -- I think the whole issue here is that you can't speak to all America. What I think what Trump did extremely well was that he targeted specific groups and motivated them to come out.
SALAM: I think that's wrong.
ANDERSON: I disagree that it was targeted specific groups.
GARCIA-NAVARRO: Men.
ATTIAH: I would that more, I would believe that more if he didn't also do better with women than he did four years ago. That's what's crazy is if you look at a map, what went right, what went left. I would believe, OK, Trump had a targeted message if you had like him running up Kim Jong-un level numbers in rural areas. But Harris really did well in urban area. Trump did better in urban areas.
WALLACE: So briefly, what should the Democrats do now?
ANDERSON: Wait for Republicans to overreach. Here is the deal. This is -- the next election is going to be a midterm. Midterms tend to favor the party that is not in power. And so Democrats are already just going to have to sit back and watch as Republicans try to do the very hard work of governing. In the first, say, 100 days, Donald Trump is going to have to figure out what do we do about the tax bill that has got to be re-upped. What do we do about all these policies? If you put in tariffs, what happens to cost of living? There's going to be a lot of challenges Republicans will face.
WALLACE: And one thing that new presidents of either party always do is overread their mandate and overreach.
Donald Trump's reelection will have a huge impact on our friends and foes around the world. Who should be more concerned.
[10:25:00]
Plus, going big, really big. The ginormous TVs coming to a living room near you.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WALLACE: World leaders were quick to congratulate Donald Trump this week with some of the first messages coming from those with the most at stake.
[10:30:01]
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu tweeting, "This is a huge victory." And Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy praising Trump's peace through strength approach. The wars in Ukraine and the Middle East will certainly top Trump's foreign policy agenda, and he has already signaled his views.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, (R) U.S. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I want to see the Middle East get back to peace, and real peace, a peace that's going to be a lasting peace. And that's going to happen.
Before I even arrive at the Oval Office, I will have the disastrous war between Russia and Ukraine settled. And it will take me no longer than one day.
(END VIDEO CLIP) WALLACE: Trump hasn't laid out a plan to end the war between Russia and Ukraine in one day, but he and Vice President-elect J.D. Vance have brought up stopping U.S. aid to Ukraine and giving up Ukrainian territory as part of a settlement, which Zelenskyy this week rejected.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT: Hugs with Putin will not help. It is up to Ukraine to decide what should and should not be on the agenda for ending this war.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WALLACE: Lets discuss what to expect from Trump on foreign policy. Lulu, what does Trump's win mean for the war in Ukraine?
GARCIA-NAVARRO: If you take J.D. Vance and Donald Trump at their word, what it means is that they're going to try and pressure Ukraine to cede territory and basically give Russia a win. That has been the fear of Europe, the American allies in Europe, and that certainly was the fear of the Democratic establishment here. So we'll have to see. I mean, at the moment the Biden administration is trying to rush as much aide and military equipment as they can, and it also remains to be seen what Europe does to help Ukraine.
But, at the end of the day, the United States has been a huge supporter of Ukraine in this fight. And if that gets -- if that plug gets pulled, it really is only a matter of time.
WALLACE: Here's a slightly different version of the package that the Trump camp is reportedly discussing. The west continues to arm Ukraine to deter a Russian attack. Kyiv promises not to join NATO or for at least 20 years. And Russia and Ukraine agree to a demilitarized zone at the current frontlines.
Kristen, do you think Trump can pull that off? And especially can he pull it off in the one day, as he's promised?
ANDERSON: I don't think he can pull it off in one day. But I do think that it is possible because he will hold a lot of cards. Ukraine is in a very tough spot. Without the United States helping them they are continuing to face, suffer enormous losses on their frontlines. I do think that if Trump says it's my way or the highway, they're going to be in a tough spot, and they will have to take a deal like that.
WALLACE: All right, a switch. Reihan, what does Trump's victory mean for the wars in the Middle East?
SALAM: This is going to represent a real break. If you look at the Trump administration's first term, they pursued maximum pressure against Iran. That's one reason why the Iranian government was determined to see him defeated or dead. And he has that very much in mind. He is going to put a ton of pressure economically, but also strategically. If you look at the Middle East, if you look at the Gulf states, if you look at Saudi Arabia, and of course if you look at Israel, they are very heartened by the fact the Trump administration will be back, and I think that it's going to be a very, very different picture. No more accommodation. It's going to be pressure, pressure, pressure on Iran and its proxies.
WALLACE: In the campaign, Trump praised Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for resisting calls from President Biden for a ceasefire. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, (R) U.S. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Bibi didn't listen to him, and I'll tell you what, they are in a much stronger position now than they were three months ago, that's for sure. Nobody has ever seen anything like this happen.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WALLACE: Kara, do you think that Trump is basically going to give Israel a green light to do whatever they want in Gaza and south Lebanon?
SWISHER: Probably. That's what he said. He said it, so that's what I assume. And he likes -- some of the victories they've had recently have been significant in terms of killing off certain terrorists that deserve to be dead. And so I think probably. I think if the issue if they get really brutal and continue to kill civilians, I think that will be a visual problem. And it's the visual problem you have in this country if they have deportations in the Stephen Miller style. It could really backfire because it looks cruel, and it looks haphazard, and stuff. So they've got to be very careful.
WALLACE: Lulu, you want to say something?
GARCIA-NAVARRO: Yes, I do. I think one of the things that might come of this is that Bibi Netanyahu has intimated that he would end the war before Trump comes into power as a sort of gift to him, if you will. Any way that the killing stops would be good.
What remains to be seen is what happens after the killing stops. What happens to Palestinians in Gaza? What actually happens to the territory in southern Lebanon?
[10:35:04]
These have been the questions that have animated a lot of these discussions. And the fact of the matter is that Donald Trump has very little sympathy for the Palestinians and their cause, and so it will not bode very well for them.
WALLACE: Let's take a look at the bigger picture. Here is what President-elect Trump said about NATO during the campaign.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, (R) U.S. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: One of the presidents of a big country stood up and said, sir, if we don't pay and we're attacked by Russia, will you protect us? I said, you didn't pay, you're delinquent? He said yes. Let's say that happened. No, I would not protect you. In fact, I would encourage them to do whatever the hell they want. You've got to pay.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WALLACE: Lulu, what big picture do you think Trump's victory means for U.S. both with our friends and with our enemies?
GARCIA-NAVARRO: I think our friend are going to be less our friends, and the people we think of as our adversaries are going to be somewhat closer to us. And I'm thinking of the Viktor Orbans, the strongmen.
WALLACE: The head of Hungary.
GARCIA-NAVARRO: The head of Hungary and others, Turkey. You know, so I think there is going to be a realignment. And I think what we have seen actually in Europe is a real fear, and they are getting -- they are very focused on how they are going to protect themselves in a world where they can't depend on the United States.
SALAM: The German economy dwarfs the Russian economy. Fundamentally, what Trump has argued, what Biden continued with, is simply that our NATO European allies need to step up. It's urgent. And there are actually many Europeans in many European governments who are saying that this is exactly what we need to get the right level of urgency, to build up our defenses, to be stronger. Fundamentally from Trump and from Vance, what you've heard from that is that Israel is the right kind of ally. Why? Because they engage in something called self-help. They take their own steps. They move hard, and they're reliable, strong allies. That's what we need from Europe. That's what we need in east Asia as well. And Trump delivered that during his first term.
WALLACE: And do you expect Trump to continue what a lot of people consider a kind of curious affinity for strongmen like Putin and Kim Jong-un and Xi of China?
SALAM: Trump is a dealmaker. He is going to want to make overtures. But he's also going to want to hit them hard if they do not give him what he believes is in the United States interest. So I think that it's going to be a mix.
WALLACE: Speaking of adversaries, there's a new effort to crack down on and shame line cutters at the airport.
Plus, Thanksgiving twist, the top side dishes most Americans prefer over turkey.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[10:42:31]
WALLACE: It's time to get our group's yea or nay on some big talkers, and given that many of you have had your fill of politics, we want to look ahead to something more cheerful, Thanksgiving. So up first, holiday travel. There is now a plan to stop those overeager airplane passengers who cut the line and board before they are supposed to. American Airlines is testing new technology at three airports which sounds an alarm if a passenger tries to board ahead of his or her assigned group. If it goes off, you'll be stopped, told to wait your turn, and have to take the walk of shame back to all the rest of.
Kara, are you yay or nay on stopping the line-jumpers?
SWISHER: I'm a yea. I cannot stand line jumpers. I hate it. I have spent a lot of time in travel to get my spot in line, and I really hate when they jump the line. I hate it. I hate it.
WALLACE: Do you call them out?
SWISHER: Yes. I'm like, what are you doing? Yes, I do. I shame them myself and I sit there --
WALLACE: So they don't need an alarm, or maybe the alarm should be your voice?
(LAUGHTER)
SWISHER: No, just the Kara alarm. What are you doing?
WALLACE: So Reihan, American is purposefully not telling people about this alarm, although we know of kind of a broken secret, so they actually hear the alarm and are shamed. And they say that about one in ten passengers turns out to be a line jumper, at least in this test at these three airports. Where are you on this?
SALAM: You know that I have an authoritarian streak about a mile wide.
(LAUGHTER)
SALAM: And look, if only we could set up similar alarm systems for people who are cutting other lines as well, I would be violently in favor of it. People who don't scoop the poop of their dogs -- I'm looking at you, Kristen -- these people should be subject to -- I'm just kidding. I'm just kidding.
WALLACE: Wow.
SALAM: But to loud, blaring alarms.
WALLACE: I will not accept that, Reihan.
ANDERSON: I will not accept that.
(LAUGHTER)
SALAM: I don't mean to besmirch your character.
WALLACE: Now it's time for Thanksgiving dinner. But a new survey finds most Americans, 55 percent, prefer to load up their plate with side dishes, not the turkey. According to Campbell's "State of the Sides" report, the top trimming is stuffing or dressing. The rest of the top sides include mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, green bean casserole, and mac and cheese. Kristen, are you yea or nay on eating more sides than turkey?
ANDERSON: I'm a yea on this, and I will say even with my husband making an exquisite turkey every year, by the time you get to like four days after Thanksgiving and you open the fridge and the leftovers are there, it's mashed potatoes, it's stuffing. That's what I want to stick a plate of in the microwave.
[10:45:08]
WALLACE: Lulu, as with everything, it turns out that there is a generation gap here. Gen Z, you ask then, they say the best side is mac and cheese. All the rest of us correctly say it's the stuffing. Where are you, sides or turkey?
GARCIA-NAVARRO: I like it all. I like a well-balanced bite. I take a little bit of the turkey, I some put stuffing, some gravy, some green beans, and just -- um. I like -- in fact, I like the sandwiches that have the entire meal stuffed in to them the day -- the next day. I'm all about it. It's my favorite meal. I love Thanksgiving.
WALLACE: OK.
GARCIA-NAVARRO: Bring it on. I'm sorry.
SWISHER: Thanksgiving is going to suck this year for many families, you do realize it, because of the election. You get that.
WALLACE: After dinner it's time to gather around the TV and watch some football. And now the size of the screen is getting bigger, a lot bigger. According to consumer experts, because of improved technology the so-called XXLs, which are 98 inches across or more in size, are flying off the shelves. Prices have dropped by more than half, prompting sales to skyrocket by 800 percent just in the last year. To give you some perspective, these TVs are bigger across than Shaquille O'Neal is tall by a foot. Kara, yea or nay on gigantic TVs?
SWISHER: I love them. I think they are great.
GARCIA-NAVARRO: What?
SWISHER: And in fact, your whole wall is going to be a TV someday. You're not even going to be buying TVs.
GARCIA-NAVARRO: This is horrible.
SWISHER: You're going to paint on a screen someday. There's some technologies coming. I love them. You're going to have a wall of everything. It's going to surround you.
WALLACE: So I just have to tell one quick story, which is that one time my wife and I were out looking for TVs, and she said honey, is that one too big? And I said darling, there is no such thing as a TV that is too big. There you go.
(LAUGHTER)
WALLACE: The panel is back with their takes on hot stories or what will be in the news before it's news. That's right after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WALLACE: It's time for our panel's special takes on what's happening or predictions of what we should be looking out for. Kristen, hit me with your best shot.
ANDERSON: I come today to defend my industry, the polling industry. After this election, I know there are many Americans who feel surprised that Donald Trump swept all seven battleground states. But the reality is, if you looked at most of the public polling averages, they did show the race very close. The polls will probably wind up being off by about one to two points undercounting Trump's vote, and that does mean we as an industry need to figure out -- we've tried a lot of things to make sure we're capturing Trump voters. Why do we still not get that final two percent? But gosh, that's pretty good in an era when nobody is picking up the phone, nobody wants to tell us what they think. I think pollsters actually did pretty good this time around.
WALLACE: Lulu, you are focused on one particular voting group.
GARCIA-NAVARRO: Yes. I have spent a lot of my career having to explain Latino voters every election cycle, and I have to say that I am thrilled that this time no one is going to be taking the Latino vote for granted ever again. It is finally no longer this freeze that I despise, the sleeping giant. And now it is simply the giant.
WALLACE: OK, but briefly, Biden won Latinos by 33 points four years ago. Harris won them by six. What happened?
GARCIA-NAVARRO: First of all, I'll say that this is based on exit polls. Exit polls of Latinos aren't very reliable, so we don't actually know the real numbers. But clearly there was a huge swing, and the swing really was about quite a few things. But most of all, you know, they identified with Trump. They liked Trump. They liked what he had to say. They even liked him on immigration. But more than anything, the number one issue for Latinos is the economy. They were hit hard with inflation, and really, the Democrats could never come back from that.
WALLACE: Reihan, best shot?
SALAM: There was another really big swing in the 2024 presidential election and that was in America's big urban centers -- Miami, Chicago, New York City, Dallas, Houston -- big double-digit swings for Trump from 2020. And if you look at New York City, my home, Trump won almost a third of the vote there, up from a little bit over a fifth in 2020. Urban conservatism is going to be back in a big way. Law and order, quality of life, those are the issues that Republicans and Democrats are going to have to get right in the years go come.
WALLACE: Kara?
SWISHER: Yes?
WALLACE: Bring us home.
SWISHER: I'm going to repeat my assertion about Elon Musk and Donald Trump. One of my favorite moves is "Highlander," and there can be only one. And that's going to be Donald Trump. And I think we'll see what happens in the wake of that. But another thing was the tech CEOs, more than anyone, really bent the knee right after the election, and we're talking about how much they love to cooperate largely because they are scared of Elon's influence, and they want to have influence of their own, particularly Jeff Bezos, who was extremely obsequious in a way that wasn't surprising to me.
WALLACE: You know, on this issue of there can only be one, I'll never forget, in the first Trump term, "Time" magazine put out a cover.
[10:55:00]
And there it was in year one, several months in, of Steve Bannon on the cover of "Time" magazine. And I remember thinking, the boss is not going to like that.
SWISHER: Right.
WALLACE: The "Axios" newsletter this week had this story calling Elon Musk the most powerful unelected man ever. Trump does not like to share the spotlight.
SWISHER: No. And in comparison to the need for attention between Bannon and Musk, Bannon looks like a kitty cat. Elon needs a lot of attention, and Trump will be irritated by that.
WALLACE: Gang, thank you all for being here, and thank you for spending part of your day with us. It's been a long week. Thank you for being here, and we'll see you right back here next week.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
