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Erin Burnett Outfront
Sources: Stephen Miller Returning to White House With More Power; Putin & Kim's Deal; John Avlon OutFront. Aired 7-8p ET
Aired November 11, 2024 - 19:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[19:00:31]
ERIN BURNETT, CNN HOST: OUTFRONT next:
Trump's loyal followers, the president-elect now stacking his new administration with diehard supporters, and punishing those who spoke out against him. We have new reporting this hour on what's happening behind closed doors at Mar-a-Lago.
Plus, more breaking news. A power pact, Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong-un striking a major deal, as CNN speaks to people inside Russia about Trump's promise to end the conflict in Ukraine.
And John Avlon, he is back OUTFRONT. And tonight, he'll tell you what he learned from the campaign trail, where he spent every day and why he is full of hope.
Let's go OUTFRONT.
And good evening. I'm Erin Burnett.
OUTFRONT tonight, breaking news, rewarding loyalty. Donald Trump wasting no time paying back his strongest supporters tonight. Moments ago, asking the Florida Congressman Mike Waltz to be his national security advisor.
Waltz is a longtime and vocal Trump supporter, retired colonel in the National Guard, former Green Beret.
Also, Stephen Miller, an immigration hardliner who is returning as deputy chief of staff of policy. Even more power than he had in the first Trump administration when he had quite a huge influence. And his devotion to Trump though ever since, has been extremely loud and very clear.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
STEPHEN MILLER, TRUMP ADVISOR: President Trump is the most gifted politician of our time.
The president is a political genius.
They say that the eyes are the window into the human soul, that blazing set of eyes that we saw in that photograph revealed a soul that is literally burning with a righteous flame on behalf of 300 million Americans.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: I mean, Trump's blazing eyes, his burning soul. It doesn't get better than that. But that is just a small tidbit of the things that Miller has said about Trump, and what is most important is that he has stayed close to him without wavering since Trump left office, and throughout the entire campaign, front and center.
Here he is at the Madison Square Garden rally.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MILLER: America is for Americans and Americans only.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: In fact, Miller was a key architect behind Trump's family separation policy at the border and shaped the administration's Muslim ban.
In fact, he is credited with writing some of Trump's most incendiary speeches. Do you remember this one?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT-ELECT OF THE UNITED STATES: This American carnage stops right here and stops right now.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: American carnage. Remember that, of course, was inauguration day. Now, Miller will be joined by a number of other loyalists, including Tom Homan, Trump's new border czar, who will be tasked with carrying out Trump's mass deportation promises.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TOM HOMAN, FORMER ICE DIRECTOR: We've got a president, the greatest president in my lifetime.
I'll say this a thousand times. I'll say this to the day I die.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Also joining the list, New York Congresswoman Elise Stefanik, who Trump wants to be his U.N. ambassador.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. ELISE STEFANIK (R-NY): I was the only elected Republican woman from the Northeast who voted for President Trump. I was smeared by Democrats for doing so. And I've been proud to be one of his top allies.
(END VIDEO CLIP) BURNETT: And then, of course, there's the world's richest man who's been weighing in on all these staffing decisions, someone who has grown incredibly close to Trump over just the past several months.
And most importantly, truly has Trump's ear.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ELON MUSK, SPACEX AND TESLA CEO: I'm not just MAGA, I'm dark MAGA.
President Trump must win to preserve the Constitution. He must win to preserve democracy in America.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: All right. Well, since Election Day, Musk has spent nearly every day at Mar-a-Lago. I mean, keep in mind, this is a guy who's going to rescue, you know, astronauts on the International Space Station, and there's Tesla and all of that. But he's at Mar-a-Lago every day. He's now appearing in Trump family photos.
Over the weekend, Trump's oldest granddaughter posted an image of herself with Elon with the caption Elon achieving uncle status.
For Musk and Miller, these are the people whose loyalty has earned them a spot in Trump's inner circle and a very quick rapid fire naming of an inner circle and a new administration.
While members of Trump's former administration, Nikki Haley or Mike Pompeo, are completely on the outs because of things like this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NIKKI HALEY (R). FORMER U.S. AMBASSADOR TO THE U.N.: Chaos follows him and we can't have a country in disarray and a world on fire and go through four more years of chaos. We won't survive it.
MIKE POMPEO, FORMER SECRETARY OF STATE: I was talking about the time to elect serious leaders who are thoughtful, who speak about America as the most exceptional nation in the history of civilization.
[19:05:03]
They're not denigrating it. They're not -- they're not throwing out whoppers. They're not spending all their time thinking about Twitter.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: I mean, the "they" them there was a he, Trump.
I mean, what matters here is that Trump took the time when it came to Haley and Pompeo to post on Twitter that he will not name them to his administration.
He didn't just leave them out and you know, hey, I'm not going to mention their name. I'm just going to leave them out. No, he had to come out with an announcement that he was going to reject them. That's the whole point, he wants it out there. Loyalty to Trump is what drives him, loyalty to Trump, let's be clear.
As the cast of "Saturday Night Live" put it this weekend in this rather dark skit.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And now, thanks to the Supreme Court, there are no guardrails.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Nothing to protect the people who are brave enough to speak out against him.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And that's why we at "SNL" would like to say to Donald Trump -- we have been with you all along.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: All right. Alayna Treene is OUTFRONT live in West Palm Beach, where Trump administration hopefuls and those hoping to influence his picks are flocking to Mar-a-Lago.
The deja vu of it all, Alayna. What is the latest you're hearing about who is there and what is happening?
ALAYNA TREENE, CNN REPORTER: That's right.
That island behind me, Erin, where Mar-a-Lago is, but also the hotels, the different potential rental properties. That is really the epicenter of where everything is going on. We're told that many people are booking hotels, booking these rental properties, trying to maneuver their way in with members already of Mar-a-Lago to get their way in, to appear in front of Donald Trump, one to try and get their names in front of him for these potential roles, but also to try and influence him as well.
Now, I think your point about loyalty is so crucial here from every single pick we've seen, Donald Trump announce in the last 48 hours or so, they have all been people who have been loyal to Donald Trump, and I think the timing of their loyalty is also crucial. That is what I am told in my conversations with Trump advisers.
It's the people who did not abandon him after he had left the White House in January of 2021, after many people had distanced themselves from the former president following the January 6th Capitol attack.
These people Stephen Miller, Susie Wiles, Mike Waltz, Elise Stefanik, all of them stayed loyal to Donald Trump and we're seeing them be rewarded right now.
Now, I think I do want to talk a little bit about Mike Waltz, because him being the national security advisor is a big deal. I think he's going to have a very big portfolio and a lot to dig in on, especially given the wars right now in the Middle East and in Ukraine. Now, he is going to be the first Green Beret to this role. He served in the Middle East, Afghanistan, Africa, you know, he's going to have a lot of experience from the war side itself.
But again, he has also been one of Donald Trump's biggest defenders. You've seen him on television over the entire campaign coming out, particularly after all of the drama around Donald Trump visiting Arlington cemetery. People saying that he was in the wrong for appearing at a certain grave sites.
Mike Waltz was out there defending Donald Trump. So that's a big thing. He's also been seen at Mar-a-Lago. Now, another person we've seen at Mar-a-Lago is Elon Musk. You're absolutely right that his influence is incredibly great right now with Donald Trump.
And also, I'm told from my discussions with people familiar with this, is that many lawmakers are calling up Elon Musk, and he's also calling up lawmakers right now as the jockeying continues, particularly as we're looking at the formation of that Senate leadership fight, and Musk putting his finger on the scale there for Rick Scott.
BURNETT: Right.
TREENE: Erin?
BURNETT: And, of course, thank you very much, Alayna.
And, you know, there's not a single one of those people. I mean, for any reason whether linked to Trump or not, is going to be like holy cow, I'm getting a call from Elon Musk, that's the reality of it, right there's -- there's the celebrity to it, too, Alyssa. And that that aspect of it that is so part of the Trump ethos that he that he likes to cultivate.
You know a lot of these people, you worked with a lot of these people because a lot of these Mike Waltz, not but some of these others are people that were in the inner circle, have remained you know, them. So what's your reaction so far to this team and how quickly it's coming together?
ALYSSA FARAH GRIFFIN, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: So I know all of them and none of them raise major alarm bells in the sense that they're not a major departure from the first Trump administration. These are names that I expected. There are people who inarguably have the credentials to be there, and you have a sense of what they're going to do.
Stephen Miller has always had an incredibly heavy hand in all of Donald Trump's policy making to the degree that Donald Trump even is an ideologue, which I'm still not convinced he is. A lot of what he espouses, what he wants to do, his ideas originate from Stephen Miller. I always expected he'd have a senior role.
Mike Waltz, this is somebody who's been a die hard loyalist to Donald Trump in Congress. On the outside, his wife actually served in the National Security Council in the previous administration.
Tom Homan was either going to get this or secretary of department of homeland security. He's a hardliner on immigration. He knows how it works. He knows how to work within the interagency and the government.
And Elise Stefanik beloved by Trump and loves him.
What Donald Trump has done this time that is so markedly different than last time is how rapidly he's announced these people. He had a government in waiting, ready to go, which is so different than the scramble last minute of people who didn't know how government work, weren't sure what they were going to do once they got there.
[19:10:09]
So this is a team ready to go on day one.
BURNETT: It is. I mean, Jamal, there's no question about it. And the fact that this was I mean, yes, there's jockeying going on. But there was a there was some sort of a plan. I mean, you don't move this quickly with just rapid fire jockeying. Elon Musk, you know, playing phone tag.
So what do Democrats do here? Right, he's won, it appears going to end up being the popular vote and the electoral and Senate, possibly likely House. And he's moving fast.
JAMAL SIMMONS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: The one thing Democrats have to do is stop underestimating Donald Trump, right? This has gotten Democrats in trouble two times and almost a third time against Joe Biden, because he didn't beat him by that much when it came to the Electoral College, right?
So Democrats have to stop underestimating Donald Trump and start paying attention to the fact that there are a lot of Americans in this country, clearly a majority of Americans who do still feel like they're on the outside.
The one thing Trump did well it was kind of dastardly from a Democratic perspective, but he did it well. He identified he put himself on the side of the people who were outside going against the institutions. Democrats have to not defend institutions that people don't think are taking care of them. So it's time for Democrats to figure out how do they get on the right side of those institutions.
And what I'm worried about with the administration is and the Clinton administration which is where I started when I was a kid. You know, we believed in soft power, the economic power that went first, the Obama administration, sort of similarly, the Bush administration, it was hard power, right? The military was leading.
BURNETT: Right.
SIMMONS: This is like puzzle power, right? Like nobody knows what these guys are up to, what Donald Trump might do, and I think he tries to use that to his benefit but it also could create error, right? So we don't -- because we don't know it is a rife place, it's ripe to have mistakes occur on the international scene and that could be deadly.
BURNETT: It could be deadly. That's the stuff that Nikki Haley had warned of.
David Urban, when it comes down to it, though, it is loyalty, right? And we know the loyalty to Trump, right? That's what he -- he matters, team of loyalists.
And if you're not on that team but you're a Haley or a Pompeo, you know, a public face, he wants to publicly have everybody know, right? He doesn't its not going to be quiet. He wants it public.
All the way back in 1992, he's talked about loyalty. I'll just play it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
INTERVIEWER: How do you find disloyalty?
TRUMP: They didn't come to my aid.
INTERVIEWER: Well, what did they do? They turned their back on you.
TRUMP: No, but they didn't do small things that would have helped. You see, I'm so loyal to people. Maybe I'm loyal to a fault, but I'm so loyal to people that when somebody slightly disloyal to me, I look upon it as a great act of horror.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Loyalty is a one way street here, David. But that's not the point here. The point is, is that is are these picks all based on loyalty? I mean, we do look as Alyssa is laying out, Congressman Waltz, right? Obviously, an incredible resume there as well.
DAVID URBAN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yeah. So listen, I don't want to -- I love the fact that Alyssa and Jamal are both praising Donald Trump and the picks. Jamal saying, don't underestimate Donald Trump. Don't sleep on him.
Alyssa is praising all the picks.
(CROSSTALK)
SIMMONS: I take my licks, David. I take my licks, okay?
URBAN: Listen, I'm just -- I may -- I may yield my time to both of them and let them just keep talking about how great Trump is. I'm thoroughly enjoying it.
Listen, I know, I know all these people that have been selected so far. I think, you know, not just loyalty. These people are incredibly competent. I think competence is the -- is the watchword here tonight.
Mike Waltz has been a friend for quite some time, graduate of the Virginia Military Institute, not West Point, unfortunately, but he's a -- you know, hardened combat veteran. First Green Beret in Congress, he's been on this network a ton, very fair, smart guy. He's going to do incredible things. Elise Stefanik, I -- you know, I was with her before she was a congresswoman, right? She's incredibly capable.
Tom Homan knows the immigration system inside and out. If you -- you doubt that, go back and go to YouTube and watch some of his exchanges when he's being -- when he's testifying before the Hill.
BURNETT: Oh, I was watching them today. Yes, I was watching.
URBAN: Yeah, right. So, these people I think the word is competent above loyalty. These people are incredibly competent. And they're going to make this administration run very smoothly from Jump Street.
So I'm excited about them. I'm excited for my friend Mike Waltz. He deserves it. Elise Stefanik deserves it. Tom Homan deserves it.
These folks are going to take care of the American people, you know. Remember, you said --
BURNETT: Okay.
URBAN: -- there's going to be -- I don't know what were up to now, 79 million votes, maybe but the American people clearly sent a signal to Washington that right track, wrong track number 75 percent of American people think the country is going in the wrong track. These people are going to put it -- put it back on the right track.
BURNETT: All right. So, Alyssa, the thing is, when David talks about it moving smoothly, I mean, who knows, right? But, yeah, these are these people. You got resumes. You got experience. He's moving quickly, competence, okay, yes, all of that.
But it is chaos and backbiting and leaking that defined the last Trump administration. Okay. So for this to be different, that would be -- that would be different. You do have someone like Elon Musk playing a role in here to sort of having all these conversations with people.
[19:15:04]
Is that something that plays out as a positive thing over time?
GRIFFIN: Listen, I am hesitant to make predictions. I will say that something that I was struck by in the West Wing was how much infighting and personal agendas and vendettas ended up eclipsing some of the work that should have been done.
I actually do, I don't personally know Susie Wiles. But by reputation thinks she'll be a competent manager in that role. But there was also a four star general who once held that role and couldn't get some of the infighting in the former Trump administration under control.
And then you introduce this outsized influence of one of the most powerful, wealthiest men on the planet, Elon Musk, that could get complicated. I've also never known Donald Trump to share a stage in equal spotlight with someone. In the day today, Elon Musk might be more powerful than him. The day he swears the oath of office, he is more powerful than Elon Musk. So I'll see how long this relationship lasts, what it looks like. But it could get complicated.
BURNETT: I like that. It could get -- I think that's a fair prediction.
GRIFFIN: I'm picking my words in. I was wrong about some things.
BURNETT: All right. Jamal, Harris and Biden were together today for the first time since the election. And I saw something you wrote on social media. So let me just share it and give you a chance to comment.
Joe Biden has been amazing, but he should fulfill one last promise to be transitional. Biden should resign and make Kamala Harris the first woman president. It turntables on Trump keep Kamala from presiding over January 6th. Make it easier for the next woman to run.
SIMMONS: Yeah, I'm super popular in the Biden White House right now today.
(LAUGHTER)
SIMMONS: But let me just tell you, let me just say let me say I think this is right. Democrats have to stop paying attention to the rules so much. Nobody cares about the rules as much as we seem to right.
And when Republicans want things, they just go and make it happen. Democrats wanted to make Kamala Harris president of the United States, Joe Biden can do that. He can be the transitional figure that makes that happen.
I don't know if the vice president thinks I'm in the right. I'm sure she doesn't. If you ask her the question, she would say no. But the reality is Democrats want this to happen. And if nothing else, we've got to stop just being worried about what everyone will think or what the norms say.
We've got to go for what it is that we want and then let the chips fall. That's what Americans, I think probably respect about this guy. They respected about Bill Clinton. They respected it about George Bush.
They will respect Democrats when Democrats start going for what we want and not paying attention to the etiquette all the time.
BURNETT: You may be shocked, but I believe that David urban agrees with you that Kamala Harris should have been the first female president, but in a slightly different way, David?
URBAN: Well, yeah, listen, Erin, I think that Jamal is exactly right. Joe Biden got elected to be a transitional president. Remember when he ran, he said, I'm going to bring back, I'm going to be a moderate. I'm going to bring the country together. I'm a transitional president, a bridge to the future.
And then once he got in there, you need the Jaws of Life to get him out of the oval office, right? He should have he should have honored his pledge that he -- when he ran on. And he should have said, I'm not going to run for reelection, and then had to process, had to process. And Kamala Harris may have, may have, you know, she may have come out of that process early on and been the nominee and been a stronger nominee.
So I don't disagree with Jamal that President Biden should have stepped down. I think he should have stepped down about a year ago though.
SIMMONS: But for the record, David, Donald Trump still doesn't have as many votes as Joe Biden got in the last election.
BURNETT: Well, I don't want to get into a jaws of life.
(CROSSTALK)
URBAN: I think a lot of people -- I think a lot of -- I think a lot of people in America -- listen, I think a lot of people in America might dispute that Jamal.
SIMMONS: Eighty-one million votes. Remember that.
BURNETT: I'm going to leave it at that. David Urban said that she should have been president a year ago you say president now? I will take it on that rare --
URBAN: I said, I said, I said, Joe Biden -- Joe Biden should have stepped down a year ago.
BURNETT: Yes, right. Right, right. No, I know you didn't quite agree on the framing, but -- all right. Thank you all. I appreciate it.
And next Trump and AOC, they could not be more different right? I mean, you look at them but guess what. There are voters who voted Trump on the top of the ticket and AOC for Congress. They are out there. Guess what? And we found them.
Plus, Trump said he would end the conflict in Ukraine on day one. So what do Russians think? We have a special report tonight from inside Moscow.
Plus, cracking down 100,000 Chinese students riding their bikes for 40 miles together at night they said, in search of dumplings. But the Chinese government is convinced that it's something very different.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:23:28]
BURNETT: Tonight, the Trump and AOC voter. Not only do these voters exist, several of them are speaking out tonight directly to the progressive congresswoman to explain why. She asked, she said, why did you do this? And they're telling her, one of them saying, quote, you are focused on the real issues. People care about similar to Trump, populism in some ways.
Another saying, quote, it's real simple, Trump, and you care for the working class.
And a third saying, quote, I feel like you and Trump are real.
OUTFRONT now, Congressman Dean Phillips of Minnesota. He challenged President Biden for the 2024 Democratic nomination, said that President Biden should have stepped aside, had a primary there and here we are.
So, Congressman, can I just start, though, with the Trump-AOC voter? When I heard that, and maybe some others watching heard that they said, wait, what? So who are these individuals? What do they care about?
AOC reached out to find out. I shared a few of their responses.
You, I know, have been hearing a similar theme about some of the maybe the overlap, the Venn diagram overlap between people who seem so opposite, like Trump and AOC. What do you see there?
REP. DEAN PHILLIPS (D-MN): Well, Erin, I have to say, as someone who's traveled the ears and heart open, there's a palpable, massive disaffection in the country. And here you have Donald Trump and AOC that may have very different political perspectives and backgrounds, but they're both disrupters. And there's a massive appetite right now in our country to disrupt a political system that increasing numbers of Americans are really disgusted by.
[19:25:00]
And I think it's not that surprising. People are more focused on disruption than even policy and I think it's time for probably my side of the aisle, particularly to wake up to that reality. And the status quo is not appealing to most Americans.
So, not surprised at all, and you're right, they both are looking out for the working class. At least that's the perception and that's very powerful right now, as Bernie Sanders noted in his note to the country just a couple of days ago.
BURNETT: Actually, I want to play something Bernie Sanders said in just a moment. But I want to ask you first about the Democrats who did outperform Kamala Harris and won some of them actually even won those, right? So those are the ones that are honing in on who are they and why?
And most of them had something in common. And I was speaking to one of them on long island, Congresswoman-elect Gillen, and she was saying, look, the border really mattered. And acknowledging that to people mattered. And she put it in campaign ads and a lot of those campaign ads from those winners spoke to voters about the border crisis.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. RUBEN GALLEGO (D-AZ): If you fail to plan, you're planning to fail. Well, Arizonans know, on the border, there is no plan.
REP. MARCY KAPTUR (D-OH): The far left ignoring millions illegally crossing the border. I'm fighting for what matters to us, like stopping illegal immigration.
SHERIFF JEFF SKATRUD, GREEN COUNTY: Tammy's working with law enforcement to stop the flow of fentanyl. Tammy voted 32 times to strengthen the border.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Don't believe the attacks.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's Tammy Baldwin I trust to keep Wisconsin safe.
SEN. TAMMY BALDWIN (D-WI): I'm Tammy Baldwin, and I approve this message.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Just so different from what was on the national stage.
And in fact, some people watching may be like, wait, what? Those were Democrats? Well, they were, and those were the successful ones.
PHILLIPS: It's so true, Erin. So many of us were trying to call attention to this so long ago and yes, by the way, just about every Democratic Senate candidate, many of our congressional candidates, they all outperformed Vice President Harris, particularly those like Jared Golden in Maine, Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, you know, they -- they represent their districts by keeping their ears to the ground, listening to people and understanding what's important to them.
And right now, the Democratic Party does not have a very efficient mechanism by which that information can be delivered and acted upon. And by the way, in the economy, this ill make this really quick. No surprise when Donald Trump sent checks directly to Americans at a time when very few could spend them because the economy was shut down tens of millions of Americans had more money in their bank accounts than any time in their adult lives.
So let's say it was $5,000. Now they look at their bank account. They have $1,000. Prices are higher Democrats had a year or two years to simply acknowledge that, explain it, and create a proposition to overcome it, and the same with the border. It has been a disaster for decades, Erin. It's not new. It's keeping ears to the ground and finally waking up to the reality and using invitation, not confrontation or condemnation to win elections. It does not work.
BURNETT: Poignantly said. You mentioned Bernie Sanders. I just want to ask you something about him because he was talking. Kristen Welker at NBC did a great interview with him this weekend, and she asked him about this. These calls on the far left now for sort of Sonia Sotomayor, the Supreme Court justice, to step down basically so that President Biden could nominate her replacement and not president-elect Trump. If something were to happen to her. She's only 70 years old.
Anyway, this has been out there in the ether, right in the Democrats. You've heard it. So Senator Bernie Sanders was asked about it. Here's what he said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KRISTEN WELKER, NBC NEWS HOST: Should Justice Sotomayor step down to allow President Biden to appoint someone who's younger? She's only 70 years old. Is that something that you would support? Do you think she should step down?
SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (I-VT): No. I don't.
WELKER: Is -- have you heard any talk of this?
SANDERS: A little bit, yes. I don't think it's a sensible approach.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: I thought it was interesting just how he answered it. You know, there was sort of a resignation and an upset that the thought that's even out there. But he acknowledged it was.
I mean, do you agree with him or not?
PHILLIPS: Well, look, I think Sotomayor is a wonderful jurist, age 70, is not that old in this day and age, but she's also a type one diabetic, and we all saw what Ruth Bader Ginsburg did to build her extraordinary career, create an amazing legacy, to have it all essentially washed away by sticking around too long. And as someone who believes so deeply in term limits, in creating new space and place for other Americans to participate and recognizing the consequences of sticking around too long.
If Supreme Court Justice Sotomayor, her health situation is different than some may recognize, I would hope that she would proactively step aside so that, yes, Joe Biden can appoint some, at least try to appoint somebody else because we have fallen short way too many times., we, Democrats, by frankly sticking around too long as evidenced by Joe Biden himself.
[19:30:14]
So yes we do have an issue. If her circumstance makes the next four years complicated from a health perspective, I hope she would consider doing that. I don't think it's Bernie Sanders, me or Joe Biden's decision. It should be hers.
I just wish more people in positions of power would ultimately put the country ahead of their self-interests. If we did, wed be a lot better off on both sides of the aisle.
BURNETT: All right. Well, Congresswoman Phillips, I appreciate your taking the time, as always, telling it like you see it. It's great to see you, sir. PHILLIPS: Thank you, Erin. Be well.
BURNETT: All right. And next, for the first time since Trump's win, we'll take you inside Russia, so you'll see how Putin's allies are reacting to Trump's victory and what they think this means.
Plus, John Avlon is back OUTFRONT. He was out there every single day on the campaign trail for nine months straight, face to face with voters. So what did he learn and is he still hopeful?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:35:03]
BURNETT: Breaking news, Kim Jong-un and Vladimir Putin signing into law a major defense agreement, coming as now 11,000 North Korean troops are on the ground and Russia's Kursk region fighting Ukraine.
And as Trump prepares to return to the White House, he's promising to end that war. What does it mean in Russia?
Fred Pleitgen is OUTFRONT tonight. He is in Moscow.
(BEGIN VDIEOTAPE)
FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): Russian state TV feasting on Donald Trump's election victory.
The main talk program showcasing a social media post by Donald Trump's son, Donald Trump Jr., mocking Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, saying his so-called allowance from the U.S. will soon run out.
The message from Russian media, Ukraine is concerned U.S. aid could dry up and Russia will win the war.
On Moscow's streets, optimism about the incoming administration in Washington.
Since the war in Ukraine. Relations between Moscow and Washington have continued to plummet to new lows. But now, many people here hope and believe that a new Trump presidency could bring those relations back on track.
Do you think relations with Russia will improve?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, I think so.
PLEITGEN: Why?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Generally, in the period of the last Trump administration, we didn't have disagreements. That's why I think the current conflicts, if there are any, will be resolved.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't think he can directly stop the war, but I feel he can set ultimatums to both sides, which will definitely bring this conflict closer to an end.
PLEITGEN: Trump also said he wants to end the war in Ukraine?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We all want. We really want the war to end now. This situation is impossible. I hope we get to a mutual understanding.
PLEITGEN: But what could a so-called mutual understanding look like? This video from Ukraine's military purporting to show Kyiv's forces hitting Russian troops in the Kursk region of Russia, where the Ukrainians say they are now facing off against nearly 50,000 Russian and also North Korean troops.
The Ukrainians acknowledge they probably wouldn't be able to sustain their operations without U.S. military aid, aid Donald Trump has in the past insinuated he might cut altogether in an effort he claims to end the war.
TRUMP: They're dying, Russians and Ukrainians. I want them to stop dying and I'll have that done -- I'll have that done in 24 hours.
Take over, Elon.
PLEITGEN: A Ukrainian source now saying Trump was joined by billionaire Elon Musk on a recent phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Musk, who while helping Ukraine by providing Starlink satellite Internet, has in the past also criticized military aid for Ukraine, ridiculing Zelenskyy in posts on his platform X.
The Kremlin is vehemently denying "Washington Post" reporting, claiming a Trump Putin phone call has already happened.
Still, Vladimir Putin openly praising the president-elect's stance on Ukraine and on Russia.
What was said concerning the desire to restore relations with Russia to help end the Ukrainian crisis, in my opinion, seems to me to be at least worthy of attention, Putin said.
The incoming Trump administration certainly has the attention of many in Russia hoping for improved relations with the U.S. and even possible sanctions relief.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PLEITGEN (on camera): And, you know, Erin, the vibe that were getting as were on the ground here in Moscow is that for many Russians, there is still a lot of uncertainty about what a Trump presidency could bring. But there is also a lot of hope among Russians that the war in Ukraine could end in the not too distant future, and that it could end on terms very favorable for Russia -- Erin.
BURNETT: All right, Fred, thank you very much.
Of course, context here, you have more Russians dying per day now than perhaps any time during the Ukrainian war.
OUTFRONT now, Ian Bremmer, renowned global affairs analyst and founder of Eurasia Group and GZERO Media.
So, Ian, I'm so glad to have a chance to talk to you. And I hope everyone will read your, your X feed on their thoughts on all of this. But you just heard Putin praising Trump's views on the war and I guess there's a very basic question here.
Does Putin think he's going to get everything he wants in Ukraine with Trump as president?
IAN BREMMER, FOUNDER OF EURASIA GROUP: Everything sounds like an overstatement but he certainly thinks he's in a far better position than he was with Biden, or than he would have been with Harris for a couple of reasons.
First, Trump and J.D. Vance have consistently campaigned on wanting to end the war, and Putin is in a position to deliver that, which means he can drive a harder bargain, especially because the Ukrainians are on the back foot.
Also, we now have members of the European Union that are coming out more strongly and saying, we got to stop providing aid. You've had that from Orban. You've just seen it from Fico, who runs Slovakia just in the last couple of hours. You wouldn't have seen that before Trump won the presidency.
So right now, Putin understands that he has the ability maybe to drive a wedge in Europe and start to get some normalization of relations from countries that consider him a pariah. Keep in mind, this is only a G7 policy. Only a couple of weeks ago, you'll remember, Erin, that in Russia, in Kazan, Putin was hosting pretty much every major head of state from the non-advanced industrial democracies, the leaders of the BRICS.
BURNETT: Right.
BREMMER: So, it's not like he's isolated globally. But now with Trump, he's not even isolated from the United States. That's a very big change for the Kremlin.
BURNETT: I guess, Ian. And that's the thing. So you've got him having this meeting, right, for the BRICS, Brazil, Russia, India, China and many other countries as part of that now, and he's talking about a multi-polar world, right? His entire premise is that he wants the decline of the West. He says it, the decline of the West, the decline of the United States, right?
That is Putin's goal. So is that something that you think Trump just Trump is actually going to continue to go along with?
BREMMER: I don't think Trump sees it that way. Trump --
BURNETT: Putin says it, though. Putin says I want the decline of the West. BREMMER: Yes, he does.
BURNETT: And a unipolar world.
BREMMER: Yeah, yeah. Let's keep in mind the United States is certainly the most powerful country in the world today. But its relationship with its allies in many cases much more strained, also more asymmetrical in favor of the U.S. The U.S. economy is a much larger share of the G-7 than it has been over the past decade.
So if you're Trump, you're thinking to yourself, well, I don't need my allies the way I used to. What I want is to get things that I want individually with all countries around the world in bilateral relations, and I'm going to do that with the Russians. I'll do it with the North Koreans. I'll do it the hard way with the Iranians. I'll show them the fist. And I'm going to do it with my allies, too.
So it's a much more -- so in other words, you know, Trump -- the idea that Trump is going to maintain a U.S.-led order that is based on common values and multilateral alliances, that's not Trump's interest. And that happens to align nicely with Putin saying this is a more multi polar world.
BURNETT: All right. Well, Ian, thank you very much. There's a lot to think about. Thank you.
And next, John Avlon is back. He's back OUTFRONT after his tough race for Cngress. And he'll tell you why he was wrong about Trump and something he saw on the campaign trail that we feel is really important for everyone to hear.
Plus, China now targeting bicyclists who claim that they are just on an evening ride to get dumplings. But Beijing and the government thinks its something much more sinister. and wait until you see what they're doing to them.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:47:22]
BURNETT: Tonight, the Joe Rogan election. Bernie Sanders, who was endorsed by Joe Rogan in 2020, yes, you heard me correctly. Rogan endorsed Bernie Sanders in 2020, then endorsed Trump, this time, criticizing Kamala Harris and Democrats for not going on Rogan's show.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SANDERS: Look, you can have an argument with Rogan with him, agree with him, disagree with him, but what's the problem going on in those shows? It's hard for me to understand that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: It comes as Rogan reveals exactly what went on behind the scenes that led to Vice President Kamala Harris turning down an interview that would have reached 50 million people. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE ROGAN, PODCAST HOST: I bet there's a person in there. I bet I can get to that person. I wanted to find that person.
I don't want to hear all the speeches. I don't want to hear. I was raised middle class. I don't want to hear any of that.
UNIDENTFIIED MALE: She's a roller skater, you know that?
ROGAN: No. I would love to find that out.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yeah.
ROGAN: I would love to talk to her about all kinds of (EXPLETIVE DELETED). I literally said like, because there was a few restrictions of things they didn't want to talk about. But I said I don't give a (EXPLETIVE DELETED), I go get her in here like whatever you want to talk about, and they want to know if I edit it, I'm like, there's not going to be any editing, there's no editing.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yeah.
ROGAN: We're not going to edit.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Back OUTFRONT tonight, former political speechwriter, CNN political analyst John Avlon, he lost his race on Tuesday for New York's first congressional district on eastern Long Island. He also didn't think Donald Trump would win again. And he is not alone.
So I do want to talk about John and John Rogan -- Josh, John Rogan -- and with Rogan and influencers. But, you know, I just want to start first with your campaign. You're out there every single day. You left it all on the table, all of it day in and day out.
And you just wrote about what you saw on "The Bulwark". I hope everyone will go read it. But you talked about some of the things that you saw, and one of the things I know that you write about that I hope people will read, but that really stood out to me when you and I talked earlier today is the enthusiasm that Democratic voters had in a conservative district for the American flag.
JOHN AVLON, FORMER CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Absolutely. And this is the kind of thing that gives you hope. It reminds you that maybe were not as deeply divided as our politics makes it seem. Democrats, in particular, were thirsty for this idea of we need to reclaim the American flag because it belongs to all of us. We need to reclaim patriotism.
And I think some folks think that patriotism is something you should hold at arms length and that America is fundamentally flawed. I think actually, Democrats want to reclaim the flag. The fact it's become a partisan signifier is exactly what's a problem in our politics, and that was one of the points I made repeatedly in the campaign. We need to be patriotic and to build a broad patriotic coalition to defend American democracy. And that's what I tried to do.
BURNETT: Right. I mean that that, that the -- that the flag had become something that was sort of seen as something more MAGA that that was a sign of a problem, right?
[19:50:03]
It was something that you saw. So, Joe Rogan, Donald Trump goes on his podcast, right before the election, nearly 50 million views on YouTube for that interview. Eighty percent of those listening were men. Harris turned it down. You just heard Joe Rogan talking about why.
Do you think that -- I mean, and I know Joe Rogan. I mean, this is at the very -- this is the penultimate day of the whole election, right? Joe Rogan wasn't going to going to win it for her.
But the role of influencers, her decision not to do that mattered, didn't it?
AVLON: I think it did. And I think it's about two things. First of all, Democrats need to get off defense. You know, I think there's a sense sometimes tiptoeing around for fear of offending somebody or the danger of going in a difficult environment, which Rogan may have been.
But it's about the authenticity to go and have an open, honest debate and disagreement, which I think people will reward. I think the other thing this election showed is that, frankly, the role of influencers and the sort of decentralized right wing media ecosystem has a lot more power even than ground game in terms of getting in people's heads. And that's something I definitely saw on the campaign trail as well.
The entire media environment is different, and I think sometimes you know, journalistic outfits that are that care about fairness find themselves getting played by the ref, right? They you know, they, they fall into sort of a fake fairness that I think can be a real problem to honest conversations about the real stakes of the race.
BURNETT: So and it's fascinating you say that because in those final days, right, there was such confidence in the Harris campaign because their ground game and to the extent there was a lack of confidence on the Trump side, which there were for many there, it was because they were worried that the outsourcing it was a mistake, right.
And then suddenly you see the power of all those influencers and how much that actually meant, but when you're out there every single day and you know, you, you have written so eloquently and you've been in politics as a Republican, you've been as an independent, as a Democrat now, all of it, what did you see day in and day out that you look at this election now that stands out the most? The flag I think was one of them.
AVLON: Yeah.
BURNETT: There were other things. AVLON: Look, I think, fundamentally, the fact of the middle class squeeze that's been going on for decades is what's driving the division and anger in our politics. Folks feel like they can work hard play by the rules, and still not get ahead.
And I think that's the fundamental. Its the economy, stupid, of this. It's why the core theme of our campaign was we need to rebuild the middle, the middle of our politics, the middle of our economy, because those two things are connected. It's not a coincidence that we hollowed out the middle of our politics at the same time, we hollowed out the middle of our economy. And until we really rebuild the middle class in America, I don't know that were going to have the ballast to withstand these sort of swings, but that needs to be job number one, it seems to me, and delivering for people.
If people don't feel economically secure or personally safe, everything else is secondary.
BURNETT: And yet you leave this with all the exhaustion that you went through with hope.
AVLON: Yes, look, first of all, you know, its like Abraham Lincoln apocryphally unfortunately said, I'm an optimist because I don't see the point in being anything else. But also because this process and listening to people and learning and meeting people where they are, does give you the sense that even when you talk to Trump voters, we may disagree about the sources of division and dysfunction, but they want to see the country reunite.
Now, I think we may be headed for a dark time where people get what they didn't necessarily expect, but my belief in the durability of the American experiment is absolutely intact. We just need to lean into it, lean into that patriotism.
BURNETT: All right. Well, we'll leave it on that message of hope. We are thrilled to have you back. I know you had hoped under a different circumstances, but it's just great to have a friend.
AVLON: Great to see you.
BURNETT: All right. And next, why China is trying to stop tens of thousands of young people from riding their bikes.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:57:07]
BURNETT: Tonight, China cracking down on bike riders, calling in police and shutting down bike lanes, even locking down college campuses. And it is all because of this odd thing, a viral trend among college students, they're up to 100,000 of them at a time. Just imagine something like this the scale biking dozens of miles to get soup dumplings. And they say they're doing it for fun. But the government thinks something else is going on.
And Will Ripley is OUTFRONT. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WILL RIPLEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Peddling under the glow of street lights, tens of thousands of Chinese students on a 40 mile impromptu adventure from Zhengzhou to the ancient city of Kaifeng.
Students have been biking here for months most joining for the thrill some for the popular and juicy jumbo soup dumplings.
Others just letting off steam, under the intense pressure of finding a job. China's economy is spiraling. Youth unemployment is skyrocketing.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We wanted to take the challenge of riding a shared bike to Kaifeng City. We're only young once.
RIPLEY: Some riders carry Chinese flags, others sing the national anthem. State media even released this viral video students chanting about their passion.
Then came the crackdown. Authorities closed key bike lanes this weekend, citing safety and traffic concerns. Bike sharing companies issued warnings. Some colleges restricted students from leaving campus. All temporary measures police say.
Authorities insist the situation became unmanageable. Traffic disruptions from abandoned shared bikes, massive youth gatherings, all of it happening in China, an authoritarian state led by a party that itself came to power with the help of mass movements, often led by students.
From Tiananmen Square in 1989 to the COVID lockdown protests of 2022, large organized student gatherings rattle the ruling party's nerves. Even if participants insist they are not political.
It also happened in Shanghai, the site of huge Halloween celebrations last year. This year, heavy crowd control, police escorting away plenty of people in Halloween costumes. One of the most conspicuous, President Donald Trump.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
RIPLEY (on camera): So, they're censoring us again, Erin, as you can see right now from a live picture in Beijing, and it's not surprising. The imagery in this piece, particularly the students on bicycles, it's reminiscent of perhaps the spring of 1989, when university students in Beijing rode their bikes to Tiananmen Square and we know how that ended with a massive government crackdown by the military.
But it's shocking because the government initially rushed to promote this trend. They were excited to see students out there having fun, going to get those delicious soup dumplings and yet when it got too big, too popular, we now have this.
BURNETT: Yeah, it's absolutely fascinating.
All right. Thank you very much, Will Ripley, for that.
And thanks to all of you as always.
Anderson starts now.
