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Harris Concedes The Race, But Not The Fight; Trump's Long List Of Campaign Promises; Biden, Harris Commit To Peaceful Transfer Of Power. Harris Concedes Election; Environmental Group Sprays Orange Paint on U.S. Embassy; World Leaders Congratulate Trump on His Victory; U.S. Markets Close at Record Highs After Trump Victory; Trump's Transition Team Already Setting Up Offices in Florida; New Data Confirms 20024 Will Be the Hottest Year on Record. Aired 2-3a ET

Aired November 07, 2024 - 02:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[02:00:27]

ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us from all around the world and to everyone streaming us on CNN Max. I'm Rosemary Church. Just ahead. Kamala Harris concedes the race for the U.S. presidency but not the fight that fueled her campaign. President-elect Trump already has a lengthy to-do list when he takes office. We will look at his campaign promises.

Plus, what the second Trump presidency likely means for the war in Ukraine.

ANNOUNCER: Live from Atlanta. This is CNN Newsroom with Rosemary Church.

CHURCH: Good to have you with us. Well as Democrats here in the United States struggle to make sense of their big loss at the ballot box, President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris are promising Donald Trump a peaceful transfer of power. Harris addressed supporters at her alma mater, Howard University, in Washington on Wednesday, she says -- she called President elect Trump to offer her congratulations.

President Biden also spoke with Trump, inviting him to the White House. Harris told supporters not to throw up their hands in despair, but to roll up their sleeves in the fight for freedom and justice.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAMALA HARRIS (D) UNITED STATES DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: A fundamental principle of American democracy is that when we lose an election, we accept the results. That principle, as much as any other, distinguishes democracy from monarchy or tyranny. And anyone who seeks the public trust must honor it. At the same time, in our nation, we owe loyalty not to a president or a party but to the Constitution of the United States.

And loyalty to our conscience and to our God. My allegiance to all three is why I am here to say, while I concede this election, I do not concede the fight that fueled this campaign.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: More now from CNN's Jeff Zeleny.

JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF U.S. NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Vice President Kamala Harris, delivering a concession speech a day after losing a landslide election to former President Donald Trump, after a day of phone calls, including speaking with Mr. Trump and President Biden she delivered a speech at Howard University addressing her supporters.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: While I concede this election, I do not concede the fight that fueled this campaign. The fight, the fight for freedom, for opportunity, for fairness and the dignity of all people. A fight for the ideals at the heart of our nation, the ideals that reflect America at our best. That is a fight I will never give up.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZELENY: Harris saying it's a fight she will not give up. But the question is, how she will proceed. She has 75 more days in the office of Vice President. So, of course, that gives her time to really focus on her day job, as well as think about what is next. For all the recriminations that Democrats will be doing, poring over these election results. Too much focus on abortion rights, perhaps not enough focus on the actual economy.

Did President Biden stay in the race too long? on Thursday, President Biden will address the nation in the Rose Garden, of course, speaking to many of these. But it was Harris who talked to young supporters and others about what they should do going forward.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: To the young people who are watching, it is OK to feel sad and disappointed, but please know it's going to be OK. On the campaign, I would often say, when we fight, we win. But here's the thing, here's the thing. Sometimes the fight takes a while. That doesn't mean we won't win. That doesn't mean we won't win.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZELENSKY: Now, Harris did pledge to help President-elect Trump through his transition, saying that she and her supporters will ensure a peaceful transition of power. Of course, that did not happen four years ago. There is no doubt the Democratic Party is in a soul searching period.

[02:05:03]

The question, what role does Harris have to play in that those answers will come in the future weeks.

Jeff Zeleny, CNN, Washington.

CHURCH: And the next few weeks are important for Donald Trump as he and his transition team prepare for a return to the White House. Sources say the President-elect spent Wednesday taking calls from world and business leaders and meeting donors at Mar-a-Lago. No word yet on whether those talks include plans to make good on promises made on the campaign trail. CNN's Kristen Holmes takes us through the list.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): President- elect Donald Trump already has a lengthy to-do list.

DONALD TRUMP (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Promises made, promises kept. We're going to keep our promises.

HOLMES (voice-over): Promises he made during his campaign, starting with immigration.

TRUMP: We've got to have the largest mass deportation effort in history. Going forward, the future, children of illegal aliens will not receive automatic U.S. citizenship.

HOLMES (voice-over): Vowing to immediately go after millions of undocumented immigrants, calling for a ban on sanctuary cities, a death penalty for human traffickers and to reinstate his travel ban on people entering the U.S. from predominantly Muslim countries.

TRUMP: I will send Congress a bill to ban sanctuary cities in the first day that I become president.

I will immediately restore and expand the Trump travel ban on entry from terror play countries.

HOLMES (voice-over): On the economy.

TRUMP: Tariffs are the greatest thing ever invented.

HOLMES (voice-over): Trump has promised massive tariffs on foreign goods, despite economists saying American consumers are likely to pay the price as well as ending and cutting specific taxes.

TRUMP: My plan will massively cut taxes for workers and small businesses, and we will have no tax on tips, no tax on overtime. And no tax on Social Security benefits for our seniors.

HOLMES (voice-over): Trump has claimed he could end the conflict in the Middle East and the Russia-Ukraine war immediately.

TRUMP: We're going to take care of Israel and they know that. I will stop the chaos in the Middle East and I will prevent World War III from happening. Before I even arrive at the Oval Office shortly after we win the presidency, we, we win the presidency, I will have the horrible war between Russia and Ukraine totally settled.

HOLMES (voice-over): While not offering any explanation of how. He has made commitments on changing the education system.

TRUMP: On day one, I will sign an executive order banning schools from promoting critical race theory or transgender inside. And I'm going to close the Department of Education and move education back to the States.

HOLMES (voice-over): Trump has also promised to go after his perceived political enemies.

TRUMP: For those who have been wronged and betrayed, I am your retribution. I will appoint a real special prosecutor to go after the most corrupt president in the history of the United States of America, Joe Biden. And the entire Biden crime family.

HOLMES (voice-over): Including firing Special Counsel Jack Smith.

TRUMP: I would fire him within two seconds.

HOLMES (voice-over): Trump has also made promises to those prosecuted for their actions on January 6.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Will you pardon the January 6 rioters who were convicted of federal offenses?

TRUMP: I am inclined to pardon many of them. I can say, for every single one, because a couple of them probably they got out of control.

HOLMES (voice-over): And while, unlike some other Republicans, Trump has stated he doesn't want a national abortion ban.

TRUMP: No, I'm not in favor of abortion ban, but it doesn't matter, because this issue has now been taken over by the states.

HOLMES (voice-over): His administration could implement new restrictions without passing a federal law.

Kristen, Holmes, CNN, West Palm Beach, Florida.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: To Los Angeles now and Jessica Levinson is a professor of law at Loyola law school and host of the Passing Judgment podcast. Good to have you with us. Thanks for joining us.

JESSICA LEVINSON, PROFESSOR OF LAW, LOYOLA LAW SCHOOL: Good to be here.

CHURCH: So, the polls got it wrong again. Donald Trump, it was a stunning defeat, wasn't it for Kamala Harris? How did he do it? Even winning the popular vote?

LEVINSON: This was a resounding defeat, and a pretty strong message against the Biden administration, against Democrats. I did not expect that Trump would win the national popular vote. You know, Rosemary, as you and I had talked about the Electoral College really could have gone either way based on those swing state polls. And if they all broke in one direction, which they essentially did, then we were going to see a night like we did last night.

And, you know, in terms of how did we get here? I mean, I think there are so many reasons, but we certainly do need to look at the voting blocks that voted for Biden in 2020 and then moved to Trump in 2024. And we're looking at white women, we're looking at Latino voters, both male and female, and we're looking mostly at this block of kind of 42 to 64-year-olds.

[02:10:11]

But we knew that the fundamentals were really against Kamala Harris being a member of an administration where people were largely unhappy with that administration, and specifically the economy, and the economy weighing as number one on people's minds. But, you know, Rosemary, as you know, it's complicated, and there are a number of different factors that went into people's decisions.

CHURCH: Yes. Indeed, of course, Democrats are doing some soul searching right now, aren't they? I mean, how did it go so terribly wrong for Kamala Harris and her campaign. And what could she have done differently do you think to have changed this?

LEVINSON: You know, I don't know that she could have done something dramatically differently. I know there's a lot of looking back and saying, oh, she should have gone on this podcast or she should have spent this money in this particular state. And I tend to think it actually goes more towards what we were talking about before which is that people felt kind of both based on reality and sometimes not that the economy was not working in their favor.

And people absolutely experienced inflation during the last administration. And when you tell people everything is fine and the economy is fine, but it's hard to fill up an entire gas tank and it's hard to put food on the table and it's hard to make sure that you can pay all the bills at the end of the month. It certainly doesn't feel like it's fine, and that's what a lot of people absolutely experienced.

And when people experience that, they blame leadership and they blame the people at the top who are supposed to be, in their view, making policies to change all that. So, I don't know that this was a speech that went wrong or a vice presidential pick that went wrong. And I think it tends to be more about the Biden administration, the economy and Trump's appeal, which at this point, I think, is undeniable.

CHURCH: And Jessica, we are seeing the Republican Party unite around Donald Trump. Many jockeying for leadership roles within his new administration. As President-elect Trump prepares for his transition to power. But many critics worry there will be fewer guardrails this second time, meaning, of course, less advisers and Cabinet members pushing back on Trump's worst instincts.

So, what are your thoughts on this, and how bold will he likely be with his new and powerful mandate?

LEVINSON: Well, I think quite bold. You know, this is a really important question because the second administration may not look like the first. And one thing that I focus on today and thinking through, how are things going to change is Civil Service protection. And I know this might not sound particularly sexy to people, but basically in our country, as you know that many people who work for the federal government, about 2.2 million, cannot be fired at will.

Meaning they have a certain level of protection. And we're talking about people who work on anything from national security to national parks. And the idea being you should be hired and promoted and retained based on merit, not based on just the president, like you, or have you pledged loyalty the to the president? And we know that in the first Trump term, the civil servants did act, in some instances, as a resistance against Trump's maybe impulses to overreach.

But if he's able to change that, as he says, that he might want to and reclassify many of these experts, these career government servants as at-will employees, and fire them and replace them with loyalists, I think that's one area where we really have to watch for change. Another is directing the Department of Justice, as we just heard a few moments ago in the prior segment, to investigate political opponents.

But there are a lot of places where I think Trump learned from the previous administration, and he can put a different and more strategic type of pressure on our government.

CHURCH: Jessica Levinson, many thanks for your analysis. Appreciate it.

CNN is following reaction to Donald Trump's victory around the globe, from the Americas to Europe, the Middle East and Asia. First to Israel were Benjamin Netanyahu was calling Trump's win a huge victory. According to the Prime Minister's office, he was among the first to call and congratulate Trump. The office released a statement saying the two agreed to work together for Israel's security.

Netanyahu posted on social media that Trump's return to the White House offers, "a new beginning for America and a powerful recommitment to their alliance." But elsewhere in the Middle East, Trump's victory has sparked concern and some dread.

So, let's bring in CNN's Paul Hancocks who is following the story for us, from Abu Dhabi. Good to see you, Paula.

[02:15:02]

So, what is the reaction, or what's the reaction been to Trump's reelection in Israel, and of course across the region?

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Rosemary, if we start off with Israel, clearly, we've seen the delight from the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu calling this history's greatest comeback. As you mentioned, he was among the first to congratulate Trump. He was also one of the first to speak to him as well, and the reason for that is that Donald Trump is perceived to be pro-Israel.

Certainly, when you look at what happened during his first term as president, we did see the recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, something which had been believed to need to be sorted out with the Palestinians in a final peace deal. He also agreed with the sovereignty of Israel over the Golan Heights. This is territory that Israel took from Syria during the 1967 war. So certainly domestically, the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, will be feeling buoyant.

He will be feeling as though he has been strengthened. Now, of course, what it might mean is we will see very little changing when it comes to Israel's war in Gaza, when it comes to Israel's war in Lebanon as well, until January 20th, until the time when there is a new U.S. president in place. Now, from the Palestinian point of view, we spoke to Mustafa Barghouti. He's a party leader within the Palestinian political faction.

And he says that there are concerns among the Palestinians that there will be more given away to Israel. In his words, as we saw during that first term. Now, of course, when it comes to Iran, for example, we did hear a statement from Iran saying that there is no significant difference. The general policies of the U.S. and Iran are unchanged. But clearly at a time when Israel and Iran are engaged in such significant tensions, when we have seen physical missile launches from both territories to the other territories, anything which is going to be perceived as buoying up the Israeli military side will be a concern in Tehran.

And when it comes further afield, for example, in the Gulf, we heard from the leader of Saudi Arabia, of the UAE, all congratulating Trump. And there is trepidation, certainly, but from certain members of this region, there is delight that Donald Trump will be the next U.S. President. Rosemary?

CHURCH: All right. Our thanks to Paula Hancocks bringing us that live report from Abu Dhabi.

And coming up. European leaders are staring down the prospect of another Trump presidency. Some of them are happier about it than others. We'll take a look.

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[20:21:28]

CHURCH: Welcome back, everyone. Well, as the world tries to reorient itself to another U.S. Trump presidency, Germany is dealing with its own sense of internal uncertainty. On Wednesday, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced he had fired the country's finance minister, Christian Lindner. Afterwards, Lindner's Free Democratic Party announced it had left the country's governing coalition, leaving the government on the edge of collapse.

Scholz says he will call for a confidence vote in January, which could allow snap elections as soon as next March.

Well, European leaders know how tricky it will be to have a stable relationship with the United States with Donald Trump at the helm. As they congratulate Trump, they are emphasizing the existing bonds between the U.S. and their countries. Saskya Vandoorne has the details.

SASKYA VANDOORNE, CNN SENIOR FIELD PRODUCER: A much-needed victory for the world was how Hungary's far-right Prime Minister Viktor Orban described President Donald Trump's victory.

Meanwhile, here in France, faced with the U.S. President focused on an America First foreign policy, French President Emmanuel Macron pledged to work for a stronger, more united Europe. A nod perhaps to one of Europe's greatest concerns right now, collective security.

TRUMP: Look, if they're not going to pay, we're not going to protect, OK?

VANDOORNE: Trump has been critical of European defense spending and of NATO, even once threatening to leave the alliance. He said that he will bring the war to Ukraine to an end in 24 hours, if elected. But many fear that that will mean withdrawing support for Ukraine and looking to settle the conflict on Russia's terms. Also, in line with his America First policy, Trump has threatened tariffs across the board.

That could be very damaging to European trade, particularly for the likes of car manufacturers, climate change a topic close to people's hearts here in Paris, is another concern. Trump pulled out of the Paris climate agreement during his last term in office, and could now roll back environment protection measures, making it hard to sustain a long-term international effort. But there are some European leaders who believe that being sidelined by the U.S. might not be such a bad thing with the hope that Europe may learn to be stronger and more autonomous as it's forced to fend for itself.

While some welcome Trump's populist approach, there are fears that he could invigorate far right political movements like those of Viktor Orban. Saskya Vandoorne, CNN, Paris.

CHURCH: Nicholas Vinocur is Politico's editor-at-large and he joins me now from Budapest in Hungary. Thank you so much for being with us.

NICHOLAS VINOCUR, EDITOR-AT-LARGE, POLITICO: Thank you.

CHURCH: So just before the election, you wrote that it doesn't matter if Trump or Harris win, Europe has already lost because you say American interests in the continent has been in decline since the end of the Cold War. But doesn't a Trump win mean Europe has lost even more than it would if Harris had won, given what Trump plans to do with Ukraine and NATO?

VINOCUR: Absolutely. I said the two scenarios weren't equivalent. A Harris presidency would have been continuity and the Trump said, the Trump presidency is really all bets are off. We simply don't know what he'll do about NATO. We don't know if he'll launch a trade war. And I think that explains some of the nervousness around European capitals this morning and right here in Budapest where leaders are preparing to gather. [02:25:02]

CHURCH: So, what do you think Trump will do when it comes to Ukraine and his promise to end that war? How will he likely do that and what would be the consequences for Ukraine and indeed, Russia?

VINOCUR: I think this is one of the big talking points from his campaign. So, he'll have to deliver in some way on the Ukraine war. I think the expectation is that Donald Trump will try to make some sort of deal with Vladimir Putin, probably involving territorial concessions, giving away Crimea, probably the land that Russia has already taken in exchange for promise to stop deliveries and with some stick involved, like I will let the Ukrainians do long range strikes into Russia or I will deliver some more serious weaponry to them.

Unless you do this, and we'll start with a kind of cooling off period that could be stopping of aerial bombing or something like that. That's his expectation. But what you also hear around European capitals is that Putin may simply may not go for this, and that Trump may be overestimating his ability to simply stop this war. It hasn't happened in in three years. Putin hasn't downgraded his demands since the -- since the beginning of the of the war.

And it's not clear that he will just because Donald Trump is the president. And it was interesting that Putin didn't congratulate Donald Trump, as far as I know, until now on his victory. So, this relationship is starting off still and quite tense there.

CHURCH: Yes. That was certainly very interesting. And Europe was, of course, already nervous about the possibility of another Trump presidency, especially his threat that the U.S. would not protect Europe if it came under attack. And so, they have been getting better organized with their own defense spending and preparation. Is this the wakeup call that Europe needed to take care of itself and rely less on America going forward?

VINOCUR: That's definitely the spin that we were hearing in Brussels and in European capitals in the days -- the days ahead of the election. The idea was, well, you know, a Trump presidency could even be good for Europe. It would help us get over our hang ups about common defense. It would help us invest more in our own security. Would be this wake-up call. I think there -- I think the jury's still out.

I think there's a big debate about whether this is going to be the case. It's undeniable that Europe has gone great strides in terms of help for Ukraine, but we're very far from the point where Europe can replace what the U.S. has done in Ukraine. That would involve a huge upgrade in defense spending and capabilities in European capital. So -- and I would say, you know, one thing to be a little bit on the downer side.

If you look at the leaders today gathering in Budapest, they're supposed to look at competitiveness and solving Europe's economic problems. And the agreement they've come to on how to do this is -- from what we've heard about it is not a very ambitious agreement indeed and they're still kind of locked in these divisions. So, if there is a wakeup call, if there's a call to action, we've yet to see its results, but we could see something interesting in the coming two days here in Budapest.

CHURCH: Right. And Donald Trump also wants to impose 100 percent tariffs on European goods. What impact will that have in Europe and could we perhaps see a trade war?

VINOCUR: Well, we -- this was one in a way that is easier to prepare for for the Europeans than the security aspect. Europe has been dependent on American security for so long. It sort of doesn't know how to live without it. The trade war is more of a sort of procedural fight that you can prepare for and they have been preparing for it very, very carefully. And the risk for Europe is very clear because there's already a dispute with China over electric vehicles and the real possibility that Europe could end up essentially fighting on two fronts, a trade war, with Beijing on one hand and with Washington on the other under Donald Trump.

And I think what we're going to see today in coming -- and in coming days, is a major effort by Brussels which handles trade negotiations and E.U. leaders to reach out to the Trump campaign and try to avoid, try to forestall the risk of this trade war coming. I think that will be the first move.

[02:30:09]

CHURCH: All right. Nicholas Vinocur in Budapest, many thanks for your analysis. Appreciate it.

VINOCUR: Thank you. Thanks for having me.

CHURCH: Well, there are also fears that Trump's return will speed up climate change. Environmental activists from the group "Just Stop Oil" sprayed orange paint on a wall of the U.S. Embassy in London. The group warned that the fossil fuel industry will keep prospering under a Trump presidency, writing online Trump's win puts the lives of ordinary people at risk everywhere.

Well, with a second Trump presidency on the horizon, our correspondents will lay out what this means for parts of Asia. We are live in Seoul and Beijing in just a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHURCH: Vice President Kamala Harris says she is committed to a peaceful transfer of power after conceding the U.S. presidential election to Donald Trump on Wednesday. In a speech at her alma mater, Howard University, Harris did something her opponent refused to do after the 2020 election, accept the results.

Harris said she had spoken with Trump and congratulated him on his victory. She also acknowledged the pain of her loss while offering supporters a positive message, encouraging them to fight in a much different way than a defeated presidential candidate did four years ago. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAMALA HARRIS, (D) VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The outcome of this election is not what we wanted, not what we fought for, not what we voted for. But hear me when I say -- hear me when I say the light of America's promise will always burn bright.

[02:35:00]

(CROWD CHEERING)

(APPLAUSE)

HARRIS: As long as never give up and as long as we keep fighting.

(CROWD CHEERING)

(APPLAUSE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Meanwhile, it is full steam ahead for Team Trump. The President-elect declared victory early Wednesday in West Palm Beach, Florida, where his transition team has already started setting up offices and meeting with candidates to fill administration roles. They're also working quickly to set up meetings with world leaders like Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. His office says he was one of the first to congratulate Trump on his victory.

Chinese President Xi Jinping also reached out to Trump on Wednesday. Their relationship will be especially important to watch. Trump initially called their bond outstanding during his first term, but that changed amid a trade war with Beijing and the start of the COVID pandemic. One phone call Trump probably won't receive is from Russian President Vladimir Putin. The Kremlin says he has no plans to congratulate Trump while the U.S. continues to aid Ukraine in its war effort.

CNN's Steven Jiang is live in Beijing, and our Mike Valerio is standing by in Seoul. Good to see you both. So Steven, let's start with you. What has been the reaction from China?

STEVEN JIANG, CNN BEIJING BUREAU CHIEF: Yeah, Rosemary, as mentioned, unlike four years ago, Xi Jinping didn't wait more than two weeks to congratulate the winner of this U.S. race. He picked up the phone rather quickly to offer not only congratulations to Trump, but also Beijing's usual platitudes in terms of emphasizing mutual respect and win-win cooperation in this bilateral relationship, and also saying he wants to work with Trump to chart a course for the two countries to get along.

Now, the timing of this call perhaps an indication that Chinese officials have learned quite a bit from Trump's first time in office in terms of how he operates and what matters to him because, Trump and his allies are reportedly watching very closely and keeping close tracks on how world leaders and when they reach out to Trump and after this decisive win in this election.

But for a lot of Chinese officials, according to our sources though, they are still very much haunted by the wild swings in Trump's China policy during his first presidency and the resulting nightmares these interlocutors had to live through, understandably many of them were really, are still probably dreading the prospect of having to deal with that all over again.

So, as of now, Trump going back to the White House seems to be only certainty in this picture full of uncertainties. But the stakes cannot be higher in this relationship between the two superpowers, the world's two biggest economies. Top of the minds of many officials and people here, of course, is this potential trade and economic conflict because of Trump's campaign rhetoric of threatening to slap new and even bigger 60 percent tariffs on Chinese imports. And of course, there is no way of telling whether or not that's going to happen, but the Chinese are taking him seriously because of his track record.

The worry here, of course, according to Western analysts, Beijing feels this time around, they're not going to just take this lying down. They think they want to call Trump bluff by fighting back with whatever measures in their toolbox, even in the face of a sluggish economy at home. So the consequences of that, of course, could be devastating for both economies and the world at large.

And the other thing you mentioned, Trump is already setting up his transition team, but remember, Trump's former National Security Advisor, Robert O'Brien and his former Secretary of State, Pompeo, Mike Pompeo, they're both actually still being sanctioned by the Chinese government. So, even the candidates, the potential people in charge of a China policy are dealing with the Chinese government and the leadership are still very much a big question mark in the air.

So a lot of uncertainty seems to be only thing we are sure about at this juncture. Rosemary?

CHURCH: Indeed. And Mike, what's been the reaction from South Korea to a Trump win?

MIKE VALERIO, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Rosemary, I think that we're hearing a lot of messages of warm congratulations from the Seoul side, with certainly an undercurrent of nervousness if you read between the lines. But somebody we have not heard from, the northern side of the DMZ, Kim Jong-un, leader of North Korea, nary a peep from him so far. So we are waiting for what, if any, reaction he will have to this news.

But back to South Korea, of course Rosemary, South Korea has so much on the line when it comes to its relationship with the United States, and we want to talk about two areas. First of all, the troops that are stationed here from the United States, and also the possibility of another nuclear summit happening between President-elect Trump and Kim Jong-un.

[02:40:00] So when we're talking about the U.S. troops that are on the Korean Peninsula, there are full 28,500 troops scattered throughout South Korea from the United States. South Korea right now pays about $1 billion annually. And a couple days ago in Chicago, Trump said that he wants a 900 percent increase, up to $10 billion for South Korea to pay to station those troops as a security guaranty and a counterweight against China, $10 billion annually.

So, there was an agreement that was reached between the Biden Administration and South Korea on Monday with a very small price tag increase. President-elect Trump, Rosemary, could conceivably tear up that agreement. So, we are watching that and we're also watching the prospect of down the road, another nuclear summit between Trump and Kim.

Now, Steven in Beijing mentioned Robert O'Brien. He could be a huge -- a potential candidate for Secretary of State. I had the opportunity to speak to O'Brien in September, and he conveyed that there is a huge sense of optimism among people who Trump may be considering for his cabinet to get that show on the road, to have another summit with North Korea. Listen to what he told us about a meeting with North Korean diplomats, himself and those diplomats in Stockholm in October of 2019. Here's what he told us.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERT O'BRIEN, FORMER NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISOR OF THE UNITED STATES: Then, they took a very hard line publicly after the meetings, but we thought that that -- that September meeting -- it was September, October, I believe, of 2019, we thought that meeting would lead to something, maybe another summit in the spring. But then unfortunately, COVID hit and the whole world changed, and especially in North Korea with the total unbelievable lockdown in North Korea. And so we lost that opportunity.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VALERIO: So they want this to happen. But North Korea, Rosemary, quickly here, is in a much stronger position. They are backed by Russia. Since Trump has left the White House, they have Russian backing in terms of money, military technology. Who knows if Pyongyang would even come back to the negotiating table? And North Korea also says they are a nuclear power to stay, and that from their point of view, right now, cannot be negotiated away, Rosemary.

CHURCH: All right. Steven Jiang in Beijing and Mike Valerio in Seoul, many thanks to you both, and we'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[02:45:25]

CHURCH: U.S. stocks sold to record highs on Wednesday following Donald Trump's victory. Markets were mostly boosted by the fact that the election was decided relatively quickly as investors desire certainty. The Dow, S&P 500 and NASDAQ, all reached new highs. The Dow surged more than 1,500 points, so more than 3.5 percent. The S&P climbed by 2.5 percent, and the tech-heavy NASDAQ closed nearly 3 percent higher.

Earlier, I spoke with Rana Foroohar, CNN Global Economic Analyst, Columnist and Associate Editor at the "Financial Times". She described the potential economics of a second Trump era.

RANA FOROOHAR, CNN GLOBAL ECONOMIC ANALYST: Markets usually do go up after a presidential election, that's normal. I think that there's a sense of we know what reality is going to be now. There's a sense of certainty, as you mentioned earlier. But one thing that's interesting to me is that the markets are in some ways betting that Donald Trump will actually not put in his promised campaign issues around economics. I mean, what the markets are saying is, we don't think there are going to be huge tariffs. We think that there's going to be the sort of financialized tax breaks, low regulation, sort of paradigm that you've gotten in (ph) Trump won, very laissez-faire, very -- let's do whatever we can to bolster the stock market.

But if you look at what Trump actually promised during the campaign, he promised high tariffs. He actually talked about weakening the dollar as a way of increasing America's export economy. Now, that's going to be very difficult to do at a time when China is actually ramping up its own manufacturing economy and trying to put more cheap goods out there into the world. But it's interesting to me that there seems to be a disconnect between what the markets believe Trump will do, what his actual campaign promises were.

CHURCH: And of course, the economy was consistently the top issue for most U.S. voters, especially those who have been and were really hurting despite being told the U.S. economy was the envy of the world. Was there anything the Biden Administration could have done to make their lives better? And how quickly can President-elect Trump turn this around and improve their lives as he has promised?

FOROOHAR: Well, look, there's no doubt that during the Biden Administration, inflation was a huge topic. It was a huge issue. It really was a body blow to a lot of people. You had things like food, fuel, housing going up into the double-digits in terms of inflation over the course of two or three years. And even though the Biden Administration did a lot and the Federal Reserve did very well to curb inflation, and it has been coming down in recent months, that felt experience of several years of really dealing with this is something that I think probably helped tilt the scales towards Donald Trump.

That said, the markets are actually saying they believe that the Trump Administration will bring with it more inflation. If you look at the bond market, the bond market is telling us they think inflation is going to be up. They think that the debt levels of the U.S. and borrowing that may take place under the Trump -- second Trump Administration could actually contribute to more inflation. So -- and that coupled with tariffs, if they are indeed put in place, would probably create more inflation.

So, I'm not at all hopeful that the inflation situation is going to get any better under Donald Trump. In fact, I think it might become worse.

CHURCH: Our thanks to Rana Foroohar for her time and insight. Well, now, for a look at how Trump's big win is being covered by some prominent publications. Britain's Guardian newspaper with the very succinct headline, "American Dread". The New Statesman has put Trump's face on the Statue of Liberty and reads, " Trump takes America. A special issue on a crushing victory and a new political era". And the magazine, Vanity Fair tells the story with numbers, "34 felony counts, 1 conviction, 2 cases pending, 2 impeachments, 6 bankruptcies, and 4 more years, the 47th President."

Well, there's much more to come on CNN, including a look at troubling new data that shows the planet is now hotter than ever before. We'll take a look.

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[02:52:20]

CHURCH: Welcome back, everyone. Well, so many of the extreme weather events around the world can be linked to global warming and new data confirms 2024 will be the hottest year on record. It will also be the first year to smash a warming limit that scientists have warned about for years. CNN Meteorologist, Chad Meyers has details.

CHAD MEYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yeah, October 2024 was the second warmest October on record, second only to last year. But the problem is this number, 1.65-degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. Trying to keep that number below 1.5 and that hasn't happened much. We have been above 1.5 for months and months. The only one that we weren't above 1.5, we were 1.48, close enough.

When you take a look at the entire year, certainly 2024 will be the warmest year on record and will likely be above 1.50 for the year for the first time ever. And where they are going to be the warmest is because we've had so much warmth here in the beginning of the year, even though we're kind of battling it out here at the end for 2023 and 2024, there was so many more temperatures so much higher than 2023 at the beginning. There isn't going to be any chance of us not being the number one year, the top temperature year of all time since we've been keeping records.

And the water is still warm, obviously warm enough to still make hurricanes out there. Now end of hurricane season isn't till the end of November anyway. But rarely do we get a major hurricane making landfall in November, and we just did.

CHURCH: CNN's Chief Climate Correspondent, Bill Weir discussed the new data earlier with our Anderson Cooper.

[02:55:00]

They also talked about what a second Trump presidency will mean for the global fight against climate change.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) Earlier with our Anderson Cooper, they also talked about what a second Trump presidency will mean for the global fight against climate change.

BILL WEIR, CNN CHIEF CLIMATE CORRESPONDENT: Well, I expect him to try to undo as much as he can. We just got data, Anderson, that 2024 will go down as the first year to smash past 1.5 degrees of global warming. That's the Paris Accord number that every country in the world is trying to hold. It's the warmest, if you look at lake beds and ice cores in a hundred thousand years. And as a result, this off-the- charts ocean and sea surface temperatures, air temperatures supercharging these storms. The warmer planet just holds more water.

So we're seeing it from Asheville and Milton, on the West Coast of Florida. When we were to Spain, there's no snow at the top of Mount Fuji. The Amazon is in a drought and the country just elected the most notorious climate denier of all. Less than 20 percent of the country denies climate change and Donald Trump seems to be in like the 5 percent that says it's not happening or that it's just some sort of natural situation right now.

And this is a time test, the next five years are so vital to bending that carbon curve, scientists tell us, and he seems determined to pull out of the Paris Climate Accords internationally and then roll back all the incentives of Joe Biden's Inflation Reduction Act, where there's real two years' worth of momentum, hundreds of millions of dollars pouring in. We will see how much he can do.

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST OF "ANDERSON COOPER 360": It wasn't something he really talked about much in this election at all.

WEIR: You know, I think it is, is because it's often framed as a false choice between economy or the climate. Whereas people in Asheville know that without a balanced climate, there is no economy right now. The health and wealth and happiness of 8 billion people around the world depend on this sort of sweet spot on earth that we have now exceeded. And nobody knows how the physics work on this overheating planet.

Not just -- there's the mitigation of stop using the fuels that burn as sort of fast as, as ethically possible, but also how do you respond to the built-in pain that's already here. And we saw a disaster response in the first Trump Administration where he holds aid back depending on the politics of the state and those sorts of things. So it is a dark, dark day for people who really work around climate space, earth scientists, folks who thought the country was serious about this.

COOPER: Yeah.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: And that was Chief Climate Correspondent, Bill Weir speaking earlier with our Anderson Cooper.

And thank you so much for your company. I'm Rosemary Church. Have yourselves a wonderful day. "CNN Newsroom" continues next with Max Foster in London, after a quick break.

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